Family improvement

I learned some valuable techniques and got a lot of wise guidance for cultivating a happy family from the book The Secrets of Happy Families (2013). Much of it I wished I had known earlier when our family was younger. There’s a bunch of self-improvement advice out there, but not much on family-improvement, so this is highly recommended. — KK

FamilyClaudia Dawson
Food science guru

By far the nerdiest food YouTube channel out there is Adam Ragusea with 2 million followers. He dives deep into the chemical nature of foods, such as what happens with smoking meat at the molecular level, why fennel and liquorice taste the same, or what is the chemical that makes the smell of rain. But also definitively answers many useful questions like “do the eggs of happy chickens taste better?” He references obscure scientific journals, does his own experiments, and mixes in delicious recipes you can follow yourself. He is one of the best science communicators working today. I recommend Ragusea’s food science playlist for the full course. — KK

LearningClaudia Dawson
DIY Book Nook Kit

I had been coveting ready-made book nooks on Etsy for a while now, but I am so happy I waited and bought my own build kit from CuteBee. I bought the Pray in the Church kit, but there are other whimsical options. The instructions were easy to understand and it took me a couple hours to assemble, but it was meditative and fun to see it come together. It came with everything I needed, except for two AAA batteries, wood glue, scotch tape and scissors. — CD

PlayClaudia Dawson
Paint with music

I’m playing around with an AI-powered app that enables me to paint music. Appropriately named Paint With Music, this free web-based app from Google transforms my doodles into music based on its visual form. It’s playful, just a toy and perfect fun for kids. — KK

PlayClaudia Dawson
Uber pro tip

I often fly in and out of LAX. Uber, Lyft and taxi riders are required to walk or take a shuttle to a lot near the airport to hail a ride. It’s very crowded in the lot and the last time I was there I had to wait over 30 minutes for a Lyft. But I learned in this article that you can take a free hotel or metro shuttle from the airport and hail a ride after you get to the station or hotel. Not only will you save money (no airport surcharge) you probably won’t have to wait as long for a ride. This tip might work at other airports, too. If it does, let us know. — MF

Compare Hubble vs Webb images

It’s amazing how quickly my eyes got used to the detail captured by the new Webb telescope. You can compare the vast difference between the Hubble images of nebulas and galaxies and Webb’s new images on WebbCompare.com. Just slide back and forth and be amazed. — CD

LearningClaudia Dawson
Tollywood megahit movie

I like to keep tabs on the pulse of the two largest countries in the world by watching their hit movies. The latest megahit in India is “RRR” which is the most expensive and highest grossing movie in India to date. It’s a Tollywood mythical superhero action movie, that is naturally very long (3 hours), over-the-top, color saturated, bonkers, ridiculous and bombastic, and suitably interrupted with fabulous song and dance. The despicable evil villains are British Raj colonials set in pre-independence India. It’s a delightful popcorn flick. On Netflix. — KK

New writing advice

Someone asked on Reddit recently “What is the piece of writing advice that has helped you most, personally?” and these were my favorite because I had never heard them before:

  • “Make the familiar seem exotic and the exotic seem familiar.”

  • On process, Chuck Wendig: “The work doesn’t need your confidence. The work just needs the work.”

  • “It’s easier to write something cool and then figure out how it makes sense than it is to write something that makes sense and then figure out how to make it cool.”

I didn’t contribute to the thread, but if I would have I would have shared Derek Sivers’ recent advice: Write one sentence per line. — CD

WritingClaudia Dawson
Free online food delivery

You can get a year’s worth of free delivery of food ordered online as an Amazon Prime perk. Amazon invested into Grubhub, so is offering free Grubhub delivery for a year if you have Amazon Prime. Sign up here. Took me 30 seconds. — KK

Useful decision razors

This list of rules of thumb will help you make better decisions faster. Here are some examples. — MF

  • When faced with two paths, choose the path that puts you in the arena. Once you’re in the arena, never take advice from people on the sidelines.

  • When choosing between two paths, choose the path that has a larger luck surface area.

  • If you have a choice between entering two rooms, choose the room where you’re more likely to be the dumbest one in the room. Once you’re in the room, talk less and listen more. Bad for your ego—great for your growth.

LifeClaudia Dawson
Listen to intimate money therapy sessions

A podcast about financial management would have never sounded interesting to me, but I’m thoroughly enjoying the I Will Teach You To Be Rich Podcast with Ramit Sethi. In each episode he sits with a couple at odds in their relationship with money. His humor and no B.S. approach quickly helps to uncover the underlying emotions entangled. My husband and I listen to this podcast together, which prompts us to discuss money — always in a new way. — CD

Outdoor clogs

We remove shoes in our house so we need super easy-to-slip-on clogs for going in and out. Cheap knock-offs of Crocs are what we have settled on, stashed outside each door. The Amoji Garden Clogs ($25) look better than Crocs, are extremely comfy, washup in water instantly, and are lightweight enough to double as camp shoes. — KK

ClosetClaudia Dawson
Stay up-to-date on the realm of Psychedelics

I’ve been taking psychedelics in a therapeutic setting for almost two years now, and it is important for me to know what other participants are experiencing or what neuroscience researchers are finding in clinical settings. Thankfully, Michael Pollan and the U.C. Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics puts out a free and twice-weekly newsletter covering this new field. The Microdose reports on the new developments as they happen in business, research, and culture and keeps me in the know on this burgeoning world of psychedelic therapy. — CD

NewsfeedClaudia Dawson
The Video Archives Podcast

In 1983, Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avery worked at the Video Archives movie rental store in Manhattan Beach, California. Nearly 40 years later, Tarantino and Avery have teamed up to host The Video Archives Podcast, where they talk about their favorite cult movies of the era. It’s a blast listening to these hardcore film fans reminisce about the films they loved growing up, and they have some great stories to share. — MF

Second-best gear reviewer

The best place to research what gear to buy is still the Wirecutter (now owned by The New York Times). I comfortably rely on their recommendations all the time. But The Wall Street Journal wants in on this game so they have a new site called BuySide. Their gear reviews are not as broad, deep or as well-researched as the Wirecutter, but they are often a good second opinion. — KK

GadgetsClaudia Dawson