News
So this is the new year? 🤨
WE DON'T FEEL ANY DIFFERENT
Here's hoping we can flip the script on the above sentiment with some new habits in 2024! We're closing out 2023 with a great deal on fun stuff to help those New Year's resolutions stick around past mid-January!
Now through Monday, get 15% off any of our Delve Decks, adult activity books, and Grievance Journals when you use the code NEW15 at checkout!
You don't need to spend a certain amount or download an app or sacrifice an innocent animal over a copper bowl while reciting "Auld Lang Syne" backwards — just use that code at checkout. That's it.*
*Though I would be very bad marketer indeed if I didn't mention that orders over $75 ship for free within the U.S. Do with this fine print what you will.
It's been a long year, you deserve some easy savings!
GIF via CBS
Alright, sales-y stuff out of the way...
Happy Pepper Pot Day! No, not Tony Stark's right-hand woman Pepper Potts — I'm talking about the piping hot stew of veggies, peppercorns, and beef tripe! (Yum, I guess?)
Nicknamed 'The Soup That Won The War' in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War by fanciful Philadelphians who claimed it was the only food the Continental Army ate during the harsh winter of 1777-1778 as they fought for independence from British rule, this is a pretty ironic bit of myth-making given that Pepper Pot was originally brought to America by — wait for it — enslaved people from Africa and the Caribbean. Of course. Founding Fathers? More like Founding Fibbers, amirite?
*****
Alright! Let's send you off into the holiday weekend with some notable events and famous birthdays from December 29ths of yore! If that includes yours, happy birthday to you! Celebrate with some beef tripe (if you dare)!
• In 1845 the U.S. annexed the Republic of Texas and admitted it as the 28th state in the union, much to the chagrin of various Texans ever since
• In 1937 the catchily-named Irish Free State was replaced by a new, more efficiently-named state called Ireland following the adoption of a new constitution
• Birthday beef tripe stew — sorry, kids! — all around for: Scottish chemist and inventor of the modern waterproof raincoat Charles Macintosh (1766), chemist & engineer Charles Goodyear of tire & blimp fame (1800), pianist, saxophonist, jazz bandleader, and trans trailblazer Billy Tipton (1914), actress, producer, and Weezer muse Mary Tyler Moore (1936), Canadian singer-songwriter & bassist Rick Danko of The Band (1943), English singer-songwriter & actress Marianne Faithfull (1946), actor Ted Danson of Cheers, Three Men and a Baby, and The Good Place fame (1947), actress Patricia Clarkson (1959), comedian & author Paula Poundstone (1959), singer-songwriter & biologist Dexter Holland of punk band The Offspring (1965), filmmaker Lilly Wachowski of The Matrix film franchise fame (1967), English actor Jude Law (1972), actor & screenwriter Danny McBride of Eastbound & Down fame (1976), actress Katherine Moennig of The L Word fame (1976), Mexican actor & filmmaker Diego Luna of Andor fame (1979), and actress Alison Brie of Community and G.L.O.W. fame (1982)
• Pour one out for: Austrian poet & author Rainer Maria Rilke (d. 1926), jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard (d. 2008), guitarist, drummer, and songwriter Ben Curtis of the bands Secret Machines and School of Seven Bells (d. 2013), Italian-French fashion designer Pierre Cardin (d. 2020), English fashion designer Vivienne Westwood (d. 2022), and Brazilian football icon Pelé (d. 2022)
*****
OK, that's it for this week! We'll be back here in your inbox on Monday with another email — because everybody deserves to receive something fun on New Year's Day — and MAYBE a fresh customer Q&A! If you'd like to be featured in an upcoming email reply to this and let us know!
Peace, love, and fresh starts,
Matt
Need to shed some holiday weight? 🏋🏽
START BY TOSSING THAT FRUITCAKE IN THE 🗑️
Happy National Fruitcake Day! Did you know that the earliest documented recipe for fruitcake is a Roman variation from around 500 BCE? That tracks, considering the average 2023 fruitcake tastes around 2,475 years old. Maybe we've all been re-gifting the same ancient fruitcakes to our frenemies this whole time?
Even more shocking: for a time in the 18th century fruitcakes made with butter and sugar were actually banned in Europe for being "too rich and tasty."
I'm no expert, but wanting to consume a less-palatable version of an already-dubious "treat" seems to be a prime example of literally being a glutton for punishment.
That's right, Pee-wee — gotta keep it fresh for re-gifting next year!
GIF courtesy of Pee-wee's Playhouse / CBS
*****
Alright, before we get to those links let's acknowledge some notable events and famous birthdays from December 27ths of yore. Maybe yours! If it is, happy birthday!
• In 1831 Charles Darwin embarked on his journey aboard HMS Beagle, during which he would begin formulating his theory of evolution
• In 1932 Radio City Music Hall, dubbed the "Showplace of the Nation," opened in New York City
• In 1935 Regina Jonas was ordained as the first female rabbi in the history of Judaism
• Birthday fruitcake all around (sorry kids!) for: French chemist & microbiologist Louis Pasteur of pasteurization fame (1822), actress Heather O'Rourke of Poltergeist film franchise fame (1975), singer-songwriter & keyboardist Hayley Williams of the band Paramore (1988), and French-American actor & presumed chocolate enthusiast Timothée Chalamet (1995)
• Pour one out for: French architect, engineer, and tower enthusiast Gustave Eiffel (d. 1923), singer-songwriter & guitarist Chris Bell of influential power-poppers Big Star (d. 1978), influential Tin Pan Alley singer-songwriter & pianist Hoagy Carmichael (d. 1981), and actress & author Carrie Fisher of Star Wars film franchise fame (d. 2016)
Now on to the amusing links!
*****
1. 👻 If this is an addiction, put it straight into my veins!
Josh's asocial introverted behavior is only a problem for other people. He's not hurting anyone!
For more LOLs from our team be sure to follow us on our OG social accounts such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and/or Facebook.
2. 🤘🏽 DIY home improvement, but make it metal
Digital creator and impressive handyperson Brandon Gentry shows how he turned a lackluster kitchen closet into a schmancy hidden bar. Everything looks so easy when it's condensed into a minute and 14 seconds!
3. ☠️ A new dark horse candidate has entered the fray!
I hear she favors pale and/or white steeds... vote Anne Thrax in 2024!✌🏼
4. 👶🏽 What else is a parent supposed to do?
Syd & Olivia aren't going to just stand by and let baby Brockleigh's crow's feet and worry lines progress unchecked!
5. 🔪 Oatmeal = joy!
Craig really has his morning routine dialed in — we have a lot to learn from him!
6. BONUS: 📜 The secret origin of the Bill of Rights
Normally our Wednesday emails are a strictly bummer-free zone. We started sending these link roundup emails in April 2020 as a welcome distraction from the horrors of COVID and racial injustice and all the other aspects of the modern dystopia that make just getting out of bed each morning a challenge.
Last week Boredwalk co-founder Meredith and I lost a dear friend. Neel Nanda was one of the first friends we made after moving to Los Angeles in 2013. We had moved out here to be closer to suppliers, and around the same time Neel had relocated from NYC to pursue comedy full-time.
In a lot of ways we were living parallel lives to Neel — as Boredwalk grew, his career also blossomed. He went from working day jobs to pay bills and hustling for time at open mics at night when we met — sometimes doing 2-3 sets all over LA each night, 6-7 nights per week to hone his craft — to doing comedy full-time, booking successful tours, and appearing on Comedy Central, HULU, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, among countless other credits.
In addition to being so warm, friendly, and instantly likable, Neel's talent and drive were evident to us from the very first night we met him after a set at the Lyric Hyperion, and we cherished every moment we got to spend with him over the last 11 years even though those moments became harder and harder to come by as the demands of our respective jobs got in the way.
The angry and sad part of me spent most of the holiday weekend being bitter about the fact that so many other less talented, less deserving, and less hardworking comedians received bigger breaks while Neel continued to grind on the road and in clubs here around LA.
Being a working artist is hard and one of the heartbreaking things about being close to working artists is seeing extremely talented hardworking people not get the careers they deserve, or at least not on the timeline they deserve. I always believed he'd eventually be a household name. He was so funny and so driven. I felt that way the first time I met him and still fully expected it to happen until his sudden passing last week.
Would a Netflix special or a late night hosting gig have resulted in him still being here with us? Maybe, maybe not.
What I do know is that existence is hard and I'm sad in a very selfish way that he won't be around to make me laugh anymore.
Rest in peace, buddy.
*****
OK! We'll be back here in your inbox on Friday with more nonsense holidays to dissect, more notable birthdays (and maybe even some notable deathdays!) to celebrate, and more witty content in general. Until then...
Peace, love, and fruitcake (I guess),
Matt
Do you hear what I hear?👂
THE SOUND OF CHRISTMAS MUSIC FINALLY RECEDING FROM PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS!
Happy National Pumpkin Pie Day! What a delicious way to celebrate a random day at the end of December! Good thing there's nothing else happening of note today that might steal Big Pumpkin's dessert-y thunder...
Oh wait — right. December 25th. Merry Christmas!
If you're anything like my family, your Christmas morning unfolds thusly:
• 6:00AM - All children under the age of 12 wake up and begin foaming at the mouth and gnashing teeth, champing at the bit to tear into gifts. Doesn't matter for whom, they just want to rip brightly-colored paper to shreds.
• 6:01AM - These children are told in no uncertain terms that they must wait until 7:00AM at the earliest to rouse their older brother (me) from his slumber, lest he transmogrify into The Christmas Ogre and ruin everyone's day with sullen, sarcastic insults.
• 7:00AM - Everyone gathers around the dining room table to read Advent devotionals, sing Christmas hymns — not carols, hymns, preferably with multiple stanzas to really ratchet up the impotent frustrated rage of the sub-12 set — sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, eat the attendant birthday cake baked specially for Him, and jockey for position near the papered-over entrance to the living room until given permission to enter and obliterate a small forest worth of paper.
• 7:20ish AM - Permission is granted
• 8:30ish AM - Operation: Destroy All Wrapping Paper is complete
Totally normal, right? Every family does this, right? RIGHT?!
Peace on Earth and bad will to your fierce competition in the unwrapping Olympics!
GIF via Saturday Night Live / NBC
*****
The above description of events may seem hyperbolic, but I assure you it is not. That was quite literally every Christmas morning in the Snow household from ≈ 1992 - 2004, and I assume it continues to this day because my brothers will never not be annoying AF on Christmas morning, even in their 30s.
*****
If you are not a Christmas celebrant, I hope you are still planning to enjoy a day of tranquil reflection and relaxation today.
If you are associating with said celebrants today but need a last-minute gift, don't forget that Boredwalk sells electronic gift cards that are instantaneously delivered to your email inbox after purchase. It's like you are Santa Clause and the internet is your own personal chimney!
And if you are the recipient of said gift card OR just some cold hard digital cash that your lazy siblings just Venmo'ed you in lieu of something more thoughtful, be sure to use code SAVE15 at checkout for 15% off orders of $95 or more, and don't forget that U.S. shipping is FREE for orders of $75 or more!
*****
Alright! Let's kick off this holiday with a few famous December 25th birthdays and historical facts:
• In 1758 Johann Georg Palitzsch sighted Halley's Comet, confirming its namesake Edmund Halley's prediction of its passage and becoming the first passage of a comet that was predicted ahead of time
• In 1968 the Apollo 8 mission performed the first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver, which sent the crew & spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit
• In 2021 the James Webb Space Telescope was launched
• Birthday pumpkin pie all around for: Nurse, humanitarian, and founder of the American Red Cross Clara Barton (1821), actor Humphrey Bogart of Casablanca fame (1899), jazz singer-songwriter & bandleader Cab Calloway (1907), screenwriter, producer, and creator of The Twilight Zone Rod Serling (1924), English singer-songwriter & bassist Noel Redding of The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1945), singer-songwriter, guitarist, and margarita enthusiast Jimmy Buffett (1946), actress Sissy Spacek of Carrie fame (1949), Guyanese-American actress CCH Pounder of The X-Files, ER, and The Shield fame (1952), Scottish singer-songwriter & pianist Annie Lennox of Eurythmics fame (1954), recently departed English-Irish singer-songwriter Shane MacGowan of Pogues fame (1957), English songwriter, producer, and journalist Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne (1964), Danish model & actress Helena Christensen of "rolling around on the beach with Chris Isaak" fame (1968), French musician & producer Nicolas Godin of pop duo Air (1969), English singer-songwriter Dido of "Here With Me" and "Thank You" fame (1971), Irish musician & songwriter Noel Hogan of 90s alt-rock darlings The Cranberries (1971), and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (1971)
• Pour out some egg nog for: English actor & director Charlie Chaplin (d. 1977), singer, actor, and all-around entertainer Dean Martin (d. 1995), singer-songwriter & Godfather of Soul James Brown (d. 2006), singer & actress Eartha Kitt (d. 2008), singer-songwriter & guitarist Vic Chesnutt (d. 2009), and British singer-songwriter & pop superstar George Michael of "Last Christmas" fame with Wham! (d. 2016)
*****
OK, no new customer Q&A this week, but if you're feeling even moderately outgoing and would like to be featured in an upcoming Monday email (and are a customer with some Boredwalk tees, tanks, hoodies, towels, bags, books, or Delve Decks to show off), just reply to this and let us know and we'll send you some fun questions!
We'll be back here in your inbox on Wednesday with some more random holidays to observe, historical tidbits to acknowledge, and fun links to entertaining content! Until next time...
Peace, love, and no more Christmas music in stores after today,
Matt