News

Is it just me, or is love in the air?

It should be! We're a mere seven days away from Valentine's Day!

Normally I'd take this opportunity to do a deep dive into weird Valentine's trivia, but we've got a tremendous amount of ground to cover before you get bored and leave!

OK, OK...one little tidbit. Unless you spent your formative years obsessing over D'Aulaire's Book Of Greek Myths like this guy did, you may be wondering why the heck a pomegranate was included with Cerberus the three-headed dog and Charon the ferryman of the dead as a symbol of the underworld in our new shirt design. Or maybe not, but I'm gonna tell you anyway!

Hades was the Greek god of the underworld; a very old school version of your typical bad boy. Squint hard enough at his chariot and it just looks like a really fancy (and really slow) motorcycle. Anyway, being a bad boy, he knew that no self-respecting parent would let him date their daughter. So when he took a shine to Persephone, daughter of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, he kinda just kidnapped her and made her his queen. What. A. Cad.

Demeter was (understandably) pretty pissed about this and convinced Zeus to force Hades to return Persephone to the land of the living...which he allowed. BUT...in her brief time in the underworld, Persephone had eaten six kernels from a pomegranate that had grown in the land of the dead. As a result of this bit of trickery, Hades was able to require that Persephone spend one month in the underworld for every kernel she ate. According to legend, this is why it's cold for half the year and no crops grow — Demeter is too sad pining for her daughter to do her job effectively. Spring heralds Persephone's return to the land of the living, and Demeter's joy upon her return consequently means we don't have to eat potatoes forever (as if that were a bad thing...)

Alright, enough with the quasi-history lesson!

This week on the podcast we share a customer review, relate some listener-submitted anecdotes about the worst dates they've ever been on, tell how owner and co-founder Meredith and I met, and chat with digital advertising expert Brian Swichkow about how he's using Reddit to drive traffic to his dating profile in his quest for Ms. Right. Let's dig in!

We'll be back next week with some fresh designs and products, but in the meantime you may want to enter to win our epic Valentine's Day giveaway contest!

Now through February 22nd you — and your friends! — can enter to win an amazing prize package from us and our partners! You can get all the details here, but entering is a breeze, and the prizes are rad. They include:

• $100 gift card from Boredwalk

• $100 gift card from The Bro Basket

• $100 gift card from Metal Marvels

• A Snarky Tea Bouquet and rad It's Motherf**king Tea Time mug from Snarky Tea

Until next time...

Peace, love, and tacos,

Matt

Welcome to our weekly Boredwalk Community series, where we ask Boredwalk fans fun questions! This week we're talking to Adam F. of Riverside RI, looking sharp in a Someday We'll All Be Dead tee in royal blue:

What's your actual day job and what's your dream day job?

I work as a Business Analyst for CVS/Health, primarily focusing on pharmacy software. However, my dream job would be to work in the video game industry! I would love if my nieces could say they have an uncle who works at Nintendo, and I think I'd be thrilled to take practically any position. I would also love an opportunity to work as a game reviewer.

What experience do you most want to cross off your bucket list?

Aside from eventually getting married, I'd love to to travel to Tokyo. It's possible one of the two can happen in my lifetime. 

What invention do you wish science would deliver already?

Self-driving cars. Can't come soon enough. 

What keeps you up at night?

Usually feelings of loneliness and concerns about being different and disconnected from others. (Ed. note: Let's all send a cyber-hug Adam's way, shall we? *squeeze*)

Got an article from your social media feed or internet travels this week that everyone should see?

This is one of my favorite articles online. It really resonates with me. While I confess it brought me to tears, it was helpful to realize I am not the only gay man struggling with a lot of these feelings.

Where can the rest of the Boredwalk community find you? 

The best way to find me is on Instagram @madarolyat.

Want to be featured next? Shoot us an email at hello@boredwalk.com and we'll make it happen!

Hello, friends. Welcome!

It's been a bit of a weird week here at Boredwalk HQ. Meredith and I were in New Orleans last week for an e-commerce conference, and we're still recovering from the acute lack of sleep and intense amount of socializing and catching up with our pals from around the world. Seriously — we hung out with new and old friends from Australia, Ireland, Canada, the U.K., all over the U.S., and beyond, and got to nerd out about stuff like email deliverability, Facebook ads, hiring, etc., without anyone passing out from boredom. It was refreshing!

In our absence, Breana, Sarah, Scarlett, and Josh picked up the slack like the champions they all are to make sure your questions got answered and your shirts & bags got printed and shipped in a timely manner. They're kind of a big deal.

As exhausted as I was, I recovered enough to crank out the gem of a new design you see above inspired by the timeless wit of Oscar Wilde. Think of it as a companion piece to our classic Hell Is Other People design. As you all know, I'm loathe to too my own horn, but I think I kinda nailed it.

We also recorded a new podcast episode for your listening pleasure! In it, we expound on our trip, share a very verbose customer review, and complain about the aggressive cheerfulness of the Southwest crew on our flight home. It's short! You'll love it. Maybe.

We'll be back next week with a special Valentine's Day episode featuring an interview with someone who's trying to boil online dating down to a science — literally! We'll also have some new designs, possibly some new products, and other stuff to keep you entertained.

Oh, and a shout out to those of you in the heart of the polar vortex — we're thinking of you and hoping your furnaces hold up. If you're in the upper midwest or northeast, please be aware that the extreme cold may lead to delivery delays as shipping companies are limiting their staffs' exposure to the dangerous elements. Remember: they're just t-shirts. Yes, they're awesome, stylish, soft, unique t-shirts...but they're not worth your dedicated mail carrier getting frostbite or hypothermia.

Finally, happy early Groundhog Day! Until next week...

Peace, love, and warmth,

Matt