Getting a Little Crazy
Netflix finally got wise to Freddie Freeloader here and is kicking me out of my parent’s account. While I was interested in watching some of the new season of the French heist show Lupin, I really do fall asleep after 5 minutes of tv at night.
A great alternative is Kanopy which is accessed through your local library. I wondered if this service is only available in North America, but Kanopy is an Australian company so I imagine this is available in many countries throughout the world.
If I had to pay for my own movie streaming service, I would probably go with Mubi. Thanks again to Bram who keeps a spot for me on his family’s Spotify account. I told you I’m Freddie Freeloader 🤠
Three Ideas from My Notebooks:
If you tell yourself you will feel like doing this or that thing tomorrow instead of today, the sad truth is that you won’t. That’s because we are so bad at predicting our emotional states in the future that there is no point in even thinking this way. Just accept that today is the best day to do the thing that’s on your mind.1
Your life is lived in accordance to the standards that you set. If you have low standards for work and relationships, that’s what you will get back. The good news is that you get to decide what your standards are and live according to them.2
The Resistance is the voice of fear and doubt that whispers crap in your ear throughout the day. Notice it as soon as it shows up and decide if you want to listen to it. Sure it might tell you some interesting information, but don’t accept it as truth.3
Music Listening Session
I heard an awful remix of Seal’s seminal hit Crazy in the gym this week. So I went back and listened to the original. I think it’s one of the best songs of all time. Seal’s voice is like butter but the song has such a positive vibe to it.
If you love ambient music, you will hear that classic new age trance sound as the base for this tune. But it also features amazingly corny wah-wah guitars, slap bass and average-quality breakbeats which were normal at the time.
I have trouble hearing lyrics in songs, so much that I don’t even bother trying to understand verses, but the words of the chorus come off like magic. If you’re feeling down, put this one on and I guarantee you will feel something perk you up.
Released in 1991, it was inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Tiananman Square Massacre. The song helped slingshot Seal’s career forward but it was also the first time he wrote a song on the guitar and started to condense his ideas down into something more compact which gave it the appeal for pop radio.
Before that my songs had been too long. But as soon as I wrote the hook, I knew it was a potential hit. - Seal
Thanks for reading this week’s edition. What has been inspiring you lately?
Have a great rest of your weekend and a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here in Canada. I am grateful for your readership of this newsletter.
Help Elliott pay for his own Netflix subscription and become a paid subscriber of The Sunday Bagel today:
This is from Solving the Procrastination Puzzle by Timothy A. Pychyl. Just to add a note about this, he reminds people that the task at hand does not have to match your current motivational state in order for it to get done, which is one of the reasons people procrastinate (“I don’t feel like running today”, but if you start jogging that dialogue will disappear fairly quickly).
This is from The Power of One More by Ed Mylett. This book and the author are not for everyone but he has some good messages about making the most of your time here which resonates with me.
Everything involving The Resistance is well described by writer Steven Pressfield over the course of his books for writers and creative people (as opposed to his fiction books for the mass audiences).