Yellow Dinosaur 🦕
And my last 6 months
That picture was taken the first week of June. It’s a picture of some of my best friends and me from college, and we were celebrating *one of us* (correct answer at bottom of this email) graduating from residency.
This person’s spouse planned a whole weekend around the theme *Bones* and it was one of the highlights of my year thus far as we approach the halfway mark.
We got together in sunny Akron, Ohio to play yard games, spit in Lake Eerie, and celebrate with food and drink. The latter of which we did one night at a local restaurant—said spouse had us all dress in scrubs before going out for the evening, with the goal of *turning some heads* to a large group of doctors who just got off a long shift at the hospital.
Little did they know only one of us is a doctor. But even though (spoiler) I’m not a doctor, that night made me feel like a millionaire.
Because at the end of a long six months parenting two children, operating a business, and cheering on Lauren as she gave birth to our third child, it felt great to throw on my scrubs and play pretend—to be a doctor that is. In actuality, the last thing I needed to do was pretend with a group of friends who know me deeply. That’s my rich reality.
Note: Another reality is that the past six months of my life have been filled with pruning, and therefore I’m hoping they’ll (in time) bear fruit as a result. Thanks to those of you who have asked if I’m still writing The Porcupine—such encouragement led me to send out this specific post, and I *hope* to be more consistent in the future.
This may seem like a small recommendation, but I have a couple of years now with the Yardball from Sandlot Goods under my hip—quite literally.
I toss the Yardball to myself in and around our house and will stick it in my pocket and take it to the park with our kids. I’ll throw it to a random dad at the park. I’ll play catch with Lauren or our kids in the living room. I’ll throw it on our roof, let it roll down, and get stuck in our gutter.
What I’m trying to say is that I’m a big fan of this little ball that is 1) made of high-quality material and 2) manufactured by a local company in Kansas City that is doing cool work with sewing machines.
If you don’t own a Yardball, then buy one for you and another for a friend. And when you *checkout* tell ‘em Willy sent ya. (They won’t know who you’re talking about).
I reach for my phone often, but real leather is a quality substitute—especially when it leads to a connection with another human. There’s plenty of time this summer/fall for you to experience some of the same.
I don’t follow many YouTubers, but I’ve come to really like Ruslan through his channel. I thought his rundown of Laura/Carl Lentz recent podcast was really good.
Every Porcupine issue, I’ll post a painting/drawing in this section. For Father’s Day this year, Branch drew this masterpiece on one side of the paper, and the ‘surprise’ on the other side. If you look real close you can see through the paper and read his *gift* to me on the other side. Any guesses?
Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created, and he established them for ever and ever—he issued a decree that will never pass away.
Music: A lot of Forrest Frank. (Excited for new Surfaces album). New Vampire Weekend fun for summer, as was Kendrick/Drake beef (for diving back into + truly appreciating full Kendrick catalogue), Zach Bryan, and Sandra McCracken radio on Spotify.
Food: Last summer, Andy’s Custard sunk its teeth into our wallet. Not falling for that trap this year. We’ve shifted to the Tillamook trap—a little cheaper to to last us a little longer.
Podcasts: As a youth, I was spoon-fed smashed carrots and VeggieTales. This year, I’ve enjoyed The Holy Post with Phil Vischer (creator of VeggieTales) and Sky Jethani. Although a tad more mature taste, Phil Vischer is still a child-at-heart and (IMO) does a good job mixing humor with a serious outlook on the world.
Reading: The Brothers Karamazov.
Answer from Survey: the doctor in that photo is my good friend, Alex Schmucker. Alex and Jenny, I am proud of you both!