OAS Saguaro Swimming Shorts. This summer I needed a new pair of swimming trunks. I’ve always loved western motifs and reading lonely pigeon with Dying Breed Book Club Cowboys have been especially on my mind lately, so when I found these shorts from OAS (a Swedish swimwear brand), they were hard to pass up. They feature the western cowboy print which is a Huckberry exclusive. The shorts are made of quick-drying fabric and multiple pockets for your belongings, including a small hidden zip pocket on the side to stash your car or room keys. there is also Camp-collar shirt with similar print Available that you can wear with shorts while relaxing by the pool or separately when you’re out and about. Ready to go!
The death of the stick shift is almost here. Kate and I both learned to drive stick shift, and we had a manual Honda Element for years during our married life. We sold it several years ago, and I wish we hadn’t. Gus is now old enough to drive, and it would have been nice for him to learn how to stick drive the Element. because in this form Washington Post As the piece sees it, it’s a rapidly diminishing skill. Less than 1% of new vehicles built for the US market last year were manual, down from about a third in 1980, and only 39% of Gen Z know how to drive a vehicle, compared to 83% of Baby Boomers. This is very bad. Working the clutch and changing gears makes you feel connected to the road in a way an automatic never does. It makes driving more fun. And the modern world could definitely use more tactile entertainment. For a refresher on this on-the-go skill, check out our article on how to drive a stick shift.
situation anxiety By Alain de Botton. Eleven years ago, we wrote an in-depth series on the nature of the condition, and this book was what first sent me down that rabbit hole. De Botton explores why we care so much about what other people think of us and the consequences of that caring. Modern life only increases situational anxiety because through social media it is possible to compare what we are doing with almost everyone else in the entire world. He then goes on to explain how philosophy, art, and religion can be a balm for the anxiety of the situation. De Botton is a philosopher, but he writes for regular people; It’s an easy read, accessible, and I still think about it a lot.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? Christopher Nolan’s adaptation odyssey just came out in theaters, and while I haven’t gotten around to watching it yet (hopefully soon), all the Homer talk has made me eager to re-watch the Coen Brothers version of the epic, which I watched in bits and pieces during my Zone 2 cardio sessions this week. Twenty-five years later, it’s still hilarious. George Clooney’s fast-talking, pomade-obsessed Ulysses Everett McGill is one of his best roles. And the soundtrack is still amazing. This T Bone Burnett-produced collection of old-time bluegrass and gospel got a lot of rotation in my car’s 5-disc CD player in high school (it’s a great soundtrack when you’re driving the stick). I’ll have it queued up on my iPhone in the car in 2026.
on our Dying Breed Newsletterwe published Sunday Firesides: Moving On to Chaos and Darkness And Dying Breed Field Trip: Woolrock Museum and Wildlife Preserve.
quote of the week
Have you ever heard of a person who has striven sincerely and single-handedly for something all his life and has never achieved it to any extent? If a man constantly aspires, is he not advanced? Has any man ever tried bravery, generosity, truthfulness, honesty and found that there was no use in them? That it was a futile effort?
-Henry David Thoreau
