1. Team Full
It's exciting times over here at Good Enough HQ!
(There is no Good Enough HQ. I'd say it's in the cloud, but even clouds are now looked down upon as dirtyish things that should not be enjoyed. And not because of air pollution per se, though perhaps because of industry in a sense?)
Why are we excited? Because our team is pretty well FULL. When Shawn and I transitioned Good Enough from a not-trying-especially-hard business to A Serious Business™, we imagined a team that had a designer (Lettini), someone who knew front-end development better than I (Arun), someone who knew back-end development better than I (James),someone who could help out on code (me) and someone who could keep us in line while drawing irreverent characters(Shawn). And if we could get someone to help out bootstrapping HR while utility-wedging everywhere else (Patrick), so much the better!
James started working with us last Tuesday, and boy do I feel complete! That's not to say this week I've been a man on fire. No, not in the least. I've actually felt quite unproductive. I think it's a bit of that thing that happens when you arrive at a destination you had been steering toward for months and you realize that now you'll probably have to pick another destination. That bit of let down. That bit of human nature.
But I say to myself, "Self, DON'T FORGET to enjoy where you are!" And so I will. And so we will!
(Also, Pro Tip: You don’t have to pick another destination!)
Already we've been working greater than the sum of our parts. It's remarkable (thus this post) how different it is to collect together as a pack of mature adults than as a gaggle of twenty-somethings. We've considered what we're doing. We've considered where we're going. We've asked questions of each other that only mature, past-the-BS folks can comfortably ask each other. We've not taken offense. We've had no problem expressing doubts about work that we've spent months on and the egos have been largely unseen.
It feels good to be teamed up. To be team full. It feels good to work fearlessly, and so that we shall do. ––BH
2. Ponder
We’ve been working on a thing for the past couple of months. We’re not sure how to market it, and we’re not even sure if we want to turn it into a Real Business. But we love it, and I must say that it’s pretty darn good.
Say hello to Ponder, a very simple (private) forum software.
It all started because we found chat apps like Slack and Discord too overwhelming and distracting. Unless you check them all day, you’ll miss the conversations, and once the moment is gone, it’s hard to pick up on that discussion again. Not to mention all the threaded comments and notifications––I’m exhausted just thinking about them.
We wanted something calmer and quieter where we can think and write our thoughts down in coherent sentences. So, Ponder. A super easy forum software for private groups, like your book club, parenting group, or maybe your small business. Each topic has its own thread, and you can take your time to ponder and answer at your own schedule––topics won’t just pass by like they do in a group chat app. You can use it on your laptop, and if you wish, it works great on your phone, too.
The six of us have been using Ponder daily since early April and love it. Recently some of us started a little movie club on Ponder, and it’s lovely. (Let us know if you want to join!)
Maybe you have a group that needs a new home? If so, Ponder is open for sign up.
3. Today we started Project Cosmic Maelstrom
What is it? It’s a lot of things and I promise to tell you more about it soon (we’ll write more often!). Right now, my 11-year-old just came home, it’s a beautiful day out, and I’d like to wrap this newsletter up soon. ––SL
4. Lettini Martini
I’ve apparently signed myself up for an ongoing movie column in this newsletter, but nothing I’ve watched recently is popping into my head for a Lettini Screeni. So I’m pulling from my archives and recommending one of my favorite movies of all time: The Fall.
Directed by the visionary Tarsem and released in 2006, The Fall follows an injured young girl who befriends an injured stuntman while in the hospital. It takes place in the 1920s, the golden age of Hollywood. The stuntman tells the girl a vivid and fantastical story of five mythical heroes, which ends up being the stuntman’s way of tricking the little girl into doing things for him. It’s through this story and how it interplays with the real world that the film really shines, tugging at both your imagination and your heartstrings.
In my college Film 101 class, the teacher had us watch the acclaimed Cinema Paradiso, an Italian film that is, at its core, a celebration of all things film—the art of film, the making of film, the watching of film, and the magic that can only be portrayed on a film screen. The Fall follows in those same footsteps—when you look for the motifs and themes in The Fall, it’s just “the art of film-making.” It’s beautiful, it’s funny, it’s sad, it’s a love story, it’s an action adventure, it’s captivating… it has it all, because that’s what you think of when you think of why you love film. And that’s why I love film, and why I love this movie. ––ML