Three Point Four Media turned six at some point in late November, a fact I would have forgotten about were it not for a handful of random semi-acquaintances (or is it semi-random acquaintances?) on LinkedIn congratulating me on my work anniversary. (This happened last year, too.) Thanks to those people? (I’m a big LinkedIn guy. Marketing thirst traps written in one-sentence paragraphs are my love language.) We made a big push to launch in late 2017 for reasons I can no longer remember. Doing so felt very important back then and not at all now.
If we were a mid-level college football quarterback, we would be on our fourth school and second graduate degree. Instead, we are a small company that’s doing just fine. A nice place to be.
On to the links.
An Article
In Last Week at Marienbad, Lauren Oyler wanders through the Central European spa town with a boyfriend named Thom. It’s extremely charming. The story, not the town. The town sounds okay, a place with many drafty buildings. I’m shivering thinking about reading it, but it’s also quite chilly in my apartment right now. I had never heard of Marienbad before reading this because I spent freshman year watching Superbad instead of French New Wave. This is more about me than intended. An exceptionally fun and funny and poignant piece. Oyler’s, not this silly paragraph.
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A Book
Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson and caricaturist John Kascht partnered on The Mysteries, an adult fable that takes about six minutes to read. What a cool thing that exists.
I cannot imagine anyone purchasing this book, but I suppose that’s not the point.
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A Podcast
Odd Lots: The creator of Magic: The Gathering is now trying to create an even better game. (Linking to podcasts is confusing.)
Joe and Tracy—first name basis here—talk to Magic creator Richard Garfield and his new business partner, Arka Roy, about games. The discussion around the intentional value destruction of cards in an effort to increase adoption is fascinating if, as someone who collected the Fallen Empires set referenced as “intentionally overprinted” to lower card prices, disappointing. Don't sleep on Scryb Sprites.
Dork level: High.
(Sidenote: Here’s a piece from 2012 about attending the MtG World Championship in Seattle. I didn’t have any idea what was going on the entire time.)
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A Project
Does preparing for 2024 count as a project? It does when it’s your own newsletter and there are no other projects of note. We’ve had a number of productive conversations about working with existing and new clients next year. Might not go broke in 2024. Huge win for the program.
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A Run
I went for a short run in Red Hook a couple days before Thanksgiving. It was cold and windy and wonderful. Baby steps.
Another exciting edition in 14 days, wrapping up the year at Three Point Four Media HQ(s).