Survival – Tilley Hats

I first became aware of Tilley by realizing, somehow, that my favorite brimmed fabric hat, one that I think I found in a surplus store, was indeed an imitation of something else… something famous. I eventually tracked down the “original” back when there was pretty much just one model, in canvas, in one color. I ordered direct from Canada, lucked out in that the fit was pretty good (more on that later), and over time became impressed with just how much better made it was than my previous favorite.

Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools

I subscribed to the mailing list as soon as it started, and while the quality has varied somewhat and there have been times when I felt that it wandered too far into non-utilitarian (non-useful) selections, I’ve never been tempted to un-subscribe, and I’ve learned of a great many useful things from it that I wouldn’t have otherwise known about.

Blue Apron

Far later in life than I should have I decided to try to LIBERATE myself from having to have other people feed me, prepare my food for me, whether personally or through the pay-as-you-go food infrastructure of our society, which tends to be expensive and/or notoriously not healthy.

The move was prompted by some changes in my life corresponding to the debut of Blue Apron, and it became the keystone of my strategy in learning how to cook decently. I figured it would reduce the barriers-to-entry, make cooking entire meals with good ingredients more accessible, and hopefully, eventually, be a stepping stone away from dependence on their service as well.

It’s worked… I’ve gone from not being able to cook much at all to being pretty decent at it, and I don’t plan to stop there.