💪Finkel's Fast Five 127 - July 3, 2020

Welcome to Finkel's Fast Five #127. Thanks for reading and subscribing!

 ONE

 COMEDY - Media icon Carl Reiner died at the age of 98 this week. He was a director, comedian, author, actor, writer and, well... if you're reading this you likely know what a giant he was. But I found him inspiring for another reason...  Reiner never retired. He worked for nearly all of his 98 years and I am a firm believer in the idea that having a purpose every day and having a job every day and having goals that you look forward to achieving every day and that honing a craft every day is something that doesn't stop at a "retirement age". These things keep you young, keep you sharp and keep you alive. Reiner starred in a documentary a few years ago called, "If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast", about a group of famous 90-year-olds who work as hard as they did in their 20s. I loved it. You might too.

TWO

 BOOKS - With the 4th of July coming up this weekend, I've received my usual requests for book recommendations on the revolution and the founders and that whole time period. I started a running list a few years ago on my favorite biographies of the founding fathers.  I believe I started with three that stood out, but now I'm up to five books that are head and shoulders better than the others. Here's my post on My Five Favorite Biographies on the Founding Fathers.

THREE

FINANCE - We don't often dive into finance here on the Fast Five but I listened to a podcast this week with Howard Marks, the co-chairman and co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management, who oversees over $125 billion in assets.  The podcast actually came out around a month ago, but Marks covers a huge swath of recent financial history and his insights on turbulent times and how they affect investing and planning were really interesting. I'm not judging from a 'financial advice' point of view here... more from a historical perspective on how major global events affect the economy and business. His short story on the Nifty Fifty stocks from the 1960s is worth the listen (it's early on). Here's a link.

FOUR

 FOOD - Due to the pandemic I have been forced to cook a lot more than normal and while I think what I make is 60% delicious it has been brought to my attention that, well, I mostly suck at cooking. I make decent eggs, exceptional smoothies and really good steaks, but otherwise... Eh... Or as my son kindly put it the other night, "it just tastes like not good stuff."  While a lesser man may have thrown in their skillet and given up, I have decided to step up and start making things that "taste like good stuff". And I found my secret weapon: Stubb's Rubs. I got the chicken rub and the steak rub and the first time I used them I didn't say a word and everyone was like, "Dad, what did you do different, your food doesn't make us want to puke?" And I said, two words: Stubb's Rubs. It didn't go exactly like that... but close... And I gotta say, it's good stuff. The BBQ rub is awesome for chicken on the grill. Just rub it in about an hour before you grill it and you're good to go. Check out my man Stubb.

FIVE

 A great quote about parenting (shout out to my good buddy Kynon for sending this my way):  “Children have never been good at listening to their parents, but they have never failed to imitate them...”   – James Baldwin

BONUS: Journalism Jewels

I sent out a special e-mail the other day introducing my freelance writing course, Journalism Jewels, and I have to say, thank you for the amazing feedback. And especially thank you to those who bought it right away!  I had a feeling that a lot of readers here, and other people who reach out to me on social, have been looking for a way to get into freelance writing to make some extra cash. And this course is everything I've got to offer. I created a 90-minute video and book that is basically a Freelance Writing MBA combo built specifically to help you earn extra money as a writer. It's on sale for the 1st 48 hours of July 4th weekend for 50% OFF. If you're interested, check it out here. On Monday it goes back up to full price.  SUPER, SUPER IMPORTANT NOTE: To make sure you keep getting the FF5, please add [email protected] to your address book or whitelist us.  AND DON'T FORGET TO FORWARD TO A FRIEND: FORWARD TO A FRIEND HERE.   WAS THIS E-MAIL FORWARDED TO YOU? SIGN-UP HERE

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