Work In Progress - January 30, 2023

Work In Progress Newsletter | Edition 37 | January 30, 2023

WRITE THIS WAY…

Greetings and welcome to another highly collectible edition of the Work In Progress newsletter! I’m Ryan McCrary, your proponent of positive. For the last 37 weeks and counting I’ve been scouring the news, interwebs and the occasional archived AOL Messenger group chats to share stories of hope and joy and triumph.

THREE DOTS… GOOD NEWS ONLY

Few things more comforting than Grandpa’s flannel… A hospice volunteer in Texas has sewn teddy bears for patients who have lost loved ones, but her latest work involved the most chellenging project to date… Over the course of three months, Patrice Travis created seven bears for seven grandchildren featuring grandpa’s flannel shirts and his message of “Peace”… The United Ukrainian Ballet performed in Washington D.C. over the weekend performing Alexei Ratmansky’s “Giselle”... The Company is composed of 60 Ukrainian dancers who fled the country after the Russian invasion and some stories of escape are nothing short of harrowing… Hope for the messy trapped in all of us… Like many during the height of the pandemic I watched Marie Kondo’s Netflix series on creating a tidy home… The mother of three recently admitted she has “kind of given up on that in a good way”.

BEST THING I SAW ON THE ‘GRAM LAST WEEK

We need more teachers like Mr. Hines. Misty in here! → CLICK

BEST THING I SAW ON THE TWITTER LAST WEEK

Would recently excavated footage of a gaggle of T-Rex dinosaurs making their morning commute in… Madrid (!?) be something you might be interested in? Right this way → WATCH

OTD - JANUARY 30

Enjoy yet another notable historical snapshot in the latest edition of On This Date…?

Notable Historical Moments… Support your local library… When the British burned Washington D.C. during the War of 1812, the Library of Congress also burned to the ground. Enter Thomas Jefferson who donated 6,500 volumes to re-establish the LoC in 1815… Churchill at final rest… Winston Churchill’s state funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral was the largest to date in the world in 1965… Strawberry Fields forever… The Beatles performed their very last live gig - a 42-minute concert atop the Apple Corps HQ in London in 1969.

Famous Birthdays… Polio survivor and President… New Deal architect Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945)... Two time US Open winner Payne Stewart (1957-99)... legendary Hickory High School head coach Gene Hackman turns 92… Genesis drummer and frontman Phil Collins turns 71.?

Famous Nuptials… Innovative comedian Lou Costello married American burlesque dancer Anne Battler in 1934.?

Famous Deaths… Revolutionary seamstress Betsy Ross (1752-1836)... Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948… Aviation pioneer & avid cyclist Orville Wright (1871-1948).

Bonus Beatles: Final Concert at Apple Corps HQ → HERE

Bonus Gene Hackman Quote: “The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways.”

SHAMELESS PLUGS

I’ve been working on a Thursday update, called “Thankful”. Think of it as a boost of good news to fuel the end of the week. Latest edition → HERE

WHAT I’M READING NOW

For Improvement: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a… ?by Mark Manson

**One sentence review: “Talk about a refreshing reset to the conversation about not listening to the noise and nonsense around us.”??

Embracing my inner history nerd: Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

**One sentence review: “One of the most compelling authors of our time immerses the reader in the relationships formed and forged under withering fire.”

For an Escape: With A Mind To Kill by Anthony Horowitz

**One sentence review: “In a return to the Cold War at its most frigid, notorious British spy James Bond goes deep undercover in the Soviet Union to sample vodka and caviar while saving the world from the brink of nuclear winter.”

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO AS I WRITE

Today I’m listening to a mix of Stevie Ray Vaughn and John Lee Hooker. Both are highly recommended. → Hooker cameo in the Blues Brothers… CLICK

WHAT I WATCHED

I rewatched the Brad Pitt baseball movie Moneyball and it continues to hold up after its release in 2011. Based on the book by Michael Lewis, the movie tells the story of the 2002 Oakland A’s as it attempts to use a new set of statistical metrics to build a contending team on a miniscule budget. Pitt plays general manager Billy Beane while his numbers guy is played with enthusiasm by Jonah Hill. It’s always a fun look back at a remarkable time. I covered about 10 Oakland A’s games that year as an onsite game day reporter for a wire service and distinctly remember being in the scrum around Beane when he announced the Ricardo Rincon trade in the press box. Moneyball is currently playing on Showtime.

CLIP OF THE WEEK

In honor of Phil Collins’ birthday, watch one of his most unhinged covers.? → ?WATCH

MY GIF TO YOU

For those wanting a live shot of me completing this newsletter… → CLICK

QUOTABLE

“If you don't know where you're going, any road'll take you there.”

Lewis Caroll, Author

THIS WAY OUT

Thanks for reading the latest edition of my Work In Progress newsletter. My goal is to spread inspiration and hope in a world that needs both more than ever. My goal is to release these newsletters each Monday - because who doesn’t need a shot of good news to start the work week? Look for a new article on my timeline later this week. Special thanks to Kim Kaupe and Terry Rice for encouraging me to launch this into the universe. As always, feedback is welcomed!