The Localist

I am fortunate to be part of @david_perell's final Write of Passage as an @jposhaughnessy Fellow. This second essay is the product of David's masterful live sessions and the program's superlative editing team. If you enjoy local travel, join me: thejaunt.substack.com/p/the-joy-of-r…

@HoggNFL Varsity Club!

Just moved to New Berlin, WI. Who do I need to check-in with? What spots do I have to hit up asap?

@yelichfans Id love a couple!

I saw the Brewers Team Store had friendship bracelets that were 3 for $25 (insane price btw) so I thought I’d make my own. These two are for Uecker 💛⚾️💙 Let me know if you’d like one! I can make more Ueck ones, mascots or players. We can meet up at a game or I can ship. I’ll throw in some stickers. Something fun to start the new season! #thisismycrew

@WiscoGrant Wow, what a spectacular road name!

give me a backroad

@WIACJP Back in the day, Hurley and La Crosse were the undisputed kings of per capita liquor licenses. Today, La Crosse may be the best (and cheapest) place to drink per capita in the country.

Best drinking school in America per capita?

In Denver, some folks celebrate Easter at the annual mass at Red Rocks. And…others go to Shotgun Willies?

@dealflow_guy @irentdumpsters @theaymanarab Used to do some marketing work for generator biz in Greensboro. You are darn right this is a hot space.

@irentdumpsters @theaymanarab Dead serious: this is a hot space for M&A. Big transaction just happened. If he can build it up, it will be *very* valuable.

I started this business for my dad for fun I’m actually starting to think it’s scalable lol Made this man $150 in 15 minutes PROFIT

@m_atoms Denver!

Check it out: republic.civlab.org You can also sign up to get custom daily or weekly reports about your neighborhood and the latest political news.

Introducing Republic - the best way to monitor the situation in your city. Track political news, crime, permits, events, community groups, and more across the city and in your neighborhood!

@gmovestr @mrfboyer Estes Park, yes. No filming was done in Aspen.

@thelocalist @mrfboyer …& Aspen, & Estes Park…

Living in Breckenridge would actually suck. Living in Dillon would be ok. Silverthorne is fine. Frisco makes sense. But Breck? Tells me you’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.

Love how my fifth grader has been getting so excited by @NASA Artemis II launch. She designed her concept for a Mars living module for the Artemis IV launch with a little love for @projecthailmary

@david_perell @TyDunne Wright Thompson is the 🐐

"One great detail will do the work of 50 crappy sentences." Wright Thompson is one of the last great magazine writers in America. He's long been a writer at ESPN, and if you love sports, you've almost definitely read his work. Maybe his profile of Tiger Woods. Or maybe the one about Michael Jordan. Some highlights: - "When somebody says something is overwritten, it really just means that the story is underreported." - Profiles are about figuring out what is a central complication of somebody's life and how, on a daily basis, they go about solving it. - "All of these stories, the few good ones I've written... I think these stories are like a prayer for empathy, to try to understand each other, to understand another human being a little bit at a time. Then slowly, thread by thread, you understand yourself." - On writing well: "One of the things that's missing is that nobody wants to hear what I have to say, which is just reps. Zen is a butt in a seat. There's no mystery. It's just reps." - "I wish someone had told me years ago that if you're going to be a professional writer for decades, writing is not going to be about words, but it's going to be about architecture. Only when you really understand how things fit together and move can you then actually be thinking about the words." - "All writing is trying to say something new that is true and is both specific and universal and that helps the reader understand something they didn't understand before, preferably about themselves." And here are the timestamps: 1:50 Writer's vomit vs. writer's block 8:33 The architecture of writing 11:30 What makes for a good story? 15:57 Bringing characters to life 21:11 "The hammer" 26:26 Writing a vivid scene 33:41 How to bring places to life 39:57 Dialogue vs. quotes 45:49 The role of secondary characters 51:44 The problem with "brainstorming" 1:02:13 What makes for a great ending? I've shared the full conversation with Wright Thompson below. If you'd rather watch on YouTube, or listen to the full thing on Apple / Spotify, check out the reply tweets.

@PatrickHeizer I missed this series as a kid but just brought the book to my 11-year-old daughter. She wants to read together so we are both going to read the first one at the same time. I cannot wait.

The Redwall books were one of the most impactful books of my childhood, shaping my views on life, friendship, values, and, importantly, good food. I can't wait to share them with my daughters, while we snack on candied chestnuts from our farm.

@coreyganim Umm. How do you “track customer acquisition” for a brand or company you are pitching to? You’d have no clue what viewers converted.

the AI version of what Kevin is describing: 1. pick a niche (dentists, gyms, med spas, roofers) 2. use Claude to research their competitors, audience, and top-performing content 3. build a content system that creates 30 days of short-form ads in one afternoon 4. run the ads. track customer acquisition weekly. show them the numbers. 5. charge $3-5K/mo per client because you're not selling "content," you're selling customers Kevin says these people make $250-500K/yr doing this manually. with AI handling the research, scripting, and repurposing, you can run 5-10 clients at once instead of 2-3. same skill. 3x the capacity. no team needed.

@Julian This. Is. Insanely. Freakin’. Awesome. Great work! Amazing idea.

Today, I built the coolest thing I've ever made. It's a reverse job board: Tell it what interests you most in life, and you'll match with the world's most exciting hardware startups (from robotics to lasers) that are a dream fit. Free. See below.

@SahilBloom I love Franklin. Captivated me ever since I took a high school 4-H trip there. As a history lover, I absolutely loved seeing Franklin battlefield.

I ran 12 miles through the backroads of Franklin, Tennessee early this morning. I think this may be on my list of best places to live. Beautiful scenery. Peaceful, open spaces. Quiet, but near a fun, lively city. Proximity to a major airport. Nice weather but still some seasons.

@BartWinklerShow Can you circle the best tavern for me?

This is French Island, WI

@timmmess @bstokley14 @markschlereth @byesline @I_CU_boy Classic. I saw the same psy-ops about San Francisco and other large cities that have experienced rampant crime and homelessness. Unfortunately, there is a lot happening in Denver right now that is trending in the wrong direction and a pic of City Park Golf Course won't fix it.

@bstokley14 @markschlereth @byesline @I_CU_boy Who would ever want to live here? This place sucks just ask Stokley.

@moizali Now that it was featured in T&L, you better get there quicker, but Costa Vicentina in Portugal looks like a winner. travelandleisure.com/costa-vicentin…

Any suggestions for underrated vacation spots in Europe? Looking for: - Not filled with just tourists - Great food - Beach that you can swim in - Locals friendly to out of towners

@dickiebush @moizali I second this one. One of the most spectacular bays/fjords I've ever seen. We drove from there down into Albania and then up to Sarajevo for one of the most incredible road trips I've ever done. All locals!

@moizali Kotor Bay, Montenegro

@thesamparr You want @returntoquality — unslop.shop

A niche but cool biz: USA made cool swag. I’m trying to buy stuff for Hampton. Want chore jacket, denim, sweater, bag…anything like that. Our logo with a cool background story. Hard to find.