Work In Progress Newsletter
Edition 15 | August 29, 2022

WRITE THIS WAY…
So excited for the launch of edition No. 15 of the Work In Progress newsletter! So nice to see you today. I’m your purveyor of positivity Ryan McCrary. Happy to report that today’s newsletter will not be scrubbed due to a hydrogen leak. 

A heaping helping of good news is inbound in 3… 2… 1

THREE DOTS… GOOD NEWS ONLY
I learned about one of the true pioneers of flight over the weekend… Bessie Coleman became the first Black woman to earn a pilot’s license and American Airlines celebrated the 100th anniversary by fielding an al-black, all-female crew… Parents are very fond of regaling anyone within earshot of walking to school uphill both ways in the snow, etc., but these young, migrant students in Tijuana, Mexico are flourishing despite some remarkable odds… Under the leadership of executive director and founder Estefania Rebellon, “Yes We Can World Foundation” students can learn, grow and hope in a safe environment… My mayor is tougher than your mayor… When a group of Rome High School football players saw a woman trapped in a wrecked car, they took immediate action and made a dramatic rescue… When longtime heavyweight champion of the world Vitali Klitschko became mayor of his hometown Kyiv, Ukraine he could never have anticipated the last six months of pain and suffering… But Klitschko, nicknamed “Dr. Ironfist” has led the fight to defend the largest city in Eastern Europe from Russian invaders… A good night out for $3? Yes, please… September 3 is National Cinema Day and most theaters nationwide will celebrate by offering $3 tickets to all movies… Prediction: Top Gun Maverick will once again take my money.

GOOSEBUMPS
Three months after the tragedy in Uvalde, the Uvalde Coyotes football team won their season opener on an emotional night. → WATCH

LEARN MORE ABOUT BESSIE
Bessie Coleman was iconic. Discover more about this pioneer of flight here → READ.

BEST THING I SAW ON THE ‘GRAM LAST WEEK
Oh my goodness, indeed! Tiger Woods doing Tiger golf things from the fringe as broadcasting legend Vern Lundquist narrates. → WATCH

BEST THING I SAW ON THE TWITTER LAST WEEK
Would a mashup of Christopher Walken dancing be something you might be interested in? Well… good news! → WATCH

OTD – AUGUST 29
Another slow-ish day historically speaking. We will strive to do better next week.

Notable Historical Moments… Hurricane Katrina makes second and third landfall as the category three hurricane devastates all in its path in 2005… Soviet Union performs first nuclear test in 1949.

Notable Curtain Call… The Beatles played their final concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1966. Rare footage alert! → WATCH 

Famous Deaths… Legendary movie tough guy Lee Marvin in 1987… funny thespian and meme legend Gene Wilder in 2016… Silver screen star Ingrid Bergman in 1982.

Famous Birthdays… War hero and politician John McCain (1936-2018)… British actor and filmmaker Richard Attenborough (1923-2014)… King of Pop Michael Jackson (1958-2009).

Bonus Lee Marvin Quote: “I know my career is going badly, because I’m being quoted correctly.”

WHAT I’M READING NOW
For Improvement: Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam

**One sentence review: The Pulitzer Prize winner details the chaos behind the scenes of a truly awful season for the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers.  

BONUS: Bill Walton discusses “Breaks of the Game” on this podcast on The Ringer

For an Escape: Without Fail by Lee Child

**One sentence review: Jack Reacher saves the Vice President of the United States (and surely, democracy) from a would-be assassin in another rolicking adventure.

Embracing my inner history nerd: A History of Warfare by John Keegan

**One sentence review: A brilliant account of the history of war from antiquity to the early 1990s before the War on Terror entered the lexicon. 

WHAT I WATCHED
I have no real idea what prompted this trip down memory lane, but I have watched most of season one of the Rockford Files while working out over the last two weeks. If watching James Garner smoke and drive a sweet, gold Pontiac Firebird doesn’t get you pumped up… My favorite element of the show is the messages left on Rockford’s answering machine to open the show before the excellent theme song rolls. The entire series is available on Freevee and Tubi.

ESCAPE POD
One of my favorite weekly listens is Remarkable People by Guy Kawasaki. One of my favorite recent episodes featured Abraham Paskowitz, a member of the “first family” of surfing. Check out the totally tubular conversation → HERE.

All episodes are available for free on Spotify.

CLIP OF THE WEEK
Bo Jackson demonstrates once again that he is a “strong young man”… Hard to describe what a sensation this man would have been in the social media generation.

MY GIF TO YOU

A live look at me wrapping up another dose of good news as performed by Rocky Balboa…

QUOTABLE
“I used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people that call others weird that are weird.”
– Paul McCartney

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!