Just A Peck 0014 // Shark is Broken, Rebel Threads, Dance TV
Welcome to the latest issue of Just A Peck. I’m glad you’re here! New issues come out most Sundays. Unsubscribe at any time.
WHAT I'M EXCITED ABOUT THIS WEEK
The Shark is Broken opens this week! I love this show and the team of talented artists with whom I get to collaborate to bring it to life. It’s a special show for me. I hope you get a chance to see it. There are a handful of tickets left, and they’re available here.
My amazing friend Sasha is starting an awesome new makerspace for “Fashion Rebels & Creative Souls” called Rebel Threads. It’s soft launching this week to a select group, but stay tuned in the near future for announcements about classes, events, and services.
The newest episode of Dance TV hits the Zeitgeist stage this week. Dance TV is a series of live theatrical productions that take you behind the scenes of a fictional hit television show, and if you’ve never experienced one before, you’re missing out. It’s palpable sweaty joy embodied. Tickets available here.
My friend Luke has a spooky new all-ages book out called Ghost Town Run. Luke is a talented multi-hyphenate who, among other things, has a one-man band called Zeb Or Zeke and the Run Away Screamings in which he plays multiple instruments and sings songs about Scooby Doo. He also wrote and designed the single best escape room I’ve ever played. I’m excited to see how his inimitable brilliance translates to novel form.
QUICK LINKS
- The Golden Age of Movie Novelizations
- Dot Matrix Printer Fonts
- Books in Unusual Forms
- Winners of the 2025 Bird Photographer of the Year
- Wes Anderson's Impossible Dreams
- Infinite Backpack Travel
- Bad UX Date Picker Competition
- Hacker Laws
- The original 1982 book cover of The Running Man
JOURNAL
A lot of my week has been spent in rehearsal for Shark, but I’m also doing prop design and scenic dressing, so here are a few photos of the things I’ve been working on.
I went to see the Duluth Playhouse Family Theater production of Sleepy Hollow. It was well done, and -despite the long days- Kaylee was rightfully proud of her work on this one.
There’s a scene in Shark where Shaw, Dreyfuss, and Scheider play the card game “Oh Hell” while waiting for the shark to be fixed. We decided to stay after rehearsal on Friday to play as a production team. I forgot to take a picture during the game, but here are a few of us under the marquee afterwards.
What I watched:
- One Battle After Another (2025). Wow. I mean...wow.
What I’m reading:
- FINISHED: How To Stand Up To A Dictator. I read this one for book club. Maria Ressa is an inspiring figure, but the book might have been more accurately titled "How I stood up to a dictator and despite being one of the most influential people in my country with my own media platform, decades of journalistic good will, a Nobel Peace Prize, and the support of huge celebrities, I still couldn't stop the inevitable slide into fascism so someone like you doesn't stand a chance".
- Middlemarch, Eliot
- Vineland, Pynchon
MEMORIES
Five Years Ago:
Five years ago this week, I helped my friend Robert launch his Covid-era business, Gumbo Boi. Here’s a photo of the moment he pressed the button to activate the website for orders.
MY FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Work as hard and as much as you want to on the things you like to do the best. Don't think about what you want to be, but what you want to do."
-- Richard Feynman
That’s it for this week. Stay safe, friends. Thanks for reading!