(Sometimes, you gotta use the weirdest subject line you can. I’ll give you a clue – it relates to something in this email – honest!)
Firstly, I hope you and your loved ones are keeping well, that you’re looking after yourself and – more importantly – not freaking out too much.
While I was out walking my dog yesterday, I tried to come up with some ways we could be grateful for all this.
Not grateful for all the punch-ups, aggression and anger that seems to be rife (though I have to admit, it’s great to be able to see UFC-quality action in my local Tesco!), but the conditions we find ourselves saddled with:
- Staying in,
- Being advised not to see friends,
- Self-isolation
These all sound like horrific conditions (unless you’re an introvert, in which case, they sound like absolute bliss).
“There has to be something to be grateful for in all this…”, I thought. “There has to be an opportunity here!”
And, of course, there is. Opportunity is everywhere at all times. Having the Corona Virus sweep through the planet is no different.
I tried to make a serious point about this in the last email, so, for this email, let’s change tack…
LET’S HAVE SOME FUN!
Two weeks of social isolation provides an ideal opportunity to mess with people.
Not in an evil or vindictive way (though, for some people, that might be a good route to go), but in a fun, practical joke kinda way.
A fortnight is the perfect amount of time it takes to master some awesome, but low level, skills – IN SECRET.
The kind of skills you can use to freak out your friends!
If you’re stuck inside, how about you learn something you can have a bit of fun with when humanity returns to normal?
(well, as normal as humanity gets with Donald Trump and BoJo at the helm!)
How many of your friends could you freak out if you secretly learned how to solve the Rubik’s Cube?
Both of these skills are relatively easy to pick up but SEEM massively impressive.
“Oh yeah? How easy exactly?”
Very, it turns out.
I learned to juggle during an inset day at school (that probably goes some way to explaining my shocking GCSE results) and I managed to memorise a simple method for solving the cube in about 5 hours of watching a YouTube video.
In two weeks, you’ll probably be able to juggle… chainsaws, on a unicycle…
…WHILE solving the Rubik’s Cube!
Don’t want to learn how to solve a Rubik’s cube or how to juggle three small beanbags?
No problem.
How cool would it be if, after two weeks, you could:
- Twirl a pen?
- Whistle with your fingers?
- Pick a lock?
- Play one song perfectly on an instrument?
- Say the alphabet backwards?
There’s all manner of cool shit you could learn in 14 days.
The first part is learning it.
The second part is not letting your friends know that you’ve learned it, and then planning how you’re going to freak them out!
Imagine how cool it would be if, in a month, you pop round to your friends and see a jumbled-up Rubik’s cube on a bookshelf?
“What’s this?”, you remark, picking it up and twisting it. You continue casually turning it, pleading ignorance until you solve it and hand it back to them, as you say, “That’s a cool kids toy”…
This freaks people out.
I know this because it’s exactly what I did when I learned to solve the cube.
I’m a terrible friend.
You can do the same with juggling balls or the instrument you’ve been secretly practising on.
Put the work in, learn the skill and then freak out your friends.
It’s worth spending two weeks in social isolation, just to see their reactions!
Anyway, if you don’t fancy learning any of those skills, then you might want to check out the recently enlarged “GOOGLE DRIVE OF AWESOMENESS!!!!”, as I’ve added a new video (and some slides) to the “Five Days To Funny” Folder.
The “Five Days to Funny” pack is presently for sale for £9 on the site, but – for a limited time – you can grab it for nowt, just by clicking the link. It’s my way of saying, “thanks for being a subscriber”…
… and “sorry, I don’t have anything new and shiny to give you to distract you from all this Corona shite!”
That’s all for this week unless self-isolation gives me any new ideas that I deem worthy of your attention (it probably won’t).
Don’t be afraid to reach out if you think I can be of any help, or if you just need to vent. I’m here and happy to help where I can. As far as I’m concerned, we’re all in this together. 🙂
Look after yourself and take care,
John
P.S. Can’t be bothered scrolling up to find the link for the GOOGLE DRIVE OF AWESOMENESS!!!!? No worries – here it is!