For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a collector. Rocks, stamps, squished pennies, Field Notes, and fountain pens all nicely curated. But my biggest collection of all doesn’t exist in the real world. It’s made of internet ephemera.

ephemera: noun

1. anything short-lived or ephemeral; transitory
2. items designed to be useful or important for only a short time.

Much of what you find in Bird Mail may be of fleeting interest to you; something you glance at, skim, or even skip. That’s okay. Some links you may read and absorb and come back to again and again. Each missive will include one of my “comebacks”, something important I revisit often. You may or may not have to guess which link is a comeback.

Each issue will be on my website, along with more of my findings , so you don’t have to dig through your email if you do want to find something again.

With that little explanation out of the way, welcome to Bird Mail: 000.

• Women’s bike races in the 1890s sound like a blast. I had no idea there was so much fanfare and excitement, or that an amateur seamstress became the pride of American cycling. I’m looking forward to reading the bigger book about Tillie and other pioneers of women’s cycling. If any cycling kit maker can create a “Thistle Team” long-sleeve turtleneck jersey, I’m buying it in a heartbeat.

• 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Bauhaus movement that continues to influence design today. 99Designs had a bunch of designers use Bauhaus principles to redesign modern logos and the results are fantastic. I never expected to like the Walmart logo, and yet… If you want just a little more Bauhaus, check out the Google Doodle.

• Eighteen years ago I joined in as “the wave” went around Safeco Field in Seattle three, four, five times. Ichiro was at the plate. This 27 year old ‘Rookie’ had been playing professional baseball in Japan for almost as many years as I had been alive, but this was his first year in the US. Everyone in that stadium knew we were watching someone special. I dutifully kept score the whole game and saved that scorebook, along with the baseball cards I bought that day. I’m not sure they’ll ever be worth much, but they mean a lot to me. Every time I pack and unpack them I am reminded of the feeling of watching someone so gifted at their craft. Ichiro played his whole career with a finesse unlike any other. Now, at 45, Ichiro has retired from professional baseball.

• It’s hard to believe I’ve been watching this video of Danny MacAskill for ten years. It is definitely showing its age in terms of video quality—and just how far action cameras have come since—but I watch it a few times a year, almost always following it with this.

• I have a confession. I didn’t own my first pair of Joran 1s until I was 27. I still don’t have any Air Max. But I’m kind of a sneaker head. I will never wait in line for hours, or buy sneakers to flip them. I don’t even really have a collection. Sneaker culture, however, fascinates me. Being late to the game I was surprised to learn, many think that it is dying. I’m not entirely convinced that it is dying so much as changing with the times, though the trend of PreachersNSneakers doesn’t really help the cause.

I would love to hear from you if you enjoyed any of these links, or if you have something you think I should add to my collection, feel free to reply to this email!

Thank you for giving me a small space of your email inbox, it is an honor to be here.

You friend,
Bruce