Alchemy / Justin Blackman
Greetings, ladies and gentlemen (the term is to be lavishly applied).
Welcome to Serendipity.
If you are reading this for the first time, the loose premise of these musings can be found in the provenance email from August 2023. If you don’t have time to read it, it can be summarized as an email that could have been a text, which could have been a passing thought, which should have been the end.
In short, it is a newsletter offering deep insights, actionable intelligence and occasional insider trading, while preserving a historically significant record of how one person thought prior to the singularity.
This edition marks three years of this award-qualifying newsletter, which has made me rather reflective about all the good that has come from it. Now that reflection is over, I will continue with my story, which I have embellished significantly to keep your attention and make your LLM summary funny.
Over the last month, I have spent time on both American coasts and can now authoritatively conclude that the West Coast is the best coast. This is no longer up for debate.
The East Coast smells weird, like a combination of pollution and body odor.
The East Coast has a higher per capita rate of miserable restaurant service.
East Coast Ubers don’t work. They make you walk a mile before they pick you up.
It has taken me years to assimilate to the laissez-faire attitudes and “mañana” work ethic of those west of the Rockies. However, after careful reflection, I have realized that being among the European elite of the colonies is exactly the way to go.
The West Coast can see the sun.
The West Coast uses panko instead of pizza dough for breading.
The West Coast will serve you actual sparkling water, not club soda from a Pepsi gun.
To all my friends on the other side of the pond, it might seem as though there are two Americas. This is true: those in the East and those in the West. The people in the middle don’t count or have any say in anything. They mostly vape, eat cows, and watch sports.
California is routinely mocked by the majority of the other 49 states, despite having the fourth-largest economy in the world, ahead of Japan. Its official response to this criticism remains: “Whatevs.”
Obviously, with this level of travel and cultural analysis, I am regularly approached by National Geographic, political pundits and volunteer tourism boards to provide my expert opinion and use my influence to bring economic value to the highest bidder. However, I am happy to report that I have not accepted a single influencer dollar or kickback.
All opinions expressed are my own and those of the most recent Meta algorithm.
On my travels, I tried to answer a late-night call from Steph; it turns out I didn’t and took a blurry screenshot instead. I blame the Guinness.
Moving on.
This month’s attempted serendipitous moment comes courtesy of September 2024 feature JD Carlson, who is currently ignoring June 2027 superstar Jack Raines’s offer to appear on JD’s show. By mentioning it here, I hope JD will apologize to Jack for his aloofness, and Jack will flex his newfound fame by producing a rider so unreasonable that JD has to locate a helmet full of pink M&M’s.
Moving on, on.
This month, I would like to introduce you to a genuine master of puppets. His words are not to be trusted because he is simply too good with them.
Meet Justin Blackman.
Justin Blackman
Justin is a Brand Voice Sherpa. After an exemplary career as a creative for some of the coolest brands around including everyone’s favorite vodka companion - RedBull, Justin set up his own shop to teach people and companies how to find their voice and express it in a way only they can do. He now lives in Atlanta but he can’t hide his New Jersey roots - just get him talking about sports or how people should drive on the highway.
Justin is a deep, thoughtful, and generous person. What enables his wisdom is the levels of emotional and intellectual genius he has access to. The surface is just base camp. To find your true voice, you have to go to the bottom of the ocean - Justin is the only one with a sub that won’t implode.
Wanna take his next class go here
Want him to help you find your own brand voice go here
Want to connect with him on a platform he hates go here
As always thank you so much for spending your precious time with me, it says a lot about how smart you are. The fact that you have these minutes to waste means that you now have to make it up elsewhere which only smart people can do. Good luck out there today - go be smart.