Midyear
Questions for reflection, blog updates, and the song of the summer? 🎵
Welcome. This week, we pose a few questions you may find helpful to reflect on, share a few updates about
and this community, and focus on songs of the summer in the media embed. Let’s jump in!Midyear reflection
It’s somehow already the end of June. The year is half over and there are 26 weeks left in 2024. As you go about your weekend, I invite you to pause and reflect on your year so far—and look forward.
Here are a few questions to consider as you do this. I encourage you to answer these honestly for yourself. And, if you’re comfortable sharing with others, please do so others can celebrate with you and help you create the life you want this year.
Reflecting on 2024 so far ⬅
What have you accomplished?
What had you hoped to do that you haven’t yet been able to do?
What has brought you joy?
What is something you want to remember?
Looking forward ➡
What would you like to accomplish in the second half of this year?
Where do you need help?
Who or what do you want to invest more time in?
What is something you are looking forward to or excited about?
If you’d like to discuss in a more personal space, join us in the chat.
Blog updates
Yesterday was the last business day of the quarter at work. I thought now might be a good time, mid-year and all, to highlight a few things around
:🌐 Moved to our own domain: Bryce's Blog now has an easy-to-remember URL: bryces.blog. (We are still available via email, on the web, and in the Substack app).
🔗 I published a page collecting all of our Series, which is linked at the top of the Themes page, so it’s easy to find and share (as some of you have done with our recent series on Toronto).
📝 I’m using Notes more. Mostly sharing (restacking) and occasionally original notes. I’m still very much trying to figure out my relationship with Notes (perhaps you are, too?). This note has been my most popular to date:
Community
📈 Our numbers continue to grow. We currently have 156 subscribers (up from 58 a year ago at this time) — and still 100% organic.
International
🌎 We’ve gotten more global. We now have subscribers in 27 countries, up from 14 a year ago with expansion in Africa, Asia and Europe. Here is a comparison of our community’s global footprint today (top) and one year ago (bottom):
To all of our newer subscribers, welcome. I’m so grateful for your interest and encourage you to share your unique perspectives with our community.
United States
🌎We now have readers in a majority of the US. We now have subscribers in 30 US states, up from 17 a year ago. Here is a comparison of our community’s US footprint today (top) and one year ago (bottom):
I find it fascinating to watch how these maps evolve over time and will likely share these with you annually so you can see how our community is evolving, too.
Readership is about ~50/50 (56% US, 44% outside the US). It’s been gratifying to discover some of our most active subscribers are in, for example, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, India, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Thank you to each and every one of you! I enjoy hearing from readers. Let me know what you're enjoying, what you’d like more of, and less of.
🎵 Media Embed: Song of the summer?
It’s officially summer in the Northern Hemisphere. What will be the song of the summer this season? If you have a pick, let us know. Perhaps there will be some friendly banter in the comments. :)
I was driving the other day and listening to a catchy song that seems an early contender: Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter.
It has that summer vibe and I’ve been enjoying it.
I also heard a song that seemed to only have one line:
I'm looking for a man in finance
Trust fund, 6'5", blue eyes
-Lyrics to Man in Finance by Girl on Couch (source)
When I first heard the tune, I didn’t know the backstory It’s kind of crazy how a satirical 19 second TikTok posted two months ago blew up to become a song with David Guetta and others. The creator, Megan Boni (known as Girl On Couch), was working in sales at the time and has now signed a record deal and been featured by the BBC, Billboard, People, and Vogue. I’m not a fan of the song but I wish her well. Per the BBC:
She says she was also offered a deal to make a full album but decided to turn it down.
“I was like: ‘what makes you think I can write a song? What makes you think I could write an album?’” she says.
“I’m such an unserious person.
“I don't fit. I’m just not interested in writing music.”
…
Once the hype dies down, she says, acting and comedy are what she really hopes to pursue.
“It was never my dream to be a musician,” she says.
“I'm so lucky that this happened but I'm really trying to use it to do something that I love.
“My dream would be to be on Saturday Night Live. That's the goal.”
She admits she feels a “little bit bad” about her overnight success though.
“Some artists try to get a record deal their whole lives and I was just sitting on my couch,” she says.
“But that's how it happens, it's how the internet works. It's wild.”
Indeed.
Go deeper
Song of the summer
2024
Who will have the 2024 song of the summer? We offer some predictions (AP News)
Every contender for song of the summer, from Sabrina Carpenter to Tommy Richman (GQ)
NPR's forecast for the 2024 song of the summer? Lots of country, with a little bit of espresso (NPR)
Because I haven’t had time to create a summer playlist, here’s one from Spotify:
All time
Summer Songs 1958-2023: The Top 10 Tunes of Each Summer (Billboard)
Every song of the summer from the past 48 years (Business Insider)
The 40 greatest summer songs of all time (Time Out)
I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Be well,
-Bryce
Happy to see your newsletter grow Bryce, congratulations! Keep going✨