🍦 Ice Cream Merch + a new bookstore brand 📚
Newsletter #016
This blog was adapted from my monthly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here.
Bad week for my AC to go out, but that’s neither here nor there. Here’s 10 things worth sharing:
We made some fresh new merch for National Ice Cream Day at Fairway Creamery. If you haven’t been there, you should check it out! Starting July 19, when you grab a waffle cone you can also get a trucker hat designed by Hot Diggity Dog. (Also shirts, stickers, and more items soon!!!)
-We had a blast at the Overland Park Art Fair last month. We met lots of cool people, used our sticker machine for the first time, and sold out of “Hot Dog Weather” t-shirts. We will have a fresh batch of those shirts next week, follow along on instagram to be the first to know.
-Andy Pizza on the exaggerated A.I. hype: “We think we’re listening to technology people, but we’re actually listening to sales people… and we don’t hear the difference.” Loved his convo with Cal Newport, author of Slow Productivity.
-“The first law of holes: If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” I just finished my first full year of reading The Daily Stoic and have come across several mantras like this. Some get stuck in my head for weeks at a time. I really like the book, it’s a great routine to start my day with a solid mindset before the doomscroll begins.
-Baseball Take: No-hitters only count if it’s a single person for nine innings. A combined no-hitter is the same as if 4 guys batted for the cycle. It feels very pedestrian to me…
-“Americans need to fight more seriously about things that are less serious.” Trevor Noah and Kareem Rahma (Subway Takes) on how arguing is just a fun pastime in other cultures.
-I am once again asking why everything has to be so serious? The kids watched every episode of Suite life of Zach and Cody this month and it makes me LOL every few minutes. I can’t name one show from 2026 that is this funny. It also makes me miss the days when we could light-heartedly poke fun at rich people – maybe we’re so fed up with billionaires that even London Tipton is too much… (p.s. - our fave episodes featured Jesse McCartney and Zac Efron)
-“When you add up all the tikking, tokking, tweeting and clicking, what’s the return on that investment? Is your vacation more fun when you spend it taking photos for your Instagram followers?” Seth Godin on free labor for the tech bros.
-Two of my favorite music videos lately: Sierra Ferrel soulfully sings Don’t Let Me Down and Olivia Dean’s joyful rendition of This Will Be
-The studio is now booking for August! We’ve just wrapped up several brands that we’re really proud of. Keep an eye out for the announcements – and reach out if you’re cooking up something new 💡
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Cheers,
Justin
Coming Soon: Well Read Bookstore
Our friends at Well Read are opening this summer in Downtown Lee’s Summit. Molly and I just wrapped up their adventure-filled bookish brand, inspired by the 1890’s storefront. We’ll share more soon 🐰