Season 3, Issue 8: ASMR

Saul Bass & Good Enough Baby Toys

1. The Week That Was

Summer is here and school’s out (well, my kids still have a week and a half left but the high-schooler doesn’t need attend most days––why?). During the next six weeks, Good Enough’s productivity will take a hit as some of us embark on vacations. Fear not, dear friends––the summer swelter will not stop us from delivering this exceptional newsletter and providing you with informative updates and engaging content.

In the past week: Lettini enjoyed a family vacation exploring the southern shores of New Jersey; Barry made a television appearance and still managed to find time to do some quacking at Good Enough; James packed up some exciting hardware for us as he prepared for his journey to the Americas; Arun wasn’t feeling well but he’s better now and has been fearlessly learning about native apps; Patrick had ants in his router (!?); and I’m finishing up the zine (titled, A Good Enough Zine). Here’s proof of us being Internet Professionals:

Yesterday the six of us had a video meeting. We traded stories about slot machines and turtle stew, and Patrick played his trombone. The next time all six of us will gather in a virtual room together will be in August. 🥲

We wish you a delicious weekend. ––SL

2. “I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares”

Saul Bass, world famous creator of excellent movie title sequences:

The fact of the matter is, I want everything we do, that I do personally, that our office does to be beautiful. I don’t give a damn whether the client understands that that’s worth anything, or whether the client thinks it’s worth anything, or whether it is worth anything. It’s worth it to me. It’s the way I want to live my life. I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares.

Watch the full interview. –JA

3. Column or Snippet

I expected the arrival of my children to be accompanied by lots of stuff, but nothing completely prepared me for the never-ending stream of colorful plastic flowing into my house via the grandmother pipeline. Some of the toys are great, but a lot of them just end up in the landfill after a few hours of use.

I thought I’d use my space in this newsletter to tell you about some recent additions to our collection of things, and whether or not those things are Good Enough so you can avoid the same mistakes we were gifted.

1000% Good Enough

• Bee Happy Narwhal Bubble Machine ($8.99 @ Aldi)Immediately set the kids off chasing after an impressive barrage of small bubbles, at least until the dangerous part of the swing set caught their attention. 6 minutes of peaceful play is 1000% GOOD ENOUGH

• Claire’s Club Light-Up Unicorn Wand ($8.99 @ Claire’s)These were an instant hit with my daughter and her cousins, but many of the lights stopped working after just a few MINUTES of real kid™ playtime. If your toy generates tears in the first 5 minutes it is most certainly NOT GOOD ENOUGH 

• Disney Encanto Sing-along Boombox ($29.99 @ Target)Disney obsesses over every last detail in their movies, but they’ll slap their name on any piece of junk and call it a toy. A heavy, $30 boombox that only plays one song over and over with an attached microphone that sounds like it was stolen from a NYC subway car is not a toy and it is definitely NOT GOOD ENOUGH

• Fisher-Price Sing-Along Microphone ($16.95 @ Wal-Mart)This microphone also only plays one song, but it’s small and light and when my daughter sings along with it she thinks she’s frickin’ Lady Gaga, which is most definitely GOOD ENOUGH

Happy shopping! ––PF

4. In Conclusion

Never could I have imagined we would publish a Professional Newsletter in which the words “light up unicorn wand” appear, but here we are. ––SL