Hey y'all,
To make a long story short, here are the most important things to know:
I've changed the name of this publication from 1kcrane to Overdubbed.
I'm reviving the newsletter! On the first Friday of every month starting this February, I'll be sending out a collection of music, film, and reading recommendations plus any other links I think you should know about.
Hello Overdubbed!
To expand on my last post: I've made some changes. Most notably, I've changed the name of this publication and the website. This was for a few reasons:
I broke the streak
1kcrane was inspired by a personal challenge to journal everyday for 1,000 days which I completed in March of 2024. I launched the site the following day with the goal of doing another 1,000 days, only publishing my progress this time. I didn't make it that far because I broke my streak. It wasn't exactly intentional but turns out it was much needed.
I had already been reconsidering my thoughts on streaks, first with sobriety and then with journaling—the two things I've cared enough to track. I came to the conclusion that after doing something for long enough, it becomes a normal part of the day like anything else: sleeping, eating, drinking water, whatever.
It's clear to me now that early in the process, counting days was helpful and likely necessary to keep momentum, but at a certain point, holding on to that became more of a stressor than anything. As the days continued to rack up, a nagging internal voice kept growing louder, "One of these days you're going to miss." And it was right. After 1280 days, I finally missed.
It happened while on a trip to Missouri to visit family for Christmas. Somewhere between waking up at 3 AM, the 12 hours on the road, and getting settled in for the night, I forgot to write. I didn't realize until the next morning and it turned out that my fears of how I'd react if I missed a day didn't come true, quite the opposite—I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. I took the rest of the year off from journaling, getting back to it on New Year’s Day with a renewed energy. That first journaling session saw me getting clear on my writing goals moving forward.
New goals
With the streak broken, the name 1kcrane didn't make sense to keep anymore, which I had already begun to realize during my extended absence from publishing.
The name was important to me but never felt quite right as the name for the publication. It always seemed like it would lend itself better to a project that publishes every day, or at least more frequently than I did. Then the 7 months and change I spent working on The Compendium showed me how much I enjoy deep dives and how much I didn't enjoy publishing weekly like I had been. I knew I enjoyed the recommendation aspect of a newsletter, just not at the frequency I was trying to maintain.
When I put these two things together, I suddenly felt clear on what I wanted my output to look like in a way I hadn't experienced when I first launched the site. And around that same time, I stumbled upon this post that helped me distill it even further.
Fascinated by the idea of the 'Elevator Pitch'—how can I describe my goal clearly and in a hopefully click-worthy way in as few words as necessary? This is what I came up with:
Behind the name
I often get overwhelmed with the abundance of content out there—how many albums, movies, and books there are then choosing what to engage with next. I’ve decided after years of a ‘fumble around in the dark’ approach that I needed a road map to follow, and deep dives are how I plan to do so.
After finishing The Compendium and seeing the list of works that inspired just one artist, I became fascinated with how certain art influences other art. I would find a lyric referencing something and remember it being referenced in several other songs from different artists. I thought there must be something to those few key pieces then and to better understand the artists I enjoy, I should probably also engage with those works. I could then document my journey of doing so, adding to. That then pairs nicely with sending out a monthly list of recommendations, essentially putting together a multimedia mixtape.
This is where the new name came from.
From Collins Dictionary:
overdub
2. the addition of new sound to a recording; the blending of various layers of sound in one recording
Because art is more than just the art itself. It's just as much about our relationship with it—how it informs our work to then hopefully inspire others. It's a constant overdubbing of what we love, to forge a link in the long chain of influence. And this is my attempt to explore and to participate in that.
The newsletter starts back up in February.
Talk soon!
-Pierce