Maybe you’ve been following the story of SpaceShjp One since Scaled Composites chased (and won!) the Ansari X Prize back in 2004 for successfully taking a manned craft beyond the boundary of space twice in two weeks, and then through Richard Branson’s acquisition of the craft and the founding of Virgin Galactic. Maybe you saw the press about the tragic desctruction of SpaceShipTwo during testing. And you might have even seen that they recently completed a powered test flight of the replacement vehicle. This long read article covers the history, but through the lens of one of the test pilots. It’s a fascinating perspective on this 21st century space race that you might have missed.

Is Elon Musk our Henry Ford? Or Thomas Edison? Or Preston Tucker? However you think of him and his accomplishments, it’s hard to argue he has recently been going through a rough patch. His companies (Tesla, SpaceX) are doing great, but the man behind them seems to be feeling the brunt of the pressure he’s taken onto his shoulders. And from this unusually frank interview, it’s clearly taking a toll.

This. I so want to do this.

I adore Atlas Obscura for its collection of odd and unusual locations, often nearby places you’ve never been. I’m lucky/blessed/unreasonably proud of the fact that I’ve ridden the coast from Long Beach to the top of Washington and there’s only one place on this list I’ve actually gone (the Chandelier tree). I was further shocked to see the FRICKEN MAMMOTH RUBBING ROCKS are seriously 10 minutes from my house and I haven’t been there!!! That needs to be rectified post haste! And while summer winds down and we resist the siren song of these adventures, noting our depleted vacation hours, please take a few minutes and enjoy this virtual road trip and, you know, maybe put some markers on a map for a trip next year. Or this fall…

Because, naturally, you’ll need some reading material for your virtual road trip…

This one hit my sweet spot right now. I can’t explain what has lately been drawing me to the desert, but it’s undeniable. This list of books draws from varied genres and the books themselves are neither dry nor, obviously, unending.

It’s been a crazy political week/month/year/term. We seemingly have more scandals in a week than we’ve had in twenty years.

It’s exhausting.

Take a deep breath.

Now click on the above link and read about what former President Jimmy Carter’s days are like. No, let me help you: here’s the first three paragraphs:

Jimmy Carter finishes his Saturday night dinner, salmon and broccoli casserole on a paper plate, flashes his famous toothy grin and calls playfully to his wife of 72 years, Rosalynn: “C’mon, kid.”

She laughs and takes his hand, and they walk carefully through a neighbor’s kitchen filled with 1976 campaign buttons, photos of world leaders and a couple of unopened cans of Billy Beer, then out the back door, where three Secret Service agents wait.

They do this just about every weekend in this tiny town where they were born — he almost 94 years ago, she almost 91. Dinner at their friend Jill Stuckey’s house, with plastic Solo cups of ice water and one glass each of bargain-brand chardonnay, then the half-mile walk home to the ranch house they built in 1961.

Go read the rest. It is salve for out battered and bruised national consciousness.

An extra because, well, farewell Aretha Franklin: