Hello, fellow tinkerer 👋 -

It's Thanksgiving week in the U.S.! My kids don't have school, we went to see the Wicked movie, and we tried making fudge out of Stephen Colbert's cookbook (it did not turn out well).

Thanksgiving can be a really loud, overwhelming holiday. I hope you're gentle with yourself this week.

1) Reflection:

Growing up, my dad had a record player and an enormous record collection. We lived in an old farmhouse with grates between the main floor and the second floor that allowed heat to travel between rooms. When playing music from the record player, my dad put speakers over the grates to blast music throughout the house.

My spouse and I also have a record player, in our living room. We put speakers in the kitchen to create a "surround sound" feel, but had to run a wire underneath the floor (through the basement) to connect the speakers. Earlier this year, one of my cats chewed through the wire. I bought a replacement wire, but it's just been sitting next to the record player because I knew it would be an entire chore to set up the wiring again.

This week: we got it done. FINALLY. It was hard, but I'm so excited to have music throughout the house again.

2) Product:

I've been in used record stores before and legit wondered, "Do we already have this album...?" After ending up with two copies of Elton John's Yellow Brick Road, I knew we needed a system.

The Discogs app can help you keep track of your music collection (including a barcode scanner). Although I'd already built a database of music in Airtable by the time I found out about this app...

3) Tip:

Ever been walking through a store and wondered, "What's that song that's playing?" I keep the Shazam app on my phone. It can listen for nearby music and then tell you the title and artist.

Want more ideas?

→ My friend Rachel Meltzer runs a newsletter for freelance digital marketers. She'll send you a free resource every week, plus she shares the exact templates and strategies she uses to sustainably get and keep clients. Check out her newsletter: The Fizz.

→ Do you run a solo or small business? Here's a guide to a holiday season on your terms and how to set some boundaries.

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That's it for this issue of Tinkering! See you again in two weeks.

Cheers,
Anna

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