Field Notes: July 2026
A thought: The Land’s End Rule
An absolute favorite concept of mine is Ron Lieber’s Land’s End Rule (or maybe LL Bean these days given some slippage in Land’s End quality) when consuming, aka what is a reasonable price to pay for an item of good quality and reasonable design.
Consider the cost of a good down jacket that will keep you warm and the price of a Canada Goose parka. That differential in price is not due to base level of function. It may be due to a degree of over-engineering, style, plus a brand premium.
Or on the other hand, consider a winter jacket purchased from a Shein or another of the ultra-fast fashion outfits. That garment is unlikely to last multiple years, and may struggle to make it through a single winter season.
The point is not that it is right or wrong to buy the Land’s End, Canada Goose, or Shein versions of an item. What matters is what you are paying for and if you are aware of it.
In an overdone society, we infrequently hear discussions of the ‘good enough’ point. Instead, new ways to ‘maximize’ are developed. Certainly, Mae West may have been 100% right when she observed that “too much of a good thing can be wonderful.” But in my mind, the operative word in that quote is can. It can be, but it is not a guarantee.
A quote
“As regards intellectual work it remains a fact, indeed, that great decisions in the realm of thought and momentous discoveries and solutions of problems are only possible to an individual, working in solitude.”
-Freud
A book
Most of July was spent finishing Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, which I mentioned last month. A beautiful but hard book tracing the story of a Korean family living in Japan.
In lieu of another book recommendation, I’ll heartily encourage you to watch The Sheep Detectives (now streaming on Prime). Scoring an eye popping 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, this whodunnit features an unlikely set of detectives on the case. Not just a movie for the kids, something for everyone to enjoy.