One of my main takeaways from Netflix’s Salt Fat Acid Heat, based on the book of the same name by Samin Nosrat, is that when you dump salt into your pasta water, your pasta tastes great.

Indeed, pretty much everything needs to be salted more than I thought, at every stage of preparation. Salt makes meat more tender, strengthens dough, and enhances flavor.

I wanted to start a YouTube channel. Here’s the story of why I didn’t (or, why I haven’t yet!), and maybe it can give you an aha for a project you’re stuck on.

It was the summer of 2020 and, like everyone else, I was kind of down and bored and looking for something to do. So I thought I would start a YouTube channel to teach people how to play music by ear.

In studying early Dylan songs, it's interesting how many of them were adapted (or stolen) from hymns and so on.

He would take melodies and write new lyrics to them, or copy the structure of existing lyrics and create a new melody. He also mimicked Woody Guthrie's singing style.

This tactic obviously worked out pretty well for the guy. Taking the long view, all that copying was a shortcut to developing his own creative voice.

Many a guitarist has been spellbound by U2’s 1984 tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., “Pride (In The Name Of Love).

And many a guitarist has wanted to throw their instrument at the wall in frustration after trying to replicate the song’s signature delay-soaked, strummy sixteenth-note riff, as played by U2’s guitarist, the Edge.

Basically, there’s no way you can do it unless you have a board full of effects pedals, plus an electric guitar and amp of sufficient quality. With the right gear, you have a chance at success; without them, you will not.