5 Musts for Your Commute: Something New From Kickstarter, Cheryl Strayed Podcast + More!
You guys, we made it to spring! While we haven’t had it as rough on the West Coast as our Eastern counterparts, we’re still pumped about a new season (and Easter). If the first days of spring aren’t getting you out of bed with a rush of excitement — say what?! — for this week’s commute, we’ve rounded up five things that should make the trek to the office somewhat more bearable. Onward, friends!
1. The Cord Cutter Calculator: While we’ve broken down the pros + cons of the various streaming services in the past, The Verge went and created a calculator to easily visualize how much you’ll be paying and what exactly you’ll be getting from each service. Whether you want to mix and match services like Hulu Plus and Sling TV to get all your essential channels or go solo with just Netflix, however you break it down you’ll most likely wind up saving cash without Comcast. Side note: Keep the rumored Apple TV service in the back of your mind while playing with the calculator, since that could be the determining factor for your future online viewing pleasure service.
2. Elevate (Free on iOS + Android): The brain training program helps to improve your focus, speaking abilities, processing speed, memory, math skills and more. So basically it’s high school — let’s be honest, it’s probably better — in an app. The more you train, the more personalized adjustments occur, which in the long run maximizes results. Prep for the workday and train your brain on the train.
3. Dear Sugar Podcast (Available on WBUR + iTunes): The former cult-favorite advice column from The Rumpus is now in audio format and hosted by the original writers of “Dear Sugar.” Those hosts would be author of Wild, Cheryl Strayed and Candyfreak author Steve Almond. Released weekly — with longer episodes on a biweekly basis — the podcast answers everything listeners have questions about, no matter how deep or dark, while offering “radical sympathy” in return. Sounds like a real earworm to us.
4. Kickstarter (Free on iOS): The newly redesigned app for the creative fundraising community is filled with everything you love about the regular site. Discover new projects, watch videos describing them and get updates on Kickstarters, all within the app. If you’re looking to fundraise for your own project, you can do that in the app too. Monitor and stay connected to backers, track the progress of your Kickstarter and even post updates about it. You’ll be so sucked into the beautiful app, you’ll probably end up funding multiple projects before you hit your desk.
5. Follow @ma_aris for Coffee Paintings: There are plenty of talented artists on Instagram — from street and food to nails, we’ve seen a lot. This particular artist is indulging in her morning (and maybe afternoon) cups of Joe through art rather than drinking the caffeinated roasts. By dipping her paint brushes into mugs, or following where the spills take her, she’s brewing up some stunning pop culture portraits that are way better than what’s currently hanging up at your local coffee shop. Is it just the caffeine speaking, or are we on a really great roll of coffee-related Instagrams?
What’s your commute pick this week? Let us know in the comments.
(Photo via Mark Davis/Getty)