The 1982 Song That Nailed 2026
5M Fridays | Matt Tillotson
A grounded robin, an X detox, sprint science, Donald Fagen's 1982 warning, and a better question for midlife.
The Map
There’s a robin, Michigan’s state bird, hanging out at ground level in our backyard. By the deep coloring it seems to be male. Wings look ok. He’s not particularly afraid of us, though he did flap to the top of the shed when our dog, Lucy, paid a visit.
I can’t tell if his ground stop is by choice or circumstance. He hops around eating worms and getting water drops off garden leaves.
Robins are often the first sign of spring Michiganders seek. But not all robins are migratory. Some hang around all winter, congregating in wooded areas and eating berries instead of bugs and worms.
Maybe he stays at ground level because that’s where the eating is best.
The Machine
I’m addicted to X.
How can we hear own insights and ideas if we’re incessantly stuffing the ideas2 of others into our brains, one on top of the other, until any voice of our own is buried in an algorithmic avalanche?
Two nights ago, I started an experiment. No social apps, just a book when I went to bed3.
I read books on my iPhone and Mac4. That first night, the urge to stop and scroll X erupted, over and over. I felt disconnected from the world, from its energy, by not reading tweets. It was a powerful sense of loss. Almost mourning.
The next night was easier. And I didn’t feel the need to scroll much during the day, either. Maybe this habit is easier to break than it seems. Maybe I don’t have to spend a month rocking back and forth in a cold sweat. A small change can snowball, and I hope to hear myself again.
The Muscle
This week, I inserted a round of stationary bike sprints (4 rounds, 30-seconds all-out effort, 45 second recovery) in the middle of my 2-hour “zone two5” elliptical session.
Turns out there may be something to that:
In English, this means the study showed improved fat burning and vascular efficiency without lengthening muscle recovery time.
Of course, this study was with an even longer workout: 4 hours on a stationary bike, with three rounds of 3 x 30 second sprints, using elite-level trained athletes.
But we could expect some improved fat burning, even in a session like mine, which was less intense than used the one in the study.6
The Music
To my knowledge you cannot wear out a digital file. But my copy of this song may disprove that theory.
It’s “I.G.Y.”, by Donald Fagen, from the 1982 album The Nightfly. It’s pure Fagen — jazzy yacht rock, glimmering and celebratory on the surface, but all sarcasm and mockery underneath.
“I.G.Y” is a criticism of blind faith in progress and technology that fits 2026 almost too well.
The Middle
Midlife is a time for re-evaluation. Every time I read or hear a variation on “What are they gonna do? Reinvent themselves at [INSERT MIDDLE AGE HERE], I laugh a little and think, “They better.”
I had to do it at 48. Might be doing it again at 52. And I suspect there will be many more reinventions to come. I hope so.
In Depth Over Noise, Karun Pal writes about living a slower, deeper, more intentional life. In it, he shares a question that’s better for driving reinvention than asking, “What is my life’s purpose”:
When you ask “ What is the purpose of my life,“ you will look for an answer in the outside world.
[…]
When you ask yourself “How do I want to live my life,” it aligns you with your inner truth. It shows you your needs.
Social media shoves you toward the first question and feeds you infinite answers, none of which are genuine to you. And that obscures your ability to get real answers—your answers—to question two.
Photo credit: my wife. Who also found the bird to begin with.
Ideas is charitable. Propaganda, clickbait, ragebait, AI slop. If only it were just ideas.
Theo of Golden. Pretty good, so far. And I read some comics. They unwind my mind.
I love the idea of physical books. And bookstores. But I read digitally. It’s so much more convenient.
Fitness speak for, “Not going that hard.”
Consult your doctor, I’m just a bald guy at Planet Fitness, etc.