Attention Lads and Ladies,

This Friday marks the 1 year anniversary of our first post, a PSA from Darren VondercrÖtch showing us that 2018 New York Fashion Week’s hottest trend was the Fishing Vest. I know at least one Almost Friday editor took this article to heart and flexed with the purchase of a fishing vest of his own. And GOTDAYUMM does he look good! This is just one example of how Almost Friday has bettered the lives of the people on this planet.

It has been an entire year since we started up Almost Friday, and I would be lying to you if I said I wasn’t proud of the website. Over the last year, we’ve learned countless lessons, from how to size your own personal space camera to how to develop your own film. We’ve learned about the war between reality and romance and how self-awareness kills the fine line between social normalcy and creative pursuits. We learned how to get free stuff from Geena Sendejar and why Taylor Thompson must die. We learned about the mysterious career of music phenom Jai Paul and how to make the most out of your stock portfolio with Almost Friday's Hottest Stocks of 2019 (this has actually made a few of us a lot of money). We learned about what Guy Fieri’s platinum locks mean for us as a society and what it means to be an adult. We learned about the best movies of 2018 and got to see Italy through the creative eyes of Chad Werner. We also threw a bitchin’ crawfish boil and made some pretty cool totes. It has been a great year.

Now, without getting into the details of the complex organizational structure of the Almost Friday corporation, which involves several far-reaching arms extending into the world’s of space, automation, tech, agriculture, and just about every other industry you can think of, each led by a Board of Directors, a team of Top C Level Executives, several Liaisons, and of course the peons who do all the dirty work. I, Zach Wayne, the peon who built the website, cannot speak for the entire organization.

However, when I built this website, I wanted to create a space where I could learn about the things that interest my friends. I am a lucky guy who has smart friends with a diverse set of interests ranging from music, to fashion, to poetry, to sports, to movies, to art, to the market, to space, to food and so on and so on. I believe their ideas on these topics are important. Not to mention the stories they have and the lessons they have learned. One of my favorite articles that we have on the site is Naomi Cherian’s retelling of her experience working as a nurse at Chios, Greece’s largest refugee camp. I feel privileged to read these stories.

I also find it weird that we are forced to write so much in school but never get to share that stuff with our friends or write about the things that actually interest us. Part of the motivation behind the site is to be able to see the writing styles of different people. I know so many people with English degrees but have not read a single thing they have ever written. This seems off to me. I talk to my friends all the time, but reading their writing is different. I feel like you get to know another aspect of someone when you read their words. Writing is a creative outlet, and I love to see how people articulate their ideas.

I encourage you to take some time this Friday and read some articles you might have missed this last year. I think they are all amazing and love them all equally. I do not know what the next year has in store for Almost Friday, but I do know that I want to continue to hear from people and spread ideas. Almost Friday is an open platform, and if you have any interest in writing, please reach out to us on IG or email us at almostfriday.info@gmail.com.

Enjoy your Friday!

Zach Wayne