Potpourri For $100, Jim
Assorted Random Updates On GoodSeed, Narnia, And Thanksgiving HazMat
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” CS Lewis
Hello Extraordinary Person! Happy Saturday! Thanks for stopping by my Substack.
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I took a week off from Substack last week to do the Thanksgiving thing. I hope yours was just what you hoped it would be.
Each year at our house, we seem to end up with a few questionable leftovers in the back of the fridge that eventually become science experiments. We’ll need to get out the hazmat gear today and do some purging.
Some Narnia Stuff
My friend Jon converted the space under his basement stairs and an adjoining storage space into a “secret room” for kids. To access the room, he set a wardrobe in front of the door & filled it with coats. Kids have to pass through the wardrobe to get into the room. I assume a lamp post, a beaver dam, a faun’s cave, etc., will soon follow. I’m looking forward to seeing it.
Speaking of Narnia, there’s been a fairly consistent stream of news about the Netflix/Narnia project. You may know that Netflix acquired the rights to all seven books back in 2018. Narnia nerds have been “poking the lion” ever since to find out what’s become of the project.
The good folks over at Narniaweb are the go-to authorities on this and posted an update a few weeks back. Things are moving along nicely now. Click the image below to get a comprehensive update.
Here’s the lede:
The Magician’s Nephew Opens On IMAX Screens Thanksgiving Day 2026
(BTW: did you know that, when referring to the summarizing point of a news story, the word is lede, not lead? I only recently discovered this….)
GoodSeed In The Trade Winds
Our project to help entrepreneurs raise capital (the subject of many recent Cairns posts) has entered the trade winds - that windless zone where ships make agonizingly slow headway. We’ve had some really encouraging feedback from interested founders, which has helped us realize we don’t yet have the right market-product fit.
In short, there’s still friction in our delivery model. So it’s back to the drawing board to reframe how to address these various sticking points. The good news: the idea/concept seems to be valid. But there’s significant design work yet to be done in order to make this really attractive to founders.
So I’ll continue to bootstrap this for the foreseeable future. I’m chasing down some gig work to keep us going.
Strengthening My Resolve - Because It Falters Daily
We’re in the Christian Advent season, so I’ve been following along with a few readings about how light penetrates the darkness. There are ancient and mysterious truths to be found in the various prophecies about the Incarnation of our Lord.
I’ve been learning (again) how to choose light, how to see light, how to encounter light when darkness seems to engulf.
…God is light, and in Him, there is no darkness at all. - 1 John 1:5 (NASB)
The people who walk in darkness will see a great light…for You shall break the yoke of their burden. Isaiah 9:2-4 (NASB)
It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” - JRRT
What I’m Reading This Week
The Return by Hisham Matar.
When Hisham Matar was a nineteen-year-old university student in England, his father went missing under mysterious circumstances. Hisham would never see him again, but he never gave up hope that his father might still be alive. Twenty-two years later, he returned to his native Libya in search of the truth behind his father’s disappearance. The Return is the story of what he found there. (Amazon )
A Quick Shout Out
Again, thanks to Fika Coffee House in Parker, CO, for becoming the unofficial Cairns hangout. Fika is a Swedish verb which, loosely translated, means “to meet over coffee.” Been doing the majority of my writing/posts there. Shouting out to both locations - thanks for the space and lattes.
Be Swell Extraordinary People!!
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Amen Jerry. God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. Praying for what’s next!