Hi ,

This newsletter seems to be a bimonthly these days. I honestly don't know what I'm doing with it, but several friends and family members told me they read and asked me where it is, so I am. I hope you're well and had an awesome summer! I know it's not precisely over, but next week is back to school, and the weather isn't that great in Paris.I just got back home from a trip with family, which was both sad in many ways, and great in others. It was my third time going this summer actually. My aunt Arlette (my mom's cousin, really) in Spain was diagnosed with a triple cancer at the end of the lockdown. She spent the lockdown in excruciating pain, not being able to see a doctor because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I went to see her with my mother in July, she passed away 10 days ago, and I went again last week for her funeral. She was an awesome woman, and will be missed. It was a moving ceremony, also the largest gathering I've been to in a long time, like 50 to 70 people or so. She was active with a number of local organizations, who tweeted about her passing, if you would like to have a look: CUP Olot; CNT Olot; AC Garrotxa.I'd decided August would be a dry month (no booze) for me, but broke it after 3 weeks and drank over lunch after the funeral ceremony. We celebrated her memory as we do, drinking, eating, laughing, crying, telling stories, being together. My father was also diagnosed with cancer at the end of the lockdown here in France. He just started a chemotherapy treatment a few days, which is why I stayed a few days after Arlette's funeral. It's obviously not good news, they're only hoping to slow things down at this point, but we'll see how the treatment goes in the next few weeks.I decided to break my journey home and visit my 98 year old grandfather in Toulouse. I recorded some of this stories and geopolitical opinions. I wrote a Twitter thread with a good one.I'm feeling... I don't even exactly know. This year is just so weird. There's sadness when it's there, sometimes laced with moments of anger, frustration, resignation. It alternates with enthusiasm, inspiration, and play - fortunately there has been fantastic times this summer too, but they already feel far away. I just spent the day looking at photos and selecting a bunch to be printed and decorate my apartment, so that may well also account for a bit of melancholy nostalgia right this moment. I also took ages to choose a couple of art prints for my walls. In the end, I ordered the last ever published Calvin and Hobbes comic strip in a large format print for the living-room; and this one of Gaston Lagaffe sleeping for my bedroom.I fortunately had some work on in July, I was hoping I would get some work in August but didn't. On the plus side, I will be teaching regular classes with ISCOM starting in a few weeks. I'm looking forward to it, should be a great experience, and I will have a base of income for the end of the year, which is reassuring.I read Cal Newport's Deep Work and it had quite an impact, I loved it. I also wrote a Twitter thread about it, and had a great video conversation with my friend James on one of our Teaching Tangents episodes.

• I love those conversations, the whole playlist is here if you would like to take a look.

I've been spending some more time on my Youtube video channel, please subscribe! I'm only just starting, I think at 100 subscribers I can get a vanity URL. Given the other podcasting stuff is long form, I also started a short form series, around 5 min per episode, in which I talk about the intersection between play and strategy, books I read, brands I like, and games I play:

• Playful Strategy Weekly (in English)

• Et j'ai une version française aussi: Stratégie Ludique Hebdo

From reading Deep Work, I realized that I wasn't spending enough time writing and thinking about my craft in a way that can be useful and interesting for others and particularly for businesses and agencies who might want to work with me. So I'm spending a lot more time reading books that were hanging on my shelves, really enjoying that, and writing again. I just published the first post of a new series thinking about what strategy is, what my job is and what value it has for businesses and brands:

• Introduction to a series thinking about (independent) strategy consulting (or here on Medium)

• Thinking on Businesses, Brands, and Baked Goods (series part 1) (or here on Medium)

Last but not least, I published my first podcast episode with two guests, Dina Ramse and Ashley Derrington; and we demoed a game of Itras By, a surreal tabletop roleplaying game. It was a lot of fun. I'm questioning what I'll be doing with the podcast. Probably keep publishing not super often as I've been doing. I really enjoy doing it, but I also I think need to spend less time on it. I'll work something out.I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff but I guess that's already a lot of updates! Thanks for reading, have an awesome week ahead.Cheers,WillemPS: If you are looking for advice about your business, brand, or marketing strategy - or hear of anyone possibly looking for some play strategy input, give me a shout! Always happy to talk about new projects.

The last Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, by Bill Watterson. 

 Weekly Combo Typically a mix of playful and strategy flavours.