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A better way to waste your weekend.
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That World Series was incredible. The kind of thing that turns people into serious baseball fans. It had every kind of drama, and twists that would have seemed unlikely if they were fiction. I haven’t been that invested in sports since the Raptors won it all, and before that…well, touch ‘em all, Joe. Bummer about that ending.
On the upside, I finished a bunch of books, including one that hit a very personal chord for me that I didn’t write about in the review.
Story time:
In 2016, someone very close to me had a psychotic break, and spent a month in a psychiatric institution. Scariest time of my life, no question, and I wasn’t the one in crisis. There was a period before that when and this person wasn’t doing well, but nobody had an idea of how bad things were. We spent the day in the scariest waiting room in the city, the old Emergency Room at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Once admitted, it wasn’t any more comforting: the place was all hard surfaces, zero privacy and institutional lighting. The communal TV had no cable, only a VHS player showing Encino Man (in 2016!). And as amazing and warm and smart as the staff were, they were outmatched by the Cuckoo’s Nest vibes of the place.
That’s why so much of Linda Bass’s memoir A Tiny White Light hit incredibly close to home. It’s a memoir - Bass has a master’s degree in psychology, and writes the book from a pretty analytical perspective. It’s self-published and it’s an outstanding read that I’ve been thinking of more and more since I finished it.
Happy to report that those in question (both Bass and my loved one) have recovered from that low, and are both now in better shape than at any time of their adult life, so it turned out to be the a good thing, though it was mighty hard to see that at the time.
And now:
Off the blog: links you shouldn’t miss
This week I read Dorothy Parker’s Constant Reader (below). I didn’t really know who she was, but now I’m an enormous fan. Her poetry is public domain now, so you can read a ton of it here. Here’s one that seems on brand for this week:
Resumé
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
I made you a Wordle: If you make one send it to me. Like Valentine’s Day for extra cool people.
Speaking of NYT: this profile of John Irving is excellent.
This interview with Leilani Patao is great. Patao’s life goal? Patao's marks of success: perform a Tiny Desk and have someone get a tattoo of them.
Chris Dalla Riva’s Part two of 101 Things I Learned Listening to Every Number One Hit is up. It’s great (buy his book):
One of my guiding principles is that if people like a song for decades, then we should probably consider that song a “good song.” This has (sadly) forced me to admit that Bon Jovi has some good songs.
The FBI is trying to shutdown archive.is. Good luck with that.
Unearthing The Hidden History Of A Singular Trans Punk Zine went places I didn’t expect (like Toronto!). This story is really touching and full of nerdy details.
The Age of Anti-Social Media is a mildly scary piece, but eventually the AI models won’t be free anymore, and we’ll see how much they’re actually used for this.
Speaking of AI: Stop talking about AI. Like all of us, WIRED’s Katie Drummond is sick of reading about it.
I can’t get enough of the new Yada Yada record, and they published a video of their release show. It’s a great recording and the last 15 minutes are riveting:
I’m reading the memoir by Tim Berners-Lee right now. He invented the World Wide Web, so it’s also a history of the internet. This article about the future of the web browser is an interesting companion.
This interview with cartoonist Edith Zimmerman about quitting drinking and what to do with all the new time you have is a good one.
I’ve read a lot of stories complaining about how kids these days don’t drink. Guys: that’s a good thing. We’re in a period of social progress, not technical progress. And that’s fine.
Don’t watch the new Kim Kardashian drama, but do read the reviews. This one is amazingly harsh (also, she blames ChatGPT for her failing law exams!):
I did not know it was still possible to make television this bad. I assumed that there was some sort of baseline, some inescapable bedrock knowledge of how to do it that now prevents any entry into the art form from falling below a certain standard.
But I was wrong.
Lastly, check out these interactive models of subway stations around the world. Here’s the one near my office:
What got your attention this week? Got a hot take on something? Hit reply and let me know.
On the Blog
Listening:
Yada Yada put out one of the best records of the year
ugly ozo’s backstory is awesome, the first video submission!
Lunch Break featured great EPs by Tertia, sundayclub and Night Hawk
FRAGILE is my latest French punk band obsession.
Leilani Patao is an interesting artist whose hyperpop/singer-songwriter stuff is excellent.
The Setlist: Lots of great stuff, including new music from blog faves Kirsten Izer and Night Swimming, plus new music from Scott McCloud of Girls Against Boys. Check it out here.
Listen on Apple Music or Spotify.
Reading:
Read Constant Reader, the collected columns of Dorothy Parker.
A Tiny White Light is a memoir that hit close to home (see the first section of this post)
Don’t read Abundance. I think Ezra Klein might be a dupe.
The Shortlist has 5 great pieces of writing today. Check them out.
Something I should read or hear? Send it my way
Next week: Thing start to slow down before the holiday season. I’ve got a good backlog of records to write about: Lia Kuri, Pijama Land for sure. And a great new short story on Thursday. Books by Tim Berners-Lee, and one of the AI guys.
-hugh
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