14 Comments

You won't believe me, but a friend of a friend sells moss. Probably to that store. I thought it was bizarre when he told me, but he made a fortune selling it. Go figure.

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Good for him!

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Thanks for the shout out Tom, and I totally agree about the "inside baseball" point...which is actually my main objection to Richard Russo's STRAIGHT MAN. Most of his work is grounded in the struggles and joys of daily life, with characters from different walks of life, but that novel is only of interest to academics and the academia adjacent.

On a groovier note, are you familar with this version of the Rascals tune?

https://youtu.be/-MU8mhwpLdw

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I'd never heard that version, and i love the MGs. Thanks for warning me off Straight Man. The only book in that world that I remember liking is Wonder Boys. It's just funny, and Chabon (in that book) reminds me of Russo.

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The e-bike ban is wierd and sounds a bit us and them.... I really wanted to comment to say I have the same experience of notes - being on there too much leaves me feeling a bit icky and like Substack is a big prymamid scheme. (I know it's not). Occasionally I get drawn into the numbers game... but mostly I'm happy just doing the work, and hoping for the best. Although I did like Amanda B Hinton's idea of making space for luck to land....

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Thanks for the mention Thomas! And PS—I think we were up to five at one point but now NYC is down to just one meatball shop.

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Ah yes, peak meatball was a while ago. Noodles, long gone... what is it now? soup dumplings? I just learned that Georgian cuisine makes soup dumplings as well. I need a soup dumpling restaurant with sweet and savory kinds.

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There’s a part in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Gathering Moss where she’s hired by some rich fuck to consult on adding moss to his property so it will look the way he wants. She goes into how impossible that kind of is and so (spoiler alert) he just goes and blasts apart this rock formation that looks like what he wants and moves it to his property. Point being: my uninformed, ignorant, knee jerk response/assumption is that this moss thing can’t be good for the moss.

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I really hate that people can "own" a lake, a mountain, a T. Rex fossil, or even a Van Gogh.

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I have an absentee neighbor across from me. He bought the place a year ago but doesn't live there, he just swaps various vehicles in and out of the driveway. He's basically letting the lawn die, shrubs die, etc. because he's never around to take care of them. Like last night I saw him drive up to it on his stupid trike motorcycle thing, do a slow drive-by, then leave. Thing is there is a line of trees that used to thrive with the previous neighbor who was pretty anal about keeping his grass green. Grass, lawn care, whatever ... but those trees are providing to the neighborhood what this tool never will. So I've taken to watering them, either filling a couple buckets or dragging my hose over there. I'm anticipating the day he witnesses it and wants to know what I am doing to "his" trees. Fuck that guy.

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People are weird. Pretend he is rewilding his lawn, it might make it easier to take. Thanks for taking care of the trees. I'm still miffed that my neighbors cut down their perfectly healthy trees. Mine are staying until they fall on me.

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Ok don’t hate me but the moss thing kind of grew on me when I read the interview & saw the pics. I mean it sounds insane but it also looks like an entire forest for tiny elves up on your wall so ... I dunno I could kinda get into it?

The guy shouting at you about your bike though -- that really is insane. 100% makes no sense, but you can feel super proud that someone looked at the speed you were going & was like, no way is that guy peddling un-assisted. You basically are the energizer bunny is I think what we can take from this.

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You are allowed to have differing opinions. If they tended the moss instead of killing it, I'd like it more. And I wish I was moving when he saw me! I had stopped to take different trail. I was so miffed that I said if I come over there and show you it's not electric, I want 20 bucks. 😂

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It's so cool we could introduce you to the Moonshadow animation -- it holds a special place for our team (discovering that Le Cain had been involved in it was a shock). Really appreciate the shout-out!

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