OK let me preface this by saying it’s Rosh Hashanah, i very unwisely accepted a date for after services, the guy *forgot*, so I'm sitting at the bar where I got stood up (it has open windows) listening to a very drunk guy explaining Asia to his Asian girlfriend and how it relates to the relative fitness of her friends. So it’s a little tough to concentrate is what I’m saying.
Would love that. Also, if you need wacky dialogue for any of your projects, do I have some for you. Not only this (though this was good), but the swinger I camped next to at Burning Man & his and his friends’ conviction that they could totally bang (presumably much younger) Amber if they wanted to.
Here's my bit of unsolicited advice on the friends scene: in addition to what you're doing to stay in touch with your now more physically distant friends (which sounds great & healthy), work at making more local connections.
Christine & I moved halfway across the country in the spring of 2021 with a lot of Covid precautions still in place. But over the past two and a half years we've managed to get to know our neighbors. A lot of times I'm the guy who takes the first step but lots of folks are anxious to connect in real life.
Thanks, Kent. I am friendly with my neighbors, but they are 20 years older and don't do much except lawn work. My neighbor even has a bike, but doesn't use it anymore. I have tried making friends locally with writers, but most people are very busy parents. We even have a pool, and invite people to bring the kids, but only friends we knew from before moving here have come over. I joined the state mountain bike group and I'm going to their festival this month. I go to bookstore events, too. The only friends I've made have been car related, in the Subaru group.
I saw Sisu in the theater and loved it. The only thing I've been watching lately is this: I went back to season one of Reservation Dogs and started over, given the third and final season is out. I'm up to episode two of season two, which is as far as I got the first time around so it's about to be all new to me. I'm a terrible series watcher (obviously) and I feel like I owe this one some extra effort.
I tried to be social with friends the other night and failed miserably. I've been nursing my psychic injuries ever since and I need to do better.
I haven't watched the NFL in years but sometimes the news overlaps into my world, which is to say I've known Aaron Rodgers is an asshole despite never watching him play. When I was doing my cooldown walk around the indoor track at the gym yesterday I glanced at the TV and saw the news he's already out for the season after All That Hype. I felt a gigantic burst of schadenfreude that I'm not proud of but also feel no guilt over because fuck that guy.
You get your catharsis where you can! I suck at watching TV series. I'm good for maybe 7 episodes in a season? I liked I'm a Virgo. But even that was tough. I can never get past the fact that they exist to keep us in front of a TV and watching commercials. That's where they came from, and what they'll always be. And I'd rather read a book or watch a movie that ends.
At parties and such I act like a spy. I make sure I have exits, so I can go recharge. I don't smoke, so "I have to make a quick call, i'll be right back. I don't wanna be rude" lets you sneak off outside for a few minutes to look at the stars a while.
OMG I love that photo of you by the pool. Brought a bunch of lightheartedness to this fatalist over here on a cloudy day! And I’d come here just for your book reviews. Want a good book that’s about hominin evolution and deep past but not about the future? “First Steps,” by paleoanthropologist Jeremy DeSilva. It’s a fun and informative read, is not 600 pages long like so many nonfiction books, and is about various famous hominins he’s studied like Lucy and how they show our evolution to upright walking. I tend to find that staying conscious of deep geological time makes me less fatalist even than community engagement work.
Thank you for the book recommendation, I will definitely check that one out. The next one I'm eyeing is a monster, The Dawn of Everything, by David Graeber and David Wengrow. And I'm glad my shameless lack of dignity can brighten anyone's day in this changing world.
Ooohh … I really liked The Dawn of Everything. And it ties right into a lot of what you’re saying here. It is indeed a monster of a book, but while it’s not what I’d call a page-turner—like, say, Murderbot—it definitely kept my attention.
I was thinking less “lack of dignity” than “unfiltered joy.” :)
OK let me preface this by saying it’s Rosh Hashanah, i very unwisely accepted a date for after services, the guy *forgot*, so I'm sitting at the bar where I got stood up (it has open windows) listening to a very drunk guy explaining Asia to his Asian girlfriend and how it relates to the relative fitness of her friends. So it’s a little tough to concentrate is what I’m saying.
All that said, I really appreciated these kinda detailed instructions on forming a commune with friends on Rae Katz’s substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/raekatz/p/starter-guide-to-communal-ownership?r=1j4bb&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
I loved that article about Taylor Swift & prisons (also recommended by Lauren Hough), gotta move on to the one on D&D and prisons.
And love the hammock.
Oh, to hell with that guy. I hope there's something good and fried on the menu.
The date is blocked. The guy who is shouting at his girlfriend “the Irish are fertile as hell!” Is being subtly laughed at.
And the onion dip is good.
Thanks. ☺️
There's free entertainment! Enjoy. My weekends are packed until Halloween, but maybe we can go explore and eat something fried around then.
Would love that. Also, if you need wacky dialogue for any of your projects, do I have some for you. Not only this (though this was good), but the swinger I camped next to at Burning Man & his and his friends’ conviction that they could totally bang (presumably much younger) Amber if they wanted to.
Here's my bit of unsolicited advice on the friends scene: in addition to what you're doing to stay in touch with your now more physically distant friends (which sounds great & healthy), work at making more local connections.
Christine & I moved halfway across the country in the spring of 2021 with a lot of Covid precautions still in place. But over the past two and a half years we've managed to get to know our neighbors. A lot of times I'm the guy who takes the first step but lots of folks are anxious to connect in real life.
Thanks, Kent. I am friendly with my neighbors, but they are 20 years older and don't do much except lawn work. My neighbor even has a bike, but doesn't use it anymore. I have tried making friends locally with writers, but most people are very busy parents. We even have a pool, and invite people to bring the kids, but only friends we knew from before moving here have come over. I joined the state mountain bike group and I'm going to their festival this month. I go to bookstore events, too. The only friends I've made have been car related, in the Subaru group.
I saw Sisu in the theater and loved it. The only thing I've been watching lately is this: I went back to season one of Reservation Dogs and started over, given the third and final season is out. I'm up to episode two of season two, which is as far as I got the first time around so it's about to be all new to me. I'm a terrible series watcher (obviously) and I feel like I owe this one some extra effort.
I tried to be social with friends the other night and failed miserably. I've been nursing my psychic injuries ever since and I need to do better.
I haven't watched the NFL in years but sometimes the news overlaps into my world, which is to say I've known Aaron Rodgers is an asshole despite never watching him play. When I was doing my cooldown walk around the indoor track at the gym yesterday I glanced at the TV and saw the news he's already out for the season after All That Hype. I felt a gigantic burst of schadenfreude that I'm not proud of but also feel no guilt over because fuck that guy.
You get your catharsis where you can! I suck at watching TV series. I'm good for maybe 7 episodes in a season? I liked I'm a Virgo. But even that was tough. I can never get past the fact that they exist to keep us in front of a TV and watching commercials. That's where they came from, and what they'll always be. And I'd rather read a book or watch a movie that ends.
At parties and such I act like a spy. I make sure I have exits, so I can go recharge. I don't smoke, so "I have to make a quick call, i'll be right back. I don't wanna be rude" lets you sneak off outside for a few minutes to look at the stars a while.
OMG I love that photo of you by the pool. Brought a bunch of lightheartedness to this fatalist over here on a cloudy day! And I’d come here just for your book reviews. Want a good book that’s about hominin evolution and deep past but not about the future? “First Steps,” by paleoanthropologist Jeremy DeSilva. It’s a fun and informative read, is not 600 pages long like so many nonfiction books, and is about various famous hominins he’s studied like Lucy and how they show our evolution to upright walking. I tend to find that staying conscious of deep geological time makes me less fatalist even than community engagement work.
Thank you for the book recommendation, I will definitely check that one out. The next one I'm eyeing is a monster, The Dawn of Everything, by David Graeber and David Wengrow. And I'm glad my shameless lack of dignity can brighten anyone's day in this changing world.
Ooohh … I really liked The Dawn of Everything. And it ties right into a lot of what you’re saying here. It is indeed a monster of a book, but while it’s not what I’d call a page-turner—like, say, Murderbot—it definitely kept my attention.
I was thinking less “lack of dignity” than “unfiltered joy.” :)