In Case Of Actual Death

Specific Things I Like

Off the top of my head, no particular order

• the coconut slices? strips? whatever they are at Trader Joe’s
• the screechy horn synth stabs in “Owner of a Lonely Heart”
• the spoken word bridge on Van Halen’s “Unchained” (“Hey man that suit is YOU!”)
• Driving on Memorial Drive at night, the stretch between the BU and Longfellow bridges
• the Lion’s Tale (bourbon & St Germain) at Park in Harvard Square
• the scene at the Halloween party with Brendon and Laura in Brick 
• Janet Jackson’s laugh
• Dickie Bennett saying “I ain’t afraida Frankfort!” on Justified
• Jess, in the Parking Spot episode of New Girl: “Yes, I know nothing about men. That’s why I’m wearing a short skirt and wool tights.”
• The celebration of the emotional component of sex (rather than (or beyond?) the mere physical) in Ciara’s “Body Party”
• Thundercat into Kilo Kish on this mixtape by sosupersam
• Bed

(previously)

Things I’m Into

This thing Zan wrote about canvassing in Ohio. 

This thing about Moneyworth and having the courage to just DO YOUR THING even when you feel like probably no one else in the world is going to be into it.

Jigga getting paid to put words into Stephen Fry’s mouth? What planet do we even live on.

tothesound updating again. Do you remember blogs, do you remember posting words into the void of the internet.

Doing the Pool Palace in my kitchen. Not one music critic has written about the fact that Beez in the Trap represents a possible resurgence in snap music this is important to me you guys the best musical styles are forever.

Basically everything Nora and Lily post on twitter, every day.

This bottle of Pappy Van Winkle that is in my house.

This happened last week while we were under water and out of electricity but Matthew lifeserial went ahead and launched this weird & beautiful new thing. 

Nathan Kotecki talking about the things he had to fight for and the things he had to let go in order to get his book The Suburban Strange published.

I’m into other stuff too, I have many interests but you get the idea

A list of graphic novel recommendations

I was emailing the other day with lestwesurrender about graphic novels I like. I mean I wouldn’t describe myself as a graphic novels sexpert or anything? But they are Things That Exist, so I have Opinions about them. Anyways if you ever wanted some recommendations of what to read here is what I told lestwe and what I now tell you.

1. Finder by Carla Speed McNeil

Finder is a self-published comic that’s one of those very highly-respected books that barely anyone’s heard of or bought. The art tends towards black & white line drawings, the focus is more on the story and the (Tolkien-level) world building. The author calls is “Aboriginal Sci-Fi.” Whatever it is, SO GOOD. I’d recommend Finder Library #1, Voice, or Talisman. (If you love books and writing and do not own a copy of Talisman you are in TROUBLE WITH ME. You may read my copy the next time you visit but it is not to leave the apartment.) 

2. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

If you live on this planet someone has recommended this book to you. It is a much-loved classic. A memoir about a lesbian realizing her funeral-directing/home-restoring father was gay. Go ahead and read it.

3. The Arrival by Shaun Tan

The story of an immigration to a strange new land, told in images. No words! And it made me bawl my eyes out. Crazy good.

4. One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry

Not really a graphic NOVEL per se, more like graphic short stories. Autobiographical stuff, childhood memories, both fun and sad. Super good. She’s my hero, like I’m not going to put Lynda Barry on this list? I mean?

5. Kabuki by David Mack

So I really love this collection, it’s unique and stunning and gorgeous and almost impossible to describe, but it’s also kind of an investment in time & money. It’s like a 7-volume deal and it’s not until you’ve read a bunch of it that you can really get a sense of the breadth of the artistic landscape. The first volume is visually the most straightforward—black & white images crammed in and around a dense “secret government agent ninja on the run trying to solve a mystery” kind of story. Then Volume 2 is almost no words, just this swirling pastiche of color that takes place entirely inside the mind of the main character as she lies bleeding on her mother’s grave (!). And then a later volume is mostly conversations between the main character and her therapist in a secret insane asylum for former government agents? And meanwhile in each volume the art gets crazier and crazier—stories told through found objects and origami and painted photo collage more than pen and ink—and the story becomes less about a squad of female secret agent TV stars slash ninjas and more about artistic and spiritual rebirth? And the importance of creativity and art and writing? IT’S FUCKING CRAZY. It is mind-blowingly good and unlike just about anything else you’ve read. In terms of digging into the psyche and psychology of dark characters, it’s like someone took every single thing that’s been done with Batman in the past 70 years and said “Cool, that’ll be Act 1, now let’s get serious.” Maybe at least put it on hold from your local library.

6. The Sixth Gun by by Cullen Bunn

This is a fairly new one that I am excited about. It’s just realllly fun. Sort of Deadwood meets Buffy. There are these 6 magical revolvers, each with a unique power, and the main dude is trying to keep them from falling into the wrong hands. I kind of wish they would do more with the female character, but there’s only 2 volumes so far, so we’ll see what happens.

7. Lone Wolf & Cub

This is a 20-volume work from the 70s. I’ve only read the first one. I wish you could just get the whole thing in one giant book. Manga is financial hardship, man. $10 a pop for each book in a series that goes on forever and forever. This is why I gave up on Iron Wok Jan. Anyways it’s about a ronin samurai and his baby. He keeps getting into trouble, you keep worrying about the baby, and it always turns out OK, with the samurai kicking much ass and the baby perfectly happy. It’s bizarre how great it is. 

8. Anything by Hope Larson.

Her books are amazing. They’re often girls-coming-of-age type stories, super well told, with amazing, unique art. She is one of my all time favorites. Love her. Looooove.

Things I Remember About Plays I’ve Seen

Rent (1996)

I liked the opening where he’s tuning the guitar; Jessie L. Martin was handsome but I wasn’t super into any of the ladies; the part where the Asian girl said “Don’t be afraid of ker-ching ker-ching” in a white person’s voice became a kind of mantra over the years.

Black/Cry Me A River (1997)

A play by Joyce Carol Oates, performed at the Hasty Pudding. Starring Tony Todd from the Candyman movies. Five minutes in, when it was clear this was going to be A Play About Race Relations, my brain immediately shut off and began stockpiling AK-47s and grenades in case anyone ever tried to talk me into anything involving Joyce Carol Oates again.

The Diary of Anne Frank (1997)

Natalie Portman! Linda Lavin! Rachel Miner (Late of Terriers)! Rachel was allegedly dating Macaulay Culkin at the time, who was allegedly in the audience that night, allegedly on crutches. At one point Linda Lavin got a laugh and my immediate thought was only Linda Lavin could get a laugh in a play about Anne Frank.

Wait Until Dark (1998)

Starring Marisa Tomei and Quentin Tarantino. I’ve written about this before and nothing’s changed. The look on Roger Rees face afterward was totally worth the experience.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (2011)

I want to believe that all the negative stuff won’t stay with me (even though I know now that won’t be the case, given the above list) and that 10 years from now my main memory will be that the parts where they were flying around the theater were actually really cool.

Things I Love (Top of the Head/Don’t Overthink it Edition)

• Goodreads
• Mountain Dew Voltage. Oh my god.
• This one time, a while ago, I was tickling Kinnell and then I stopped and he went “Tickle me one more time!” holding up one finger. So I tickled him one more time and stopped and then he said “Tickle me one—-four more times!” struggling to remember how many fingers meant three and how many fingers meant four.
• Your Blue Room by Passengers.
• The line “I do not remember any fights or fits / just a shaky morning after calling it quits” by Gillian Welch.
• The $9.99 crosswords app. And that will be the only time I ever mention “apps” in public.
• The vegan carrot cake at Whole Foods.
• Sunday morning, NYT, coffee, bagel & lox.
• My special lady friend.
• Getting older. That’s a separate post, worth unpacking.
• Having no particular place to go.
• Fall, just about to be all up in this bitch.
• Hreshing the fruggs.

Very Good Sounds

• Live audiences, excited to hear a song they know.
• Storms at night, when you’re in your bedroom.
• The click of the TV turning on when it’s a terrible day out, and you have decided to spend it on the couch, under blankets, watching movies.
• The hand claps on any song with that 60s girl group beat (where the claps come on the 2, the 2-and, and the 4).
• That oww-WAH sound that Prince makes (see 0:30 in “Baby I’m A Star”, but I think he does it in every song).
• Elliot Gould’s voice.
• The entire outdoors after it snows.
• The ocean, at night.

Things That Are Extremely Satisfying

• Peeling a grapefruit.
• Setting up a video game system correctly on the first try.
• Hanging out with someone you’ve known forever but haven’t seen in a while.
• Going from almost done to done.
• Revenge.

At the Movies (i)

1) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Some teenager sitting behind me kicks my chair the whole way through but I still love it.


2) City Heat (1984)

Technically not at the movies, but that night, I’m getting into bed thinking Wait, what did I do today? I did something but I can’t remember where the day went. And then it hits me that my parents took me to see this movie. I had completely forgotten about it. I decide that it must have been the worst movie ever. I’m 10.


3) Pet Sematary (1989)

I was too young to get in, so Steve Foley bought our tickets. Inside I was so scared that I fell out of my chair and onto the floor, laughing. That part where the baby reaches out and slices Fred Munster’s achilles tendon. Steve Dowling was scared too but playing it off as boredom, asking me if I wanted to just go hang out in the lobby. I did not.


4) Batman (1989)

We go and it’s sold out, of course. So Matt gets us tickets for, I don’t know, Turner & Hooch or something, and I’m like What? No way, let’s just hang out until your mom comes back to pick us up. He’s like No come on. And we sneak into Batman (Duh I’m an idiot) and snag the last 2 seats and I feel bad, there are angry ticket holders walking around, and the usher is swinging his flashlight this way and that and I’m sure we’re screwed but it works out fine and the movie is just OK. I had a shirt that summer that read BATMAN SUCKS.


5) Aladdin (1992)

I have to pee really bad so I’m waiting for a lull and it comes during the “Whole New World” flying on the carpet of love scene. My high school girlfriend sighs and rolls her eyes that that’s when I’m leaving.


6) The Piano (1993)

Saw with same high school girlfriend. Had pretty much demanded that we see a movie at the artsy theater that weekend, felt like my brain was atrophying. It would be 2 more years before we finally break up. Anyways there’s an old couple behind us doing the “What’d he say? What’s he doing now?” routine to each other the whole way through, but I still love it. [Tangentially related: years later, movie store in Jamaica Plain. Older lesbian couple is asking Rosalie for recommendations, she gives them some. One of the women says “Thanks for the recommendations, it’s so hard to know who to trust! There were some people who thought The Piano was a feminist movie!” WITHOUT PAUSE Rosalie goes “Yeah I was one of them.” ♥♥♥]


7) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

So many god damned cell phones ringing and people talking and candy wrappers crinkling that I vow never to attend a movie again. And anyway this is the slowest god damn movie ever. People run around the woods with foam swords for this?

What are some good things

Good question. Let’s think.

• Everyone I love is reasonably safe and happy.
• I get to see friends who I haven’t seen in forever. 5 years, 10 years. There’s a longer post in this, about how I really like getting older because it creates space for these amazing shared moments and memories that stretch back decades.
• I get to go to New York. Too briefly, and I’ll be busier than I would like, but I get to go, for the first time in 9+ years.
• Good food. Felafel at Middle East. Momos at Trident.
• 9 business days until I get to see my family.
• What else.
• It’s not raining today.
• I’m starting to sleep better.
• Things will be OK. Change is hard but things will be OK.