…or at least since the last time I did this.
Got a lot out of The Creative Act, Sacred Hoops, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, The Prophet, That Strange Divine Sea and The Tao of Pooh.
“Rabbit’s clever,” said Pooh thoughtfully.
“Yes,” said Piglet, “Rabbit’s clever.”
“And he has Brain.”
“Yes,” said Piglet, “Rabbit has Brain.”
There was a long silence.
“I suppose,” said Pooh, “that that’s why he never understands anything.”
Read my stepfather’s late brother’s copy of Hell’s Angels. Disenfranchised with the election, I read Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72, which lead me to going on a full tour of Thompson’s take on politics: The Great Shark Hunt, Generation of Swine, Songs of the Doomed, Better Than Sex and Hey Rube and have since established for at least 52 years American politics has been a farce, full of spin, staged drama, and hollow gestures. Campaigns are driven by marketing and spectacle over substance.
“In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile — and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: Not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely.”
I love comic books. Read Spawn: Origins, Vol. 1, which I would not recommend but hey, nostalgia. I would recommend Watchmen, which I had wanted to re-read for years and purchased after reading about DC’s new Compact line, to which I also pre-purchased All-Star Superman, and it came along right after I wrapped up the Moore classic. Almost made me wish it was a subscription service, even if I am either not interested or have already read most of them. I do plan on reading more in the future, though. I am more obsessed with the Marvel Penguin Classics; the paperbacks are right up my alley, combining vintage comics with the Penguin aesthetic. Recently finished Spider-Man and am currently reading Fantastic Four.
As you can imagine, I read a lot about pop culture. Around Halloween, I picked up Danse Macabre and wish King would update it. Was a bit disappointed with Joyful Recollections of Trauma, Paul’s childhood recollections were often much funnier on How Did This Get Made. I did, however, find The Disaster Artist quite entertaining. Couldn’t get into Girl In a Band, which kinda bummed me out, but did connect with Rebel Girl. Silver Snarling Trumpet is probably only for deadheads. Hip-Hop is History was fun and thorough, I am loving Questlove as historian and documentarian. Lorne was long but well worth it. Loved this old joke he tells:
“Before my grandfather came to America, he was told that the streets were paved with gold. And when he got to America he found out three things. One, that the streets were not paved with gold. Two, that the streets were not paved. Three, that he was gonna be the guy paving them.”
After Lynch’s untimely passing, I lived in Twin Peaks for about a month, not only watching the series, movie (and The Missing Pieces), but also listening to both the audiobooks of Diane and The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer (read by Kyle MacLachlan and Sheryl Lee, respectively) and also finished The Secret History of Twin Peaks and The Final Dossier, both of which had sat on my shelf for far too long.
Received The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo for Christmas, it is juicy, fast, and fun, and felt like reading old Hollywood gossip with actual emotional stakes. It’s glam, queer, kinda silly but surprisingly sincere.
Uncle Vanya felt pretty dead-on its portrayal of wasted potential, missed chances, and the slow ache of realizing nothing changes. Beautifully brutal.
Martyr! is chaotic, razor-sharp, and gloriously messy. It swings big, equal parts grief, poetry, God, and stand-up. Very inspiring.
I want to read Vineland ahead of the film, but in the meantime, Inherent Vice was shaggy, hilarious, and kind of heartbreaking.
“What goes around may come around, but it never ends up exactly the same place, you ever notice? Like a record on a turntable, all it takes is one groove’s difference and the universe can be on into a whole ‘nother song.”