Good Morning. Hello. How are you? #1341
The Cure, my favorite iphone case, mid-life crisis shit, there has never been a bad era for music, fractal involuntary subconscious loop traps, a saga about streetlights
Good morning, good morning, sorry I’m late. Caught up in signing up for updates for the new Cure album, which is supposedly happening, which I am excited about even though I’ve not been excited about a new Cure album in like 30 years, even though, if I am being honest, most of them are pretty good. I think in the 90’s and oughts I made the mistake of judging Wild Mood Swings, Bloodflowers, The Cure and 4:13 Dream by the singles, which are, shall we say, less than brooding. But a couple years back in my middle aged boredom I gave them all a listen and you know what? Pretty good records. “The Scream” from 4:13 Dream and “Lost” from the self-titled album are particularly solid.
Also trying to find an iPhone case for my new iPhone that I bought because I am a pathetic sucker just trying to hold on to the old utopian tech days by buying yet another stupid soul-destroying phone that, you know. Faustian bargain: stay in touch with all your friends, but with the cost of brain melt. My current iPhone has an awesome aluminum case from Zeera wireless that a) does not look stupid like all cases do literally every case, b) supports MagSafe through the case, and c) has a ring with which to hold the phone that also d) acts as a kick stand. It is the best. Look at it.
Unfortunately, despite sending me spam this morning, they do not make it for the 16 series yet. Alas. BUT if you are a sane individual who does not purchase a new phone every year, consider this case. Highly recommended. Rick Recommends™.
Oh. Update from yesterday. Surprise surprise, but Morrissey is just bad at staying in touch with his lawyers, and Marr did the whole thing with Morrissey’s lawyers for him and Morrissey (bit vague on Joyce and the Rourke Estate). And Morrissey doesn’t talk to his lawyers much. Which, you know, you’re a rock star, lawyers are no fun. But, then, maybe don’t talk about particle physics if you don’t keep up (a throwback in advance, I am writing this out of order, don’t worry, it’ll make sense in a second). Don’t opine about legal matters — which, i am noticing, the dude does all the time! Always complaining about his record labels and whatnot but it turns out he doesn’t even talk to his lawyers. He probably has, like, a 5 album contract for $10 million from, like, MuskMusik or something that his lawyers can’t get in front of him.
Oh another update: Yes, I used that KitKat photo twice. I would like to officially apologize for repeat use of non-sequitur GMHHAY imagery. We will strive to do better.
Courtesy of Nick here is an image that seems very GMHHAY. From a Superman Action Comics:
Hot vegetable action! Here for it.
Been kind of down the last couple days. Extra cranky, sad, middle aged shit, lost opportunities, the pain I will never, ever be able to get over of just... having to have made choices, not having every god-damned option on the table forever like you can have when you’re young. It is absolutely toxic to view life as a process of relentless options-eliminating moments, but it’s not incorrect.
And, of course, the most toxic part of it all is that it exists even when you are happy with the options you chose. I miss New York so much, I am so sad I missed the Pulp shows and I am sad I have to go through hell and high water to go to the Tindersticks next year. But also I do not want to live in New York anymore. It is too expensive, I like space, I felt claustrophobic the whole time. I made the right decision. But it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. This is true for so many things. Even now! I was driving home from dropping Jane off (A+ dropoff, no complaints) and I was driving through the neighborhood between us and the school, one of those suburban paradise hells. So many healthy millennials walking and jogging in the morning and my god I miss walking in the morning it made me healthier and saner and morning was the only realistic time to do it while I am a parent.
But you know what else makes me healthier and saner? Writing. And morning is the only time I have to do it. Doubly so since, hoo boy, let me tell you, GMHHAY would sure be a lot more angst-ridden if I wrote it in the evening.
Anyway I need to get more exercise. Fitter happier more productive and all that shit do people even remember that reference? yes, of course, you’re all old too.
Had some dreams last night. Another college dorm dream, I have those all the time. Probably agony of lost youth shit or something. Anyway, i was very excited to stay in on the weekend and re-arrange the furniture in my dorm room. Yeah I’m sure that was college kids love to do on the weekend.
Also had a dream that I got to see the National in a small theater and it was so great. I almost listed “seeing the National” up there in things I miss about New York but honestly I hate hate hate seeing the national now, what with the big crowds and the rock. I want my The National to be paralytically sad, intimate, small. In my dream, the capacity of the theater was maybe 200 (the room was the upstairs theater at the Coolidge Corner if anyone remembers that room. The one they made out of closing off the blacony.) It was so good. Matt cried during “Sorrow” like one should. There were no big rock finishes.
Anyone remember that solo Conor Oberst show at the Coolidge? Big room but still. God. That dude at 21 was a prodigy. Amazing.
Also Mogwai is touring but they are not coming to Chapel Hill which is sad, Mogwai at Cats Cradle would be amazing. Guess I’ll try and make the Boston show but.. you know what? Traveling for shows sucks. Come to me. I am old and lazy.
We have ten hours thirty-six minutes left in the “to investigate” playlist. I am so excited to be done with this and listen to records again. We are listening to a great new shoegaze band, Glare, at the moment. New single “Mourning Haze.” It is lovely. Man, so much good shoegaze right now.
Actually you know what? That reminds me of a rant I want to go on. Old people: stop saying things along the lines of “so happy there is finally a good rock record again” when talking about Jack White (!) or “so happy there’s a pop artist who rocks again” or some shit. You have gotten lazy. That is it. There have always been good rock artists there have always been pop artists that rock. I posit to you a theory: there has never been a bad era for music. People have made awesome music every week, month, year and decade of the music era. Now look, I realize that we can’t all spend like 50 hours a week checking out new bands. But there is an abundance of amazing curating out there! Whether you’re a blog person, podcasts, Youtube, email, freakin radio, whatever. There is something out there to help you cheat and keep up on awesome music.
And if you don’t want to, fine! Just stop commenting on the state of music when you don’t follow it. It’s like me commenting on the state of particle physics right now.
(bah duh bump)
I am done with ranting about music and middle age, sorry. Let me rant about streetlights. And not the kind with rockets bursting from them (man my old band was so great we really gotta get on Bandcamp wait Annie are we on Bandcamp?).
You may recall I am the treasurer of our HOA. Our neighborhood is one street, half-mile long, ends in a cul-de-sac, 20 or so houses. It has six streetlights on it. We pay the electricity on these streetlights. It is stupidly expensive. I have been trying, for months, to get information from the electric company about why our streetlamp bill is so expensive. I have mostly figured it out. Duke Energy has a special “residential streetlight” rate, where neighborhoods can have streetlights and pay the bill for them. They can own their streetlights or Duke will put em in for free if you agree to a ten year contract so they can get their money back. And then you pay for the electricity in them based on the type of bulb. And ours are archaic. And our neighborhood is more than ten years old, so, like… I want to redo the whole thing: new contract, put in new, LED streetlights, bill goes down like 75-80% boom Bob’s your uncle (incorrect but widespread use of that idiom).
Except no one at Duke can tell me when our contract is up. I mean, I know it’s up, it’s been ages. But no one there can confirm it. So we have to just keep paying an insane — well, not insane but unnecessary — amount of money every month. I don’t even know who to call. I call the main line, I get bounced around, no one knows anything. I was told more than once to expect a copy of our contract in the mail. Never came.
Really wanted to get this done before the HOA meeting tonight but no luck.
Also.. kinda feel like we should just turn em off? Like six streetlights per half mile… one streetlight every 440 feet, longer than a football field. Kinda useless. I mean, they are cute but also there’s one that shines into my closet and I don’t like it. Kill em all, kill the streetlights. Maybe we could have a block party and tear em down or something I do have a lot of portable jackhammers.
Been nostalgically obsessing over this car that I feel like everyone had in the 80’s in Alaska when I was growing up. Realized the other day I’ve been seeing it in my memories and dreams for quite a while now. I think Chandra had one? I don’t know, feels like everyone either had a Subaru or a Suburban or… this car. And for ages I couldn’t figure out what it was. But I finally cracked it. It is the 80’s Toyota Tercel Wagon Gen 2 L20 SR5 AWD. Behold:
Dear god it’s… kind of beautiful? Are you an old Alaskan friend reading this? Dooes this photo bring back a lot of memories? Is it just me?
48 Horsepower! An elegant car for a more civilized age.
Look, this parenting thing is a trip. It is insane it works at all. It is insane that any human eats: remember trying to teach a kid to eat? How stupid and impossible it was? We were talking about it with Jane last night. Two hours, at least, for every meal. Or teaching them to brush their teeth. Jane knows how to freakin brush her teeth and sometimes she’ll do it, but other times she just won’t do it. I fucking hate hate hate trying to teach kids academic negative consequences. This morning at breakfast I am…. telling her horror stories about dental surgery and trips to Mexico to get your jaw broken open because maybe you didn’t brush your teeth? Or something? To instill into a kid the reality of the risks they are taking on by ignoring some boring-ass thing is to borderline traumatize them and it feels very wrong! So does just nagging them to do an annoying thing without explanation. So does letting them do whatever. You cannot win! Do not like!
Did a bedtime and it went well until she just went crazy with energy right when she should be winding down and just started running around yelling “poop! poop!” like it’s the funniest thing in the world because her friend at school thinks its funny and I swear to god it makes us want to just pull her out of school but also the way she studiously, determinedly refuses to calm down because we want her to, I hate it so much and yes, yes, don’t at me, I know a bunch of psychological tricks to get her to stop but you know what? Most of them are freakin mean — or at least alarming — and I do not like it.
I don’t know. This school thing is kind of a bummer. She has gotten more socialized, which is our goal, but also… dumber? Don’t get me wrong, the school is a good school, and she loves it but I swear to god she has not learned a single thing. I feel like they’re socializing her curiosity away or something.
Humans are such a trip. We have these weird little, well, trips in our brain that just get locked in and then we’re stuck in loopy traps of our own making, from Q Anon to saying “through” over and over to singing a song. We are powerless, and the loops range from small to large, fractally growing, completely inaccessible from our conscious mind.
As if it’s just kids, right?
Here have a modern classical playlist. I mean, yes, it’s only six tracks but, you know, classical. I don’t feel comfortable making, like, a two-hour playlist, I try to keep these to an hour so that people feel comfortable giving them a shot and they’re not too daunting. I am taking a broad view of classical here. Sue me.
All right stay save out there and don’t get caught in any fractal involuntary subconscious loop traps or whatever the hell I was talking about up there.
"It is absolutely toxic to view life as a process of relentless options-eliminating moments, but it’s not incorrect." I hear ya. Sorry you're bummed out
Treasure off Wild Mood Swings is an overlooked gem