Good morning! Hello! How are you? I am okay. Been up for ages. Went to the Harris Teeter to get more Caffeine Free Zevia and special olive oil (well, not that special. I am an olive oil luddite, I confess) and then the Collection Center to drop off the recycling and the pallet (thanks to Aunt Bonnie for clarifying “pallet” vs “palette” yesterday. I had no idea.). Then to Walmart but no more Lemon Crisp Kit Kats, alas, nor any more Birthday Cake Kit Kats. They did actually have everything I needed, though, like teflon tape and fruit and water chestnuts and brown rice and whatnot. Oh and I bought the 4K HD Blu Ray of Soul, first real movie they’ve had in 4K in yonks. Yonks, I say!
Correction on my Dispo commentary yesterday: Disgraced Youtube star David Dobrik wasn’t, in fact, the CEO. By some accounts, he wasn’t even all that involved. Dan Primack has a good overview. So now I’m even more confused why Spark would just walk. And so is Primack. And I wrote my email yesterday about two and a half hours before Dan’s went out, so now I feel like a bona fide tech reporter. I kid.
Old Boston rock friend Luke O’Neil had yesterday, in his newsletter Hell World, a comment that almost brought me to tears: “I’m not sure exactly when the switch happened but last night the full force of it hit me when I realized that the standard line you hear from survivors of mass shootings now has changed from ‘We never thought it would happen here’ to something more like ‘We knew something like this would happen here.’” Related to my ongoing epiphany that these events were never rare, did not become rare because of the pandemic, Luke comments that this was the seventh mass shooting event in seven days. I read this yesterday morning then watched a bunch of press coverage about Denver yesterday and many, many commenters, reporters, politicians all said “second in a week.” Because they seem to only be counting the really bad ones. Or maybe, like me, they just didn’t know. It is… stunning. Appalling. I wonder what would happen if we reported all of them equally, with this much coverage. Maybe we should. Until things change.
My friend Anya commented about my concern about active shooter drills, reminding me that “mass shootings do not happen often enough to make schools, statistically, less safe for your children than the car ride to school” and I think I must acknowledge here my own childhood experiences on this front, where a classmate was abducted from my school’s parking lot and murdered, another classmate was murdered and buried in the woods by two of my Drafting Class classmates, three people committed suicide in a week, another friend killed himself with a rifle, and another friend and his father committed suicide-by-cop, all between 9th and 11th grade. This is distinct from another friend who also committed suicide-by-cop. Honestly, I have completely lost track. I will never understand how Red Staters are so into their guns. I don’t get the impression that my experiences were particularly unusual for such a region.
I recognize none of these were mass shootings. But they absolutely color my opinions on gun control. I do think mass shootings are, like, the tentpole events, the tip of the iceberg. All of these metaphors are unfortunate but: they are events that bring universal notice to a problem (guns) that is much more widespread than just the events themselves. Suicide especially.
Anya also quite sensibly points out: “If you want to make extra sure there is not a mass shooting at your kid's school, you would pick an all girls school that has as many students of color as possible, because 83% of perpetrators are boys and 80% are white.” Which is very true. I am leaning towards a school who’s population is one single girl. At least until she’s old enough to grasp all of this and make her own decisions. I am not psyched about this. It is hella privileged and I am a big supporter of public education. At least I’ll keep paying my taxes for it, I guess. Also, this is still undecided. We wrestle with it almost every day.
Anya’s newsletter is awesome, by the way.
Also Rachel Maddow had a fantastic takedown of Joe Manchin’s pivotal role in blocking gun laws in the United States - not just now, but after Sandy Hook as well. That guy. Really does make the blood boil. I know it’s not rational, I know, but it is so hard to not view that one man as a block to real progress. Kristen Sinema, who’s mostly just as bad, must be so psyched Joe Manchin exists to take all the heat from her. And Joe? You can tell he loves it. I know we’re supposed to treat our abusive Democratic Daddy with kid gloves lest he abandon us for that party down the street, but… Jesus.
Recently Steve Earle’s “The Devil Put the Coal in the Ground” came on shuffle play while I was working in the garage and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it:
Earle has framed more as a commentary on mining and black lung, but what hit me is the patent absurdity this unvarnished truth brings to light on things like the gaia hypothesis, mother earth, etc. Okay yeah this loving, nurturing planet put a bunch of poisonous shit way down deep that also happens to be the things best most useful for keeping us warm. And put us on a planet where we’ll freeze without burning things. Checks out. “Or maybe,” the counterargument would go, “it was some sort of test, and that’s the reason it was buried so far in the ground, to let you know it was not for you.” To this I would just say: you know there is coal and oil, or there used to be anyway, right on the surface of the planet. It was just sitting there.
Yesterday I listened to the new Lana Del Rey album, Chemtrails Over the Country Club. I’d seen the videos and listened to the first two “single” releases (I really don’t think we should dignify partial album releases on Spotify with the honorific “single” but that’s just old-fashioned me, Seven Dollar Single lover). I loved Norman F**king Rockwell so much, I wanted to give the new one all my attention. My vinyl hasn’t shipped yet, but I tried to recreate the old school experience of listening to an album with it in your hands, reading along in the lyric book, reading the credits. It was… fine? I mean, not Jack Antonoff’s finest work (that guy). But it has some moments. “Dark but Just a Game” has great lyrics - it is, lyrically, almost exactly a Craig Finn-slash-Hold Steady song.
I also really like how she now has three songs that reference “Candle in the Wind.” Well, three that I know of: one on NFR and one on this album. I like it when artists keep referring to a single concept or phrase. It’s so unfair when we use one once we’re not supposed to use it ever again. And I like it when they’re attached to a concept enough to keep using it. I read a review that dinged her for this, but I think they’re wrong.
If you’re wondering what’s up at the Mexican border and whether Joe Biden is the devil the right claims or the devil the left claims or neither, and strongly suspect there are some complexities you’re not really grasping and are looking for a decent explainer on the subject, with some charts and graphs and facts and figures, this explainer of the current situation in the Washington Post proved very helpful to me, perhaps it will to you too. I am, of course, worried and appalled by the border situation, but also keenly feel I don’t have a firm grasp on the situation, the laws, the court decisions, etc., that are driving thing. This article helped a lot.
Our governor here in NC, who is generally an okay guy, is in my dog house this week because not only did he just say “fuck it” and let most restaurants et al go back up to 100% indoor occupancy, the fucker is ending to-go booze drinks. Now, I have not purchased a single to-go drink. But I have sure enjoyed them in the past in jurisdictions where such things were legal, and it’s not like I’ve forgotten how awesome they were? And I was even hoping I might actually get to consume another one someday? I’m just so bummed. I mean. We all kew this was going to happen, right? That the powers-that-be would just start redoing all of the stupid-ass rules the relaxed, thereby proving those rules were bullshit to begin with? We knew this was going to happen. It’s probably already started happening elsewhere. But the first I’ve heard of it was from my own governor who’s supposed to be a good guy. It’s bullshit.
I should probably also confess here that I’m not quite ready for the quarantine to end. I’m ready for the pandemic to end, but not the quarantine. I… may have mistimed things slightly. I knew it would be forever, figured it would be until August or so, and planned my life accordingly. I got some shit I’m working on and I would like to wrap that up before the quarantine ends. I’m like that idiot at work that started a big task at 4:30 and ended up staying till 7 even though I didn’t have to. It also is giving me a bit of anxiety. But I will deal with that part when it comes. But, like. I mean, yes I really want to go drink in a bar in New York with my friends but also I have to get this drip irrigation installed. (n.b. I really wanted to put a question mark at the end of that sentence because I don’t know anything, but Annie tells me I shouldn’t).
I feel like we need more imagery today so I may as well add this glorious image of this supertanker blocking the Suez Canal. As far as I can tell this morning, it’s still blocking it, delaying hundreds of ships.
I prefer this annotated version of the photo, sent to me by Emma:
Finally, some explain to me why they don’t make kid-size taco shells. I’m not talking about on the internet, or those “mini” tacos that are still way too big for a kid’s mouth. Just little practice tacos. How’m I suppose to teach Jane how to eat a taco if I can’t find any to fit in her mouth? Jesus.
Gonna go moody and quiet with our playlist today. It’s grey and cloudy out, the deer are nowhere to be seen, I’ve talked too much about dark parts of growing up in Alaska and we’re just gonna roll with this introspection today. I know I mentioned it the other day (Candle in the Wind, Lana) but “God Help Me” is a perfect, timeless song. It’ll be a hymn someday. Perhaps in the Orison of Son Mi-451. Underrated movie, that. Got some new stuff on here, new Dawes is very introspective, I like it, ditto the new Tindersticks. That Arcade Fire song came on recently and I was struck by how good it was - I barely noticed it when that album came out. Maybe their later work deserves a revisit.
And I miss Siouxsie where is she what’s happened to her? Is she sick? She’s only 63. Is she okay? I only saw her once and would love to again. Even if it’s Phil Collins style. Man, Phil Collins really blazed a trail with that entire seated concert thing. It was still great. Aging rockers the world over should thank him for making it socially (rockingly?) acceptable.
OK. Let’s go face the day. Let’s go see Jane and feed her breakfast and put away the non-perishable groceries and put the dishes away and refill the Zevias in the fridge and toss yesterday’s rags in the hamper and then talk to Brown Bear. I miss that guy. We have a lot of catching up to do.
If we're talking hard shell tacos, have you tried tostada shells? Could help with the crunch + containment practice.