July 2023
YOUR SEVENTH BULLETIN FROM BART
When a health professional tells you, that despite your best efforts? You do not know how to actually relax !! Changes need to be made !! and made fast !! As if being told you’re not good at relaxing isn’t going to make you Stress more !!
June had me considering: how does one actually accomplish Relax? by creating a homework list of Ways to Relax of course. Maybe something here will be Relax for you as well.
Relaxation Homework:
Using $1 handwriting books from Bullseye’s Playground to practice cursive calligraphy.
Waking up an hour earlier to read and stare out the window.
Walking laps around the empty office when my watch tells me it’s time for a little walk.
Putting stickers on the calendar when I do something that prioritizes the Relax.
Eating lunch in a different room when I would rather eat at my desk and finish what I’m working on.
Listening
Romeo’s Tune - Steve Forbert (apple music link)
On Father’s day (shout out to all my DILF readers) my team and I listened to several music streaming services’ Dad Rock playlists and this gem came up. My colleague turned to me and said- ‘Why haven’t we heard more from Steve Forbert? Why is this song so good and we none of us could really name it or the artist?’ I thoughtfully nodded along and added it to one of my mixtapes I slowly work away at building.
The following day I read his wikipedia entry and learned this gem: Forbert also had a cameo appearance in Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" video, playing her boyfriend. (Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Forbert
Why hadn’t I heard of this guy before? That kind of fun fact would have been great VH1 talking head show fodder. He seems like a musician’s musician. Maybe you’ve heard of him before and that’s great for you; if you have not please give it a listen and pass along to a friend. Good old Steve could use some PR (shout out to my readers named Steve).
Reading
I read two intriguing books this past month that were both coincidentally set in the Hudson Valley area and really hit the nail on the head of what I have experienced in terms of spending time there. They get the mood of that part of the world? Idk some of you readers are from that area and maybe, you be the judge. (Shout out to my Hudson Valley readers). There is also a bad vibes mood to both books and that is distinguished between the HV vibes.
In each story, a main character experiences violent bodily harm that is a major motivation to their actions. I did not particularly know this going in and found it alarming to be drawn to two such similar books. Both are pretty heavy in terms of processing or experiencing Trauma. They are not beach reads but then again I prefer a heavy book for the beach. For new and queer writing, I recommend, but caveat emptor.
Big Swiss, Jen Beagin -funny, absurd moments, dogs, mystery
Brother & Sister Enter the Forest: a novel, Richard Mirabella - alcoholism, teen bullies, shitty mom, creative output that is therapeutic
(Book Cover Image credit: stolen from bookshop.org)
Eating / Drinking
When we last heard from our hero she was bitching about how good Chrissy Teigen’s banana bread was. It was too good for its own good. I’m relieved to share that the Chrissy Chocolate Chip Cookies were fine. They were absolutely nothing to write about. A tasty cookie that had no special appeal. Oreos are better cookies. (Shout out to Oreos).
What I do recommend is one of these special little beverages:
Sobriety has adjusted my expectations about what a casual drink should cost. I never really got into Spindrift, the flavors were meh to me and the higher cost was a no for me. Sanzo however is Spindrift but with good flavors. The quality of the taste matches the higher price point. Spindrift and Sanzo are not scented flavor like most flavored seltzer has, but rather juice mixed in with seltzer. Spindrift = bad, Sanzo = good. I chug most seltzers but a Sanzo is to be enjoyed like a fine cocktail. I enjoyed one while watching the child auction NHL draft last week.
I had seen these cans around for a little while but credit goes to my friend Stacey (shout out to Stacey) for hyping the Calamansi flavor. I have enjoyed Calamansi and Yuzu.
Kimino also makes a Yuzu bev that is worth your time.
(Photo credit- stolen from Sanzo)
This Delighted Me
Isn’t it interesting that people set off fireworks as a form of celebrating The Summer Holiday Overshadowed By Our Country’s Rich History of Colonization and Other Such Atrocities. I would love to read an oral history of how this came to be and how it has rapidly grown in custom in certain parts of the country.
(Carrie Bradshaw voice) I couldn’t help but wonder: Why do people have car alarms and have they actually stopped Crime? Stealing a car would be easy during 4th of July Firework Melee.
This lead me to learn that:
Las Pegas was, of a time, apparently THE spot to be if you were a ballsy teenager.
This is what I’m thinking about while staring out my window and catching some Relax. You can see why I fail so miserably at it.
A Poem
Richard Brautigan, from The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster, 1969.
(photo credit: me, I’ve owned this copy since high school and drag it out every other year. It’s a cheap printing so now it’s perfectly yellowed and smells divine. I love it.)
Shout out to you for reading my newsletter. I appreciate you. Until next month, you can catch me tricking my nervous system into thinking I’m a chill dude. L8r!