June 8, 2023

June 2023

YOUR SIXTH BULLETIN FROM BART

Thank you for hanging in there with me for such a delayed bulletin. It has been a challenging time for me with regard to my post concussion syndrome. I live with endless frustration of being plagued by this condition that is difficult for others to comprehend because it is invisible to them. It is however, an ever present unwelcome guest in my life. Caring for myself has been my number one priority. Days trudge on and adapting to what you’re given is a skill one hones throughout the years. Good players adjust.

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Listening

Only You- Yazoo

(AKA Yaz in North America) I spent some time listening to Yazoo in May. I’m having a thing with synth-pop lately. Upstairs at Eric’s has a lot of recognizable tunes but Only You is my favorite. Personally, I would listen to the whole album.

Reading

I will die on the hill of if you cannot afford the 20% (or higher) tip then you cannot afford the initial purchase of the item you should be tipping on. Here is a great article on shifting tipping culture in the food industry.

Eating

I really wanted to hate Chrissy Teigen’s boxed baking mixes. I often struggle with her as a celebrity because she personifies both what is awful about the era of social media influencers and also what is great about it because she’s fun and entertaining. Fame, capitalism, narcissism? All topics that challenge, yet entertain me. Shopify has 1 a retail space in the complex in which my office is located. They hosted a pop-up shop for Chrissy’s recently released product line and baking mixes. My coworkers and I went because it was something to do and other pop-ups at Shopify have been fun.

Chrissy’s shop was incredibly underwhelming. As a connoisseur of pop-up shops and expert in the field of retailing, I would deem it utterly embarrassing on the brand’s behalf. Maybe it made them some money but I can’t imagine why they needed to devote so much effort into selling items that could be fulfilled online. It was a space dressed to host a party and nothing more.

They had samples of the items made from the baking mixes but they were not free. Cookies were like, $4 but the cookie baking mix only $72. There were security guards in impeccable suits completely checked out from their surroundings. One security guy was leaning on a hightop table, staring at his smart phone. I presume he was there to keep guests from walking off with the $88 cast iron pan? The space was mostly open to house absolutely nothing. I saw a tumbleweed pass through while we were there. Security seemed extreme; hosts/sales people would have been plenty for loss prevention.

A complicated photo booth was featured, but no attendant to help guests make sense of the controls. Literally no one engaged the guests with product information, driving sales or entertaining conversation. What was the point of being there?!

This banana bread was the point. It’s so fucking good I have thought about it daily since I finished eating the loaf I made. I am absolutely seething at how this bread can carry that whole event. I haven’t even attempted to make the cookie mix yet. I cannot in good conscious not tell you about this banana bread. You simply must get some.

photo credit: cravings by chrissy teigen

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This Delighted Me

I love when one thing in culture is influenced by another and this is utterly fascinating to me. I watched this video several months ago and it’s still something I think of often. I’d love to hear more interesting information about video game industry’s influence on popular culture. They mention The Sweetness by Jimmy Eat World and that song slaps. It’s on my to watch again list this month.

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