Back to Life
I crossed a certain Rubicon last week by not putting out Marzipan Potpourri at all. Sorry to anyone who worried I'd been savaged on the Senate floor, but the ides of March won't fell me so easily.
O Solomio Dianthus!
I missed sending you folks pictures of my current bouquet. Here are some flushed carnations that caught my heart and eye at the Trader Joe's.
Imagine Sisyphus Rolling His Eyes at This Stupid Rock
I'm gonna be honest. Sometimes I get really frustrated with how difficult basic life stuff can be for me. I'm glad to have my faculties and the use of my body (large asterisk) but man, it's still Sisyphean trying to boulder myself uphill all the time.
Back to Reality
With the announcement of the Elden Ring expansion Shadow of the Erdtree came a fresh wave of lore videos on YouTube. I've gotten really into the work of Tarnished Archaeologist in particular; he's made me appreciate the depth of historical and anthropological allusion etched into every corner of this massive world, which in turn makes me realize that Elden Ring may be nothing less than video games' first holistic model of the twinned evolution of religion and civilization. It's an epochal achievement in video games, a medium where constructed worlds are a dime a dozen and usually don't signify much but a room to shoot things in. At the same time, reinstalling the game and spelunking the Elden mindcave has left me a bit manic, so I'm exercising some of my grown-up faculties and limiting my gaming time.
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Just a devastating film about addiction. Don't watch it if you're trying to have a relaxing night in. But it's really something. That Billy Wilder could really direct a movie!
Between the Lines (1977)
Chaser for the previous. It's a colorful, exuberant portrait of the motley crew of an alternative weekly in 1970s Boston. They're coping with the possible sale of the paper and in a broader sense, the end of the bright moment of meaning and resistance that sustained them through the counterculture period. It's a great demonstration of keeping the tone buoyant while exploring topics germane to the real lives of working adults. We're worse off since mainstream storytelling decided that your job was a personality quirk rather than an ongoing negotiation between life and labor. Trivializing work trivializes the very meat of our lives.
—Dara Khan