josh and the immaculate mailing list - news brief
welcome to the immaculate mailing list
happy to have ya!
first things first
i got a new job! no more coffee shop! as of this upcoming monday, i’ll be working as an educational interpreter in a school not too far from my house. i’ve not yet comprehended what it means to have a monday through friday gig. weekends?? in this economy??? whoda thunk, man. i definitely have a mixed bag of feelings about it all- this particular job is pretty outside what i hoped to be doing, and i’m definitely gonna miss aspects of the coffee gig (i like coffee! i like making coffee! i like being in a community center and knowing the people in the neighborhood!). that being said, i’m excited to do something new, and i am definitely burnt out on service work and the negative impact its having on my body. can’t wait for the low stress, well-oiled machine that is being an hourly employee in a public school system! surely there will be nothing that rubs me the wrong way in those hallowed halls.
but seriously, i am looking forward to it. some form of financial stability! a regular schedule! better health insurance! and hopefully i can use the experience to land a unionized gig next year. all in all, we’re calling this one a W.
here’s a list of material possessions that i like more than other material possessions
- muji 0.30 pens - one of these stays attached to my journal at all time. love a fine pen that writes real smoothly and isn’t expensive!
- phones that fit in hands - i pulled an old iphone 5s out of a drawer a few weeks ago that i thought was no longer functional. turns out it was, so i swapped my sim card in and used it for a week. it was truly a treat to have something that comfortably fit in my hand. i would have kept using it, but it’s too old to get updates, and i’m a little persnickety about my digital security. happy to have something that can be a dedicated music player (still has a headphone port!) and gps though.
- casio f-91w - i’ve been wearing one of these watches since i bought one at american apparel (lol) in 2009. fantastic little gizmo. apparently also useful in making bombs. anyways, my most recent strap broke while playing with a friend’s dog, so i quickly acquired a new one from a wal-mart. i even changed the color! will wear them forever, unless we succeed in abolishing time.
- car talk hat - a very sweet gift from my good buddy jimmy. i recently found a picture from when it was still new to me, and it is very clear that i have worn this hat a lot!! couldn’t ask for a better ball cap.
- my “holy wah!” pin - just a little button that reads “holy wah!”. it lives on my jacket. irreplaceable. bury me loose, but let me keep my pin.
- my buff - i’ve been on team neck gaiter for years. a beautiful accessory! my key to biking through a chicago winter. i’m glad to see so many more people utilizing them these days! though there are reasons to be doubtful they are actually useful as a covid mask.
- pants with a gusseted crotch that can hang for many bike rides - one of the things i’ve been willing to drop more money on than most are pants that can handle lots of time on a bike saddle. i have blown out the crotch on goodness knows how many pairs of jeans. denim is not sustainable for my daily lifestyle!! it has been easier and less expensive for me to just get some pants that don’t do that. i have had the most luck with pants made by outlier, specifically the slim dungarees and the bomb dungarees. i’ve also been successful with finding them second hand, in good shape, on reddit. honestly, i have probably worn out ten pairs of jeans over the last decade, but i’ve been biking in these slim dungarees at least 2-3x a week for 6 years and they’re doing great.
albums i’ve been into recently
- the taste of rain… why kneel - deep puddle dynamics
- oh the places you’ll go - doechii
- discografia - los crudos
- limp wrist - limp wrist
- ahmad jamal at the pershing: but not for me - ahmad jamal trio
- alien nation - ghösh
- first things first - nadia sirota
- partita for 8 voices - caroline shaw, brad wells
- chomp - pylon
- sittin’ by the road - blaze foley
- satisfaction is the death of desire - hatebreed
- gumbo’! - pink siifu