> 191: Under the new weight of the sun
As I've done for years, I'm ending the old year with a look back at the things that stuck with me from the past 12 months—the ideas, art, and yes, internet that kept coming back to mind. I call it my "most resonant" list because the things on it echo.
One of the low-key most comforting things I’ve heard since the election came from actor Jeff Bridges in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel: “We don’t know what’s going to happen, man.” If you think back to this time last year, there’s zero chance anyone could have predicted what happened in 2024. The same is true for 2025—in bad ways, yes, but also potentially in good ones. You can be sure of nothing other than that people confidently predicting the future are fools.
This quote from Greta Thunberg feels like a philosophy for the years ahead on so many issues: “Avoiding climate breakdown will require cathedral thinking. We must lay the foundation while we may not know exactly how to build the ceiling.” Cathedral thinking!!
One sentence from an interior design book stuck with me, from a designer advising people not to get rid of historical features in your home. “The one thing you can’t buy more of is time,” they said. Obviously applies to much more than design.
I was five years late to viewing Watchmen, the 2019 HBO limited series based on characters from the famous graphic novel, but I absolutely loved it. The small ways the world differs from ours, making it recognizable but fantastical; the performances; but foremost how weird it was. Especially as the series proceeds, one character repeatedly says "What the fuck?" with ever-increasing justification. And the series doesn’t feel the need to explain. Just like life, some things remain a mystery. Overall, it’s a meditation on love, race, policing, time, family, and what we owe each other. I’m still astounded it was allowed to exist. Make time for it if you haven't already.
My other favorite show this year was Apple’s “Shrinking.” Season 1 was good, but season 2 was fantastic. I can’t think of another show that made me laugh out loud as often. Jessica Williams, Michael Urie, Ted McGinley, and Lukita Maxwell in particular do incredible work.
Every time I read this 1941 essay from Dorothy Thompson—which made the rounds eight years ago and again at the end of this year—a new part stands out. “Who Goes Nazi?”
Songs I played on repeat: Taylor Swift’s “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” Beyoncé’s “American Requiem,” Big Thief’s “Change.”
I’ve lived in New York for over 10 years but only this year got absorbed into learning more about its history, including through the Ric Burns documentary “New York” and Lucy Sante’s book “Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York.” Next up, I want to learn more about Jane Jacobs and read more of her work.
As I’ve mentioned before, BlueSky is my new gathering place of choice on the internet. You don’t actually have to stay on (what once was) Twitter. If you can, I also recommend trading Substack for an alternate service like Buttondown (which this newsletter runs on), Ghost, or Beehiiv. Sure, there are no ethical platforms under capitalism. But if your platform actively privileges and boosts Nazis, it’s time to find another one if you can.
It's Venice, late August, outside after lunch, and Hart
Is stubbing his cigarette butt in a wine glass,
The look on his face pre-moistened and antiseptic,
A little like death or a smooth cloud.
The watery light of his future still clings in the pergola.The subject of all poems is the clock,
I think, those tiny, untouchable hands that fold across our chests
Each night and unfold each morning, finger by finger
Under the new weight of the sun.
One day more is one day less.I've been writing this poem for weeks now
With a pencil made of rain, smudging my face
And my friend's face, making a language where nothing stays.
The sunlight has no such desire.
In the small pools of our words, its business is radiance.—Charles Wright, "Portrait of the Artist with Hart Crane"
Laura
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