LIFESTYLE Newsletter
Nick’s Lifestyle Newsletter
THIS IS AN INTRODUCTION
After much thought and inspiration from others, I am beginning my own LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER. I will own this content. I will share in a format more fitting and not to elicit likes. I will be able to write the way I think:
- In bulletpoints.
- Keeping everyone at a safe physical and psychological distance by limiting the feedback mechanisms.
- Only with people I really tolerate or finding new and/or unique ways to reduce that number.
- Less rewriting my words to make them sound more human.
- I will create subsections. Next will be the end of the first one.
THIS IS THE END OF THE INTRODUCTION.
3 THINGS THIS WEEK
ITEM THE FIRST: End of the worst year. This is the time you think about the past year. It was a terrible year. Outside of Trump and how horrible that makes everyone feel, on a personal note it was a terrible year. I have never experienced mortal loss before. Now I have. IT IS THE WORST. Losing Emily is the single worst thing of ever. I will share my coping mechanism with you. I knew the prognosis was not good so I started recording her beautiful purrs. She was THE BEST at purring. After she died, I compiled these recordings and made an audio collage that follows a timeline of joy, pets, sleepy purrs, snoring and happy awake noises. I listen to this every week. I think my wife thinks it is weird. Click on Emily if you want to hear it. It is a bit quiet, so you have to turn up the volume. When I tried to amp it, I wasn’t pleased with the result.
ITEM THE SECOND: Star Wars (not the movies, but an article about the movies). This came across my news desk this week and from the opening paragraphs, it was great. I am not a Star Wars fan. I get it. You grew up with them. They are fine, but only fine. George Lucas is the original jedi master of the unattributed remixing of culture. There is barely a message in them outside of the classic Good vs Evil tropes. Seems like there is an effort to change this. GREAT.
“Star Wars has always had its finger on the pulse of the cultural fear of the moment. In the original trilogy in the 1970s and early 80s, it was The Man– an evil establishment that needed to be purified by a younger generation. In the prequels of the 90s, it was evil corporations secretly colluding with a corrupt government to create endless war.
Now, in early 21st century America, the villain is an unstable young white man who had every privilege in life, yet feels like the world has wronged him. Unbeknownst to his family, he finds and communicates with a faraway mentor who radicalizes him with a horrific, authoritarian ideology. By the time his family finds out, it’s too late, and now this unstable young white man has this horrific ideology, access to far too many weapons, and the desperate desire to demolish anything that he perceives as a threat– or is told to perceive as a threat.” https://bittergertrude.com/2017/12/20/this-is-not-going-to-go-the-way-you-think-the-last-jedi-is-subversive-af-and-i-am-here-for-it/
ITEM THE THIRD: I am so excited for my wife. If you have not heard yet, she got a new job. She will be working for Chip Theory Games, which is a board game company. She is an amazing, amazing person and I’m so glad she has found a place that will appreciate her many talents. The thing that amazes me the most about her (outside of putting up with me), is her willingness to throw herself into situations that terrify her. She is going outside her comfort zone with this job and doing things at a professional level far different than what she has done previously, and comfortably, for years. She also joined an improv group. Why? Because it scares her. That is an amazing skill and one I think we can all put into practice more in our lives.
GRATITUDES
I would like to thank Doc for inviting me to celebrate her birthday with her and for dealing with my crazy ideas (if you get an invite to a Mr. Worldwide hot tub party this year, you can curse her. ALSO THIS NEWSLETTER.)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
None.
FAVORITE THING TO GO IN MY EYEHOLES AND EARHOLES THIS WEEK
This is a bit of a cheat. This really applies to last week. The new Pussy Riot song/video is very different than their usual punk rock blast, but it is a wonderful song for these times. Maybe it was because I just watched the wonderful two part Frontline special, Putin’s Revenge.
Pussy Riot - Police State (Official Music Video) - YouTube
POLICE STATE Stream/Download https://AWAL.lnk.to/M9_aLWritten by Nadya Tolokonnikova, Ricky Reed, Cara SalimandoProduced by Ricky ReedMusic video directed by…
Enjoy.
THIS WILL GET BETTER.
IT WILL GET BETTER.
BECAUSE YOU ARE BETTER. NOT THE BEST BUT GOOD.
THAT IS ALL.