LIFESTYLE Newsletter Vol. 1 No. 6
Nick's LIFESTYLE Newsletter
Now this is a pussy wagon
THIS IS AN INTRODUCTION
Hello again everyone. It's been a month. I have not forgotten about you. I just don't lead an interesting life. That's on me. Not you.
- 120% done on our 100% run of Super Mario Galaxy 2. YEAH. I know that math doesn't work. You know what else doesn't work: FUCKING GREEN STARS. No one told me that after we got 120 stars, we needed to then get 122 MORE stars. OH FUCK ME.
- Winner of the 20XX LIFESTYLE Newsletter Best Writer of Bound Lies and Other Fictional Matters Award, Mindy Meija, has a new book out. PRE ORDER IT NOW (or just wait until they put the Kindle edition up for sale, and PRE ORDER IT THEN): http://a.co/hf1HekH. I hope to use my connections to score an exclusive interview for a future newsletter.
- Played Ganz Schöen Clever a few times with my wife and friends in the past week. It's so good.
THIS IS THE END OF THE INTRODUCTION.
3 THINGS THIS WEEK
ITEM THE FIRST: Everything Sucks! (The Netflix show, not the reality). Set in the mid-90's in a suburban high school, this show was just perfect for me. After finishing the equally good, Search Party, we gave this show a try. I'm sure some of it is because it is about the era I grew up in but I think they did a great job capturing the feeling of growing up in the 90's. On a superficial level, it is fun seeing all the nods to my youth culture (Fruitopia bottles, dial up and Geocities, PM Dawn videos), but what I really liked was the atmosphere of the show. I miss that feeling of everything being so new and getting to explore things in a fairly protected environment. Being able to push boundries with little consequence. Perhaps that is why I hate children. They have that freedom that I no longer have and/or traded for economic security OR maybe they are just fucking annoying. I feel so trapped in life. I have to work at the job I hate because we need the earning power to save money and support our life currently and in the future. I don't get to try something new because the consequence of failure is so high. Not just for me anymore, but for my family. That is not a negative, it just is. I wouldn't trade that aspect of my life for anything but I am well aware of the cost of it. Watching Everything Sucks let me reminisce to a time before all of that. Before I had the weight of the world on my apathetic, tired and worn down shoulders. All while watching it in my grossly oversized house on my grossly oversized TV, but with my amazing wife and handsome boy, Johnny, at my side. It is like a prism of irony seeing my reflection off the glass of the TV while watching the show.
ITEM THE SECOND: Distant friends. I had a wonderful time chatting with my friend Arthur last week. I've known him for almost twenty years at this point and he has always been a stand up dude. He's always up for trying new things and bouncing ideas off of with a level-headed, rational point of view. I think in a lot of ways we are very similar people and have a lot of the same views on things. A real brother from another mother. However, as an only child, I'm not really sure that that means. In my head, it seems like it would apply here. Anyways, he moved away five years ago and it is a great source of sadness. I only get to see him a few days a year and it always goes by so quick as we just fit into our rhythm super quick. I find it very hard to maintain a long distance friendship. I feel like the mundane things you chat about with people you see all the time are not worthy of texting or chatting about, so you only really talk when you have important stuff and thus that distance grows. It feels weird, and then you chat or see each other and then it's normal. And then it feels weird again. How do you people do it? It this a weird thing for other people or do I suck at humaning? Is this a skill that Minnesotans never develop since we all know each other and never leave?
ITEM THE THIRD: Beyond the Horse Race: Why Republicans Win and Democrats Lose. A quick read with a bunch of links about how Republicans have succeeded at changing voting laws and held control by disenfranchising voters. This always makes me sad. Like, I get if you and I don't agree on politics. Maybe you think marijuana should be strictly outlawed and that everyone needs two guns for self-defense. That is fine, I guess, but let's make sure everyone has a voice at the table. I'm willing to accept that my beliefs are a minority view in some cases. My reaction to that is to continue to advocate for things I believe in, not to find a way to take away your right to vote.
"When Republicans lose elections, they don’t worry about whether their messaging is off, they figure out how to make sure the people who don’t like their agenda can’t vote. In states from North Carolina to South Dakota, Republicans have reacted with authoritarian moves to overturn the will of the people."
GRATITUDES
I hate to double back so quickly, but a big gratitude to Planet Money Episode 835 ("Tariffed"). Through this I learned that there is one place in the United States that grows DURIAN. THE BEST FRUIT. Any one want to take a DURIAN TOUR with me? THIS IS A THING. What a great time to be alive. Well, except Trump. FUCK.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (please mark "ok to print") None.
FAVORITE THING TO GO IN MY EYEHOLES THIS WEEK Watch with sound on. This may be the best thing ever. Ian Curtis rides a rollercoaster.
WEATHER CORNER
It's a lot warmer now. Took long enough.
CLASSIFIEDS (Submit your classified via email).
Technics SL1200 M3D in excellent condition. Turntable comes with Ortofon Black stylus, slip mat. $450
I MIGHT AGREE WITH YOU
YOU MIGHT AGREE WITH ME
WE SHOULD BOTH AGREE WE BOTH HAVE AN EQUAL VOICE
THAT IS ALL.