chopper dubstep
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here's an incomplete list of people and things I'm incredibly grateful for:
The cardiac/ICU/oncology doctors, nurses, specialists, and staff at Children's Hospital here in DC. Thanks to them, my 9-year-old nephew will likely live to see his tenth birthday. It's been a rough couple of weeks/months/years. Thank fucking god we live in an area with such incredible medical care.
Wegman's, the high-end grocery store up the street. I can't do a damn thing to make my nephew better, but I can easily drive a Wegman's poke bowl over to the hospital to make my sister-in-law happy for a few minutes.
Coast Cannabis Co.'s raspberry lime gummies (manufacturer's site), which have a 1:1:1 ratio of THC:THCV:CBD. I am too lazy to look up what THCV means. My friend T. gave these to me, and they are perfect for when I am too anxious or wired to sleep. Bonus: They don't make me want to dive headfirst into a Hefty bag full of Cheetos. Looks like this stuff is only available in New England. If anyone knows of something similar in the DMV please holler.
Coach Fred Neal at East Potomac Tennis Center at Hains Point (DC). I went down there in August or September to rent a ball machine. He appeared out of nowhere and started coaching me, calling out suggestions from the next court over. At first I was annoyed, like "Dude, leave me alone, I just want to smash these balls." He persisted, I listened, and he was right. Now I take his class 2 or 3 times a week, and can see and feel the difference in how I hit. Plus I wake up the next day in a great mood.
Trader Joe's "Gigli" pasta. I love it even more than my SIL loves poke bowls.
Goods For Good (nonprofit site), a place I volunteer. I've probably written about them before. Among other things, they collect a ton of donated clothing, sort it, and distribute it to migrants being bused in from Texas and Arizona, as well as recently resettled refugees. The work scratches three itches: 1) The feeling of discovery you get from thrifting, sorting through junk until you find treasures like brand-new Adidas sneakers or a real Hermes scarf; 2) creating order out of chaos; and 3) shopping for other people, like when I get to go nuts filling up a bag with cute winter clothes for a 10-year-old girl.
I am also deeply grateful I was not volunteering the day someone opened a bag of donations and found a filthy used dildo. I would have demanded a DNA test.
And the people who keep reading this "weekly email thing" and even take the time to reply. I don't know that I would do this without an audience to hold me accountable, so it means a lot. Thanks.
Links
I was a Moe Tkacik stan before "stan" was even a word. Hate that Jezebel is gone, glad it means I get to read more of Moe's writing. (Slate)
Please have a look at the OpenAI tech bro everyone's talking about, many years ago, with DOUBLE POPPED COLLARS. We're doomed. (YouTube)
There was almost a Black Chevy Chase (the DC suburb, not the actor). Hoping these researchers write a book. (CityCast podcast)
Patricia Lockwood goes to Rome and is, as always, hilarious. (London Review of Books)
Why you shouldn't write a memoir. Also: Conversational Narcissism is my new band name. (Atlantic)
Remember Batkid? It's hard to articulate the effect he had on San Francisco. For just one day, it was like the local sports teams had won the world series, the superbowl, and all the other sports championships, combined. Everyone seemed so happy that day, greeting strangers with big smiles and "Batkid!!" Anyway, he's doing great now. (NPR)
Rihanna and Puma are bringing back the creepers and I can't wait. (Nylon)
Speaking of shoes: Is it wrong I kind of want these in pink? (Adidas)
Old reggae (Jackie Opel and Doreen Shaffer) in a new IKEA ad. (YouTube)
It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without Turkey Dubstep. (YouTube)
And ICYMI, Timothée Chalamet on SNL. Ching ching ching! (YouTube)