Honk and mistakes
Mistakes and washing machines
I just finished this book called I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You (Publisher's site). I was looking for Toni Morrison books at the library and it was on the same shelf so shut up.
It's a story about a man, an artist, who cheats on his incredible wife, but somehow manages to get her back. (It's fiction.) Because the husband is the one telling the story, it put this reader in the weird position of rooting against the main character.
That's not important.
Just as Bush is about to invade Iraq, the artist creates a big art installation called WarWash, "designed to highlight the senselessness of the American and British governments' WMD pursuits in Iraq by engaging the public in an absurd domestic act: the washing of things in oil." In actual washing machines. The things to be washed are "objects that remind the artist and the public participants of their past mistakes."
This idea of "washing" or otherwise altering/destroying objects that remind me of my mistakes is intriguing. In theory, it should be cathartic, a sage-like ritual to rid yourself of bad memories. In practice, you'd be left with that same object, in an even less appealing form. Unless you set it on fire, I guess.
I'm sitting here trying to think of what objects I have in this apartment that I'd want to (metaphorically) soak in oil or set on fire, what objects remind me of terrible mistakes, and... I got nothing. Probably because I've already gotten rid of them.
Twenty years ago, over Christmas, I spent hours in my parents' basement with a shredder. I destroyed 99% of my middle and high school memories, 10 pages at a time. When I got back to San Francisco I tossed my high school and college yearbooks into a dumpster.
Wait, I got one: Paperwork related to the sale of my SF apartment, because that real estate agent was evil and corrupt. Telling me to lie to the IRS about capital gains, threatening to call ICE on Spanish-speaking contractors, etc. I was desperate to sell and move, but working with her was a big mistake and I'd love to (metaphorically?) shove her ass into a washing machine full of oil.
Anyway: I haven't asked readers for their input in a long time, so I'm curious what you would metaphorically wash in oil. Like, what tangible object reminds you of a mistake you made? And also, perhaps more importantly: Why are you holding on to it? You can reply directly to this email, and anything I share will be anonymous.
Links
Let's all go see Beetlejuice in theaters on October 18. (Consequence)
Hilarious checklist of ways to declutter your digital life. I cannot imagine anyone having the time to do all of this, ever. (Lifehacker)
If you're on TikTok: RaeShanda and Lashondra ("let's check the board") are getting divorced and the story is nuts. (Emily Cottontop)
Supercut of songs that stop on the word "stop." Yes, "Ranking Full Stop" is in there. (Kottke)
More Thandiwe Muriu portraits. (Colossal)
Heading up to NY soon to see this Barkley Hendricks show. (NYT)
And cannot wait for the Simone Leigh exhibit opening at the Hirshhorn next month. (Smithsonian)
Honk is my new favorite thing. Especially the audio. I need to make it my ringtone. (YouTube)