closing time
so long and thanks for everything t When I started this newsletter on substack in October of 2020, I had no idea if it would stick or not. I tend to take on...
living on video
when the past meets the present It is 3am and I am sitting in my darkened living room watching grainy videos of my children as babies. I found some old VHS...
looking so long at these pictures of you
but always just breaking apart this is how you remind me Sometimes I sit down to write a newsletter with no idea what I am going to write about. I just know...
to all the record stores i've loved before
an ode to record stores Looney Tunes Records and CDs I went record shopping by myself last week. I don't do a lot of things on my own, especially when it...
30 years of sarah mclachlan's fumbling towards ecstasy
one last 30 year remembrance Due to technical glitches and a little spacing out on my part, I missed this wonderful essay by Matthew Lawrence. This is an...
a compendium of albums turning 30 in 2024 (part 5)
a collaborative effort celebrating the albums of 1994 Today is the final day of this project. Thanks again to everyone who contributed. These were such a joy...
feeling kind of blue
on weezer's blue album on the occasion of it turning 30 When my son was 11, he latched onto two things; the guitar and Weezer. Weezer (The Blue Album) was...
1994: a compendium of albums turning 30 in 2024 part 4
a collaborative effort celebrating the albums of 1994 Hello, and welcome back to 1994 week for some more wonderful guest essays. Part 1/Part 2/Part 3 Sparks...
a compendium of albums turning 30 in 2024 part 3
a collaborative effort celebrating the albums of 1994 Welcome back for Part 3.We've got some really excellent stuff for you today. Part 1, Part 2. They Might...
1994: a compendium of albums turning 30 in 2024 (part 2)
a collaborative effort celebrating the albums of 1994 Welcome back for Part 2 of this project. You can read part 1 and the introduction here. Today we first...
1994: a compendium of albums turning 30 in 2024 (part 1)
a collaborative effort celebrating the great albums of 1994 90s nostalgia is so great that it feels sometimes that the decade is still with us in a way, so...
update!
where i'm going, where i've been My hiatus (or as I like to call it, my newsletter nap) was intended to only be a couple of weeks but it has stretched into...
the woman who is my country
envisioning a country that cares She was already in tears when she walked into the waiting area. I caught sight of her as I was finishing up paperwork from...
coming up for air
a betrayal I do not mean to write this. I do not mean to come off of a hiatus that was to last at least a month. But here I am, needing to write, needing to...
and i feel fine
it's the end of the newsletter as you know it Well, not the end. But a respite, at least. Next week I will publish about ten essays written by other,...
finding joy 2/12
opening up the floor Last week was an absolute blur. I don't know where it went. I didn't do anything spectacular, but I did do a lot of cleaning, purging,...
stay gold
a true tale of rival gangs and growing up stay gold, ponyboy [while i am working on putting together a big collaborative thing for this newsletter, please...
finding joy 2/5
here comes the sun a sunny walk I am going to be honest and tell you the last week was not a good one! I was in a deep funk for most of it because we had...
george thorogood and the 46 year grudge
mad to the bone persona non grata I’m not the kind of person to hold grudges. In fact, I’ve only had three in my life and they are all long-held and still in...
three years on
learning/growing growth/sunlight Today is the third anniversary of the day he left me and I am better now than I was before. I will mark this day...
finding joy 1/29
digging deep Another Monday has arrived and as I sit down to write my Finding Joy column, I realize last week is a complete blur. It felt like every day...
hello, it's me
i thought about this for a long, long time 1978 The first time I consciously heard "Hello It's Me" was in 1975. I'm sure I'd heard it before; it came out in...
finding joy 1/22
week in joy: happiness is Welcome to the new subscribers who joined up this week. This is my thirtysomething (I stopped counting) edition of Finding Joy,...
rear view mirror
three years later.. looking forward, looking back Perhaps I attribute too much meaning to anniversary dates; recognizing them, sometimes celebrating them,...
going it alone: new year, new home
Welcome to Buttondown we did it Good morning, and, like the sign says, welcome to our new home. If everything went as planned, you will notice absolutely...
finding joy 1/15
warmth in the winter
programming note
a change of venue
with the beatles
on growing up with their music as soundtrack
joy: 2024 (week 32)
finding joy has become easier
i was mourning after you
realizing why my grief still flows
2024: better things
maybe this year will be better than the last
2023 christmas/new year message
from me to you
joy: week 31
a slight pause in production
let forever be
in which i contemplate the idea of forever
a player to be named later
a baseball card takes me back in time
The Art of the Mixtape
waxing nostalgic about a lost art
joy: week 30
a pleasant week
an ode to long island diners
open 24/7, they are always there for you
in defense of hallmark christmas movies
deck the halls with schmaltz
joy: week 29
in which learn how to cook and like it
in 24 frames
a box of old photos stirs memories
joy: week 28
letting it all happen, mixed media, a breakthrough
the necessity of sad songs
wallowing with a soundtrack
like a hurricane
remembering a superstorm
joy: week 27
a bunch of movies and obsessing about the doors
situations tolerable
navigating life in my first apartment
music express
k-tel records and music discovery
joy: week 26
music and hockey got me through a rough week
spin the black circle
the joy of records
Days of Horror Past
how my love affair with horror movies has ended