Pink Flamingos
Sweet socially distant readers:
One morning in college, we collectively woke up to discover dozens of pink lawn flamingos installed on the “Upper” quad. This was before social media as we know it now, so it took some time to track down what the hell was going on. It turned out this one guy, let's call him Ray, who always wore a bathrobe (less like The Dude, more like Arthur Dent, if that makes sense) had created a group called the Whimsy Progress Administration. The WPA vowed to inject more spontaneous wonder in our lives. It sort of worked for a while. Our curiosity quickly transitioned into ridicule. I think Ray was as genuine could be about all this. The group had a few pranks, very out of character for the campus culture, and I admire what Ray was going for. I sometimes wonder what he thinks now of those goofy weeks. What are your pink flamingos? What is your Upper Quad?
It's another two-month newsletter, and I have zero time to apologize for it. Let's rewind and look at my notes from the end of Summer 200!
Reading:
Molly Jong-Fast wrote in August about how Alcoholics Anonymous has helped her get through the pandemic, one day at a time, while Scott Hines misses bars and The Smart Set reminded me how much I love a gin & tonic. Padma Lakshmi addressed diversity in food media. Readers of a certain age remember Book-It; different families had different relationships with it. I learned of the term “house meal” which is useful, though I don't know what it denotes for me. I also learned about security and social media and how to relax.
According to my notes I read something from The Baffler in September, but I have no idea what. If you remember my sending you something from this site, please let me know. I also read something that I noted as “QA” but it's probably not about Qanon nor quality assurance. Again, your input could be helpful here. (How do you track what you read, if anything? Do you want to know more about my kludge of systems?) For months now, I've been reading about 5 pages every other night of This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead. It's splendid, weird, and filled with almost unbelievable stories. After a very long time, I've finished Wasting Time on the Internet, the book.
I'd been meaning to read Anna Kendrick's Scrappy Little Nobody for years. My friend Jen nailed it in a Goodreads review: it “reads like every other celebrity memoir out there: charming, but ultimately pretty superficial.” Which isn't to say I didn't enjoy it. Just, you know, know what you're in for. Elsewhere in memoir, I dabbled in Silk Parachute and Why Fish Don't Exist. I picked up my copy of The Tiny MBA. (This paragraph has me wondering if I normally put book titles in quotation marks. I refuse to look back at my archive to find out.)
My final two notes here are perhaps my most sincere, quick-to-get-through recommendations for your pandemic navel-gazing. The creator of “Inbox Zero” has thoughts on your 2020 inbox. And here's an article I keep referring to in conversations of all sorts: a list of things Slate staff doesn't miss in our new world, including parties.
Eating
We've been experimenting with air fryer buffalo tofu bites. I found a delivery Chinese place that is very serviceable, something I haven't had in my life in about ten years. The breakfast sandwiches at HomeGrown are great though unavailable as they move for the second time in a year. Green curry paste is worth having on hand. A South Philly Korean pop-up kitchen is quietly making moves and if you get a chance to try their stuff, don't hesitate and don't hold back.
Beating
The O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack holds up. I've been listening to WWOZ more frequently and worked harder in August to listen to The Mountain Goats, both entities I know I like fairly well and want to get to know better. The seasons and some conversations had me revisiting and rebuilding my 2010 "Train Ride" playlist. It's all over the place and very much a product of its time. If you listened to top 40 radio in the late 90s and have a soft spot for women who were solo acts, my friend Rob Alesiani made this playlist that you'll find special. Not many of you reading are Grateful Dead fans, but if you're curious, I'd recommend Dick's Picks Volume 31 - I didn't know anything about this (Philly!) show until this summer and it captures a great point in their music, right before they took a big break. The Flaming Lips have new music out, and there's new Bright Eyes too, which got me all listening to Rilo Kiley so it feels like 2003-5 again sometimes in my headphones. Not mad about it.
Deleting
Our basement flooded during Tropical Storm Isaias (not our first flood this year, you'll recall!) and I lost some boring sentimental stuff and some boring paperwork stuff. It got me to clean up my office a bit though... Kelsey & I took some time to sort through our toiletries stash, which we hadn't done since mid-March. Look at all that hand sanitizer. My phone went through some display & battery issues, and after several weeks of consternation, I acquired a new phone. Lost some contacts but nothing a little "new phone who dis" can't fix. At some point maybe I'll delete phone numbers for people I haven't thought of in seven years.
Retreating
Swimply let us find a safe backyard pool to rent for an afternoon. This intel is probably too late for most of you to enjoy this season. Sorry. I've spent more time with NextRadio and TuneIn and Pluto to reduce, or at least shift, my decision-making anxiety. Kelsey & I hit a bunch of wonderful outdoor spots during the nice weather. The Natural Lands preserves are quite special, and we trekked Wawa Preserve (pictured below) and Hildacy Preserve. We also hiked through great stretches in White Clay Creek State Park. Ricketts Glenn State Park took us off the grid for a night and into some beautiful waterfalls for a midday hike. Pennypack Park had us walking on the edge of Philadelphia With family, we had a fun afternoon at Grounds for Sculpture. And, one last indoor retreat of sorts, I took a journaling workshop from Katie Dalebout thanks to my friend Chrystina. More and more writing is the ticket to the rest of my 2020 and heading into 2021, I'm convinced.
Meeting
Oh, so many virtual experiences are possible everywhere now! I want to see more live art from beyond Philadelphia. Got any tips? I'll do my usual satirical news segment in the Halloween edition of People of Interest. Ryan T. Barlow (he of People of Interest) and I hope to get another My Dinner... show up in November. Mid-November, I'll speak at The Philadelphia Inquirer's "Telling Your Health Story" conference. And I'm a producer on the new First Person Arts podcast, #US - Unique and Shared, which means for now my voice pops up very occasionally!
This has been a lot, I know. I'll try to get back to a monthly schedule.
I unironically hope this email finds you well,
Neil