This week I want to try something a little different. Instead of commenting on some links, I’m going to tell three little anecdotes.

I think we’re both going to get something out of this. Your reading list for this week will be shorter, so you can go outside and enjoy the changing season or stay inside and enjoy some quality football.

I get to experiment with the form of this newsletter. You never know if something is going to work until you tinker with it. Further, I get to share with you more of the ideas bouncing around in my head. This is an enjoyable thing.

I hope the following delights you.

Everything old is really old

Courtney and I watched the beginning of the classic-to-us Road Trip. A couple of the earliest scenes are in the protagonist’s circa–2000 college dorm room. Everything in this Hollywood dorm room from ten years ago is obsolete.

• His character corresponds with his long-distance sweetheart by using a film camcorder and then mailing the result to her.
• Said videos are viewed on a tube TV.
• Much of the movie’s correspondence is via cordless home telephones and answering machines.
• A custom playlist is conveyed via cassette and played on an integrated bookshelf stereo system.
• A Nintendo–64 box appears in the background.

The only thing timeless in his room is his bed (dorm room beds will always be tiny and crap, right?) and his roommate’s snake living in a terrarium.

The core tenet of the movie is that the protagonist must make a cross-country trip to talk to his girlfriend because he can’t get in touch with her. The adoption of technology by mainstream society over the course of ten years has completely obviated this plotline. I’ve heard the same said for every episode of Seinfeld. How many plot premises could be solved with the zero cost coordination of email, text messages, or a simple phone call?

Louis C.K. famously pointed out that we take the ability to safely sit in chairs flying through the sky for granted. I want to pile on top of that and point out that while many facets of technology may seem in retrograde, the aggregate is one of fantastic progress.

We didn’t get our jetpacks, but we did get some fantastic personal communicator devices.

The fun uncle

I’m lucky enough to have a fun uncle. I think everyone knows someone like this, even if they’re not the brother of your mom or pop. It’s that friend who you can have fun doing everything or nothing with but who will call you on your missteps.

The fun uncle is an easy going sort. They’re at ease with the world, whether it’s sunny or rainy. The fun uncle is a joy to talk with; you can talk about things in-depth or learn from their anecdotes on life.

The fun uncle wants to see you succeed, because they are a good person and because you’re family or you’re important to them. The ace up their sleeve is that they’re not your parent. They can advise you when you’re headed in the wrong direction, but they can motivate you with carrots (or stories of carrots) instead of the metaphorical stick.

I know I’ve made a good life choice when I end up spending a lot of time around people who fall under the “fun uncle” category.

How I hear music

I hear some music and my muscles respond. I know how moving my arms and hands translates into producing that song. I may not air guitar or sing it out, but I the physicality of the music is in my muscles, and this is a nice thing.

Some music I hear and my brain responds. I don’t know how the music is performed, but I’m familiar or intrigued by its constructions. I open my ears and try to hear every voice, every instrument. How do they play against each other, how is the recording constructed, what is it like to play this song with other people in a live setting?

Some music I hear and my emotions respond. Where was the writer in their life? What about this song is triggering those emotions in my own head? Do the emotions ring true, or do they feel stilted?

Some music I hear and my memory responds. A place I heard the song, how I feel about the song outside of the musical context, someone the song reminds me of, the moment the real meaning of the song hit me or was revealed to me.

How do you hear music?

I hope you enjoyed story time with your friend Adam. See ya next week!

~akk