Hitting The Links: 9/14/25
This one’s got tons of links, a cute BIRDY! pic, and debuting my new self at Small Press Expo
The Virtual Memories Show News
A 2x/week email about a podcast about books & life
Friends and Invasive Species
Sorry I’m late. I was in Rockville, MD for the Small Press Expo (SPX) until this morning. From Thursday evening through Sunday morning, I had conversation after conversation with friends old and new — only 2 podcasts, but they’re good ones — and picked up a ton of comics. (I also visited Capitol Hill on Thursday for some lobbying meetings with House staffers.)
Though I’m normally in bed by 9:30 when I’m home, I was up until midnight Friday & Saturday nights gabbing with folks down at the hotel restaurant/bar. By this morning, my voice was flat-out SHOT and I was so wrecked from lack of sleep that I decided to pack up and skip the last day of the SPX show-floor.
After I packed up my car at 10am, I made the mistake of going back into the hotel lobby to see if there was anyone passing through I should say goodbye to.
FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, I finally got out of the lobby to my car. At which point I gave an entomology lesson about spotted lanternflies to one of the show exhibitors and THEN managed to hit the road.
I didn’t take any pix during the show — except for one with Landis Blair so we could goof on his pal Eddie Campbell — but trust me: it was a rewarding weekend for me. I felt different in these conversations, like I was relating to people in a new way.
I thought about my friend Tom Spurgeon, who died in 2019, during SPX. This was a favorite show of his, and I passed La Brasa, the restaurant where Tom, Eddie & I had dinner that year. It’s a meal I’ve talked about before, one where Eddie talked about bucket lists and the things that really matter in our lives. “Van Morrison’s sandwich,” as one of my pals said on Saturday.
When my pal Dean Haspiel asked about my dinner plans, I told him I was thinking of going back to that place to celebrate/contemplate Tom & his memory. And HE, recognizing that this plan might not be the best thing for my emotional health, said, “Why don’t you come out with me & the guys instead?”
He had the right idea. Better to talk with friends than to myself.
Birdy Of The Week
While I was on the road, Amy sent me a pic of our forlorn fur-child w/her duck-toy.
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And now, let’s hit the links!
Links & Such
Recent Virtual Memories Show podcasts: David Leopold • Dmitry Samarov • Ask Me Anything • Dan Goldman • David Levithan/Jens Lekman • Sacha Mardou • Oliver Radclyffe • Eulogy
RIP Flo . . . Rip Maru The Cat . . . RIP Lori Cannon . . . RIP Robert Grosvenor . . . RIP Gary Faigin . . . RIP June Wilkinson . . . RIP Rick Davies . . . RIP David Baltimore . . . RIP Andrew Huse, historian of the Cuban sandwich . . . RIP Ken Dryden . . . RIP Ricky Hatton . . .
Also, here’s something Jamelle Bouie wrote.
Happy 60th birthday to Matt Ruff (2017, 2020, 2023).
Dean Winters >>>>>>> Dean Cain.
Good NYMag piece on the decline of cultural/arts criticism.
This David Marchese interview with Cameron Crowe has some interesting moments, like when DM unloads his three-part theory on “what happened to you, man.”
Anahid Nersessian reviews a 1,001-page novel.
Here’s a NYT piece on Sally Mann, whose book publicist never got back to me about my offer to travel down to Lexington, VA to record a conversation with her.
Here’s a piece that starts with Sally Mann’s use of her children in her art to explore whether one’s kids can really consent to that sorta thing.
Inspired by a passel of writers, Michael Dirda shares some desert island book picks.
Daphne Merkin writes about the 100th anniversary of Mrs. Dalloway and the front window of Hatchards.
Happy Fifth Anniversary to The Defector! (You should subscribe & support those guys.)
Current/Recent Reading
Do Admit!: The Mitford Sisters and Me - Mimi Pond
Precious Rubbish - Kayla E (finished)
A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge - Josh Neufeld (finished)
Hot Wax - ML Rio (finished)
The Magic Mountain - Thomas Mann (tr. John E. Woods)
+ the mourner’s Kaddish every morning, in Aramaic
Sound Body, Fractured Mind
HAHAHA no workouts at all, just my morning 15-min. stretching routine most days. Not much opportunity to meditate, either. This coming week will be derailed by biz travel, as will the week after. I optimistically picked up some running gear at REI when I got to the SPX hotel on Thursday, but never made it down to the fitness center treadmills. I gotta turn this around soon, lest I fall into disrepair.
I still look okay, I guess, as per this pic in the hotel on Thursday
Until Next Time
Thanks for reading this far! I’ll back on Wednesday, with a new episode, a bunch of Instax, and some art. On Sunday I’ll be back with links, books, & workout craziness, & maybe a little profundity or something.
Hello, I’m sorry I lost myself / I think I thought you were someone else / Should we talk about the weather? / Should we talk about the government?,