Mail Of America
This one's got a new podcast w/Hunter Prosper, this week's travel, not that Freud & not that Nick Cave, some thoughts on the New Year, and more
The Virtual Memories Show News
A 2x/week email about a podcast about books & life
Podcastery
This week, I posted Episode 655 of my Virtual Memories Show, where ICU nurse Hunter Prosper joins me this week as we celebrate his wonderful new book, STORIES FROM A STRANGER: Every Person Has a Story (Simon Element). We talk about the ICU experiences that led him to start talking to strangers in public and asking them deep questions about their lives five years ago, how those conversations have changed him, why he started sharing them online, how he figured out the questions he wanted to ask, and how long it takes just talking to someone before they’re both comfortable with him recording the questions. Along the way, we get into how we each approach the dance of having a conversation with someone we’ve never met, what it was like to discover he had an audience, whether people speak differently when the phone comes out, and how it felt to see a book-length version of this project. We also discuss how he wants to explore new ways of making his videos, how it felt to discover there’s a group-chat of his past strangers (that he’s not invited to), why he’ll always be a nurse first and not a ‘content creator,’ going traveling with his fiancee to do interviews and photos for the book, what he sees when he looks in the mirror, and more. Oh, and things get heavy once I tell him it’s okay to ask me some questions, so give it a listen! And go read STORIES FROM A STRANGER!
Last week I posted Episode 654, with author, critic, and inveterate road-tripper M.L. Rio and her amazing new novel, HOT WAX (Simon & Schuster), which evokes the rock scene of the ’80s and the travails of the not-quite-Almost-Famous band GIL AND THE KILLS. We talk about the redemptive & destructive power of rock & roll, how music is inseparable from her writing process, the challenge of writing about live performance, why it makes sense that “the girl with the Shakespeare degree is writing a rock & roll novel,” and why she couldn’t gloss over the sweatiness of touring and road trips. We get into the literature gap of people in their 30s (esp. women), how this novel evolved with her over a decade, what it’s like operating in male-dominated spaces like music criticism, why she’s going out on a 34-city book tour and trying to make it as fun as a rock tour (including merch!), what it means to be an ethical eavesdropper, how she stays safe (and well fed) while solo road-tripping around America, and the joy of radio crime drama. We also discuss the obsessiveness of record collectors, the loss of nuance in literature, the warping influence of Catholicism (and the perils of reading Shakespeare and Bret Easton Ellis way too young), our first concerts (her: Green Day, me: Asia), and plenty more, so give it a listen! And go read HOT WAX!
Recent episodes: David Leopold • Dmitry Samarov • Ask Me Anything • Dan Goldman • David Levithan/Jens Lekman • Sacha Mardou • Oliver Radclyffe
Mail of America
I’m en route EWR→MSP for a client visit. Assuming the flight doesn’t run into problems, I’ll be able to cross another state off my States Never Visited list. (Halfway there, things are smooth.)
I’ll be staying a few minutes from the Mall of America, but despite my NJ-mall DNA, I don’t plan on stopping in. I’ve got a few hours tomorrow morning, and could always go on a menswear expedition, but I’ll probably visit the Minneapolis Institute of Art if I get enough work done in the morning. I brought a sketchpad, Micron (01) and pocket brush with me, so maybe that’ll lead to something.
I looked on their site but wasn’t able to figure out what they’ve got in their collection, so I just started plugging in various artists’ names to see. This Lucian Freud self-portrait etching from 1996 came up.
I find it pretty haunting, but the site says it’s not on display, so boo. (They do have a neat-looking Nick Cave Soundsuit, so maybe I’ll get to see that.) (No, the other Nick Cave.) If you’re a Minneapolitan and are free Thursday morning to look at some art, I guess drop me a line?
In other news, the High Holidays began a couple days ago — Happy Jew Year! — and I’ve tried to slow down enough to contemplate where I am, what I’m doing, etc., but it’s tough.
I’ve written ad nauseam about the futility of making resolutions, but still wonder what I’d like to change once I get out from under this anxiety and depression. (Yes, I understand that getting out from under anxiety and depression would be enough of a change in itself.)
I’ll keep you posted; it’s an hour to landing.
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Instaxery
No new Instax; sorry!
Artistry
I didn’t draw anything this week, but did redraw some panels for my 2-page comic about Michael Denneny. I finished the whole shebang, but have some edits to do, per my editor. And, like I said above, I’ve got a sketchpad & some ink with me on this trip.
You should go to the Flickr album of most of the art I’ve made & find something you like.
Postcardery
Let me know if you want to be on my postcard-a-day list. (Financial supporters of the podcast get a hand-drawn or painted postcard as a thank-you.)
Until Next Time
Thanks for reading this far. I’ll be back on Sunday with links, books, & workout-/meditation-craziness, and on Wednesday with a new episode, and maybe some more art & new Instaxes.
Like the world spinning around / On its axis / I know democracy / But I know what’s fascist,