Samsonite
The Virtual Memories Show News
A 2x/week email about a podcast about books & life
Intro
Sorry this one’s a day late. I was getting two episodes of the show out this week, plus real work & more medical appts. for Dad. There’s plenty of depressing/weird/dark stuff I could prattle on about this time around, but you get enough of that outta me.
So, instead, I’ll tell you about a nice moment. On Monday, I went down to the Skyline Luncheonette to pick up our lunch — I got a buffalo chicken quesadilla; Amy went with Da Dip —
and it turned out one of my pals was there with her family. I’ve known Ericka since middle school, which means we’re going on ~40 years, but she’s also the last person ever to cut my hair (Jan. 2020, 42 months ago). She did a double-take and then raced over to the counter to give me big hug and, of course, assess the state of my hair.
She’d seen my Dürer-like locks on IG over the last few years of selfies (here’s yesterday’s), but I untied the ponytail just so she could see it in person. We caught up for a few minutes while my lunch rested under a heat lamp. Her kids waved at us from their table, and I thought about how I’d seen them so much younger in the photos she used to have up in the hair salon at her station. (She sold the place sometime before the pandemic.)
Our sessions, every 4 to 6 weeks in The Before Time, were some of the only social interaction I used to have that wasn’t for work or the podcast. There was a continuity there, a recurring conversation of two old friends in their hometown.
It was a joy seeing her, and Ericka made me promise that I’ll come to her when I finally decide to cut these crazy locks.
And now, on with The Virtual Memories Show!
Podcastery
This week, I posted TWO new episodes of The Virtual Memories Show! In Episode 545, Eddie Campbell rejoined the show for a fun conversation about his new meta-autobio comic, The Second Fake Death of Eddie Campbell (which includes a revised version of The Fate of the Artist, published like an old Ace Double). We get into the culture of masks, his repeated fictional deaths, the memento mori running through his work, how the pictures in your head are always a step ahead of what makes it to the page, and more! Give it a listen! (& go listen to our 2018 episode & our 2020 COVID check-in)
A day later, I posted Episode 546, featuring the return of writer, artist, typographer, graphic designer, etc. Rian Hughes, as we celebrate the US release of his novel, The Black Locomotive! We talk science fiction, art, London, incipient Ballardianism, font design, AI images, his recent book about vintage science fiction book cover art, & a lot more! Give it a listen! (and go listen to our 2020 conversation)
Last week, I posted a bonus mini-episode of The Virtual Memories Show. It’s my piece from the June 19th remembrance / memorial for the late writer/editor Michael Denneny. Think of it as a coda to the monologue I recorded in April the day after finding Michael dead in his apartment (we were going to record a talk about his new collection, On Christopher Street) and my followup a week later. You can also just watch the video of my 4-min ramble from the memorial, where I give off manic street preacher vibes (it’s below, too). Give it a listen and go read On Christopher Street
Other recent episodes: Mitchell Prothero • Joseph Monninger • Andrew Porter • Jonathan Papernick
Links & Such
RIP Milan Kundera . . . RIP Jack Goldstein . . .
Here’s an appreciation of Kundera by Dwight Garner, and a 1999 article about Kundera’s war with his translators (PDF) by Caleb Crain. For my part, I read The Unbearable Lightness of Being a bunch of times in college — it was my go-to book after a breakup — but haven’t read him since those days. I may have started Immortality at some point in the ’90s, but didn’t get too far.
Illustrated journalism about the West Bank & East Jerusalem by Molly Crabapple.
Jeff VanderMeer wrote about the ecological destruction of Florida. Hoping I get to meet him at Readercon this weekend.
I posted a link to The New Yorker profile of Samuel Delany last week, but hadn’t read it yet. Now I have, and it makes me sad that I’ve fallen out of touch with Chip in recent years (we met in 1998, and I published/reissued a couple of his books, helped him out off occasional jam, taught him how to use Word, etc.). It was a combo of his move to Philadelphia, the pandemic, the unanswered texts, and my inertia. We used to hold a birthday brunch for him (he’s an April Fool’s baby), but again that went by the wayside. I enjoyed the profile, and hearing his partner Dennis’ voice again was a joy.
Speaking of guys with tremendous beards, there’s a GoFundMe for the publisher Malcolm Margolin, with whom I had a barnburner of a conversation in Berkeley in 2016. He could use help with making the move to an assisted living facility, so do me a favor & kick in a little, wouldja?
Me & Malcolm Margolin, June 2016, at Heyday Books offices
Current reading
The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
A Haunting on the Hill - Elizabeth Hand
The Second Fake Death of Eddie Campbell - Eddie Campbell
Gravity’s Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
Art
Only thing I made was a pencil sketch of the Dalai Lama on his birthday. I need to ink & paint it. Last night, I flipped through a recent-ish sketchpad and came across some stuff I liked, which made me feel crappier about not making the time to draw. Here’s a a couple of flowers about to bud, undated from this past spring, pencils then brush-pen. You should go to the Flickr album of most of the art I’ve made & find something you like.
Sound Body, Fractured Mind
I only did 4 days of my weights-yoga cycle, Friday-Monday, because Tuesday got derailed (another Dad medical appt., lots of work, and wanting to finish a novel I was reading). Not sure how much I’ll be able to do next time around, since I’ll be at Readercon for the weekend. Got in a nice walk with The Guys on Wednesday morning.
Until Next Week
Thanks for reading this far! I’ll be back next week, with a new podcast, some great links, some art, & who knows maybe a little profundity or something.
When I dip, you dip, we dip,
—Gil Roth
Virtual Memories
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