05.03.24

Em I have been making my wife watch the coffeeland skit from Portlandia at least once a week

04.20.24

punkreflex congrats on the new job!

starjump i ended up downloading the wav files which are split into two discs. I spent like half an hour getting iTunes to show the metadata properly lol it was like 2006 all over.

04.16.24

starjump lol I can see how that would sound unsettling. I have to carve out two hours to listen to it in one go. Or maybe…Do you think it can be split up into two? The download seems to be two “discs”.

03.06.24

Em I gotta watch Perfect Days!! Also glad you had a better day today, take care!

03.05.24

Jmax I don’t interact with teens all that much but yeah when I do there’s a lot of bro/bruh. I don’t get most of the gen-z and below slang but whatever I guess.

03.04.24

Jmax - oh yeah Jmax is a good nickname for sure. I forgot to mention, the topic of bro/bruh I am totally with you. I am maybe over reliant on “dude” so I can’t really talk.

03.02.24

Jmax my nickname in high school and college was bro, made it very easy to make friends at frat parties

02.27.24

Em lol I have not read anything by him previously, though I think I’ve had two of his books on my shelf for years now. Also hope the accident wasn’t anything too serious??

On rereading I see it wasn’t, it’s still shitty!

02.26.24

Alioop you’re welcome, hope it was lovely!

02.23.24

Em ooh have you read his work before? I found a odd of Burnout Society online after watching this long video about that and a more recent work

video

02.14.24

For sure. I thought it was gonna be overrated somehow but it really was great.

02.11.24

Jmax I think the holdovers is gonna be on the Christmas movie rotation for a while

2.09.24

idi thank you for that ebert quote; he remains goated (to borrow a phrase)

1.19.24

Alioop: I think I’m a day late but happy birthday!

1.16.24

Alex: there’s a whole episode series of the podcast Programmed to Chill that talks about Zen Buddhism and its links to the right, esp Japanese ultranationalist stuff. Talks a lot DT Suzuki for example, and zen as a tool to suppress Shintoism if I recall correctly?

1.4.24

Em sorry about your breakup :(

I don’t have much to say that isn’t a cliche so I’ll spare you. All the best from a rando on the internet

1.1.24

ztbd sorry to hear about your mom. My mom broke her femur a couple of years ago and took a few months to start walking again. If you haven bought it yet (and assuming she is able to use the bathroom herself), it would be a good idea to get some of those suction cup handle bars for the bathroom. Walmart had them for like <20 bucks. my mom needed a commode etc for the bedside because she was practically immobile for several weeks, but if your mom is using a walker I guess the situation is different?

Either way it’s tough, especially psychologically, if your mom is generally active/busy. One day at a time I guess, lmk if you ever wanna chat.

12.16.23

Aidn sorry kept forgetting to respond to your message from a little while ago — yeah I really liked HEY WHAT as well, I think of the two I would still pick Double Negative…a weird memory I have is walking around Party City listening to it while looking for Christmas decorations or something. And yeah, I was very sad to hear of Mimi Parker’s passing.

12.8.23

Em yeah I googled the author after I saw that the book was out and saw a NY Post article, I’m sure it’s similar to the daily mail lol. Really made it sound like a Maury show situation

12/.6.23

Em: idk if you remember that piece from the Paris Review you posted ages ago about the guy losing his wife….i saw the full book is out now. Considering getting it and ruining my mental state

11.23.23

Aidn that Low album is perfection

11.17.23

Em: Not a perfect SF day unless it ends with a visit to the Zuckerberg hospital covered in beestings

Idk I’m just spitballing

11.01.23

em that is so exciting! Very happy for you!

10.30.23

em congrats on the nun job!! You going for it?

10.18.23

em tbh the guilt is like 90% of being catholic anyway. My wife went to catholic schools also and she knows more of the mass than i do so I’d say you’re basically there by osmosis, if nothing else

Good luck! I’m also in a similar situation re: hating current job so I am rooting for you. Giving myself six months.

10.17.23

em Damn sorry about the nuns, hope something else comes through if that one isn’t promising.

10.16.23

em best of luck for the interview!! if it goes well lmk and i will say three hail marys (even though i am not a practicing catholic these days)

10.13.23

idi can’t say I frequent it but I have read ask a manager before! Probably a few months ago was the last time.

10.04.23

ztbd: I check in on your paintings too often to miss a message lmao. Honestly so far I’ve only been listening to I guess the big names, Neu, Faust, Can, Kraftwerk etc. I’ll look for that book though, thanks!!

09.27.23

Alioop: thanks!

Pop

09.26.23

Alioop: I will look for it! I have to say Lot 49 is probably my least favorite Pynchon, but I also tend to like his later stuff more than his earlier work. I would have appreciated a class for some of his novels though. I haven’t read much Joyce, curious to see your opinion on Dubliners! I’ve heard to read that before trying Ulysses. I’ll look into the Kelly Link collection too!

09.22.23

alioop: I’d never heard of Invasion, I’ll have to check it out at some point. I like what I’ve read of Paterson so far, but that’s very little. I’ve been slacking on reading quite a bit recently and when I do it’s usually the Pynchon.

alioop: Love Paterson!! I think of that movie at least once a month. I think it might be one of my favorite movies, considering how often I think of it. I went to Paterson not too long after seeing it, to see the waterfall. It’s beautiful. The town itself has seen better days.

09.18.23

evilswampmonster: I’m glad you’re ok, it’s a lot to deal with. Watch for longer-term stuff like back issues, had a friend deal with that and sue for healthcare help.

09.09.23

Alioop: thank you! i actually wrote that one for another wedding earlier in the summer. it went over well, as far as i can tell! i still need to write one for the couple getting married this weekend.

09.07.23

Alioop: Glad to have you here! I need to do a better job of keeping that Now page updated haha. And I will probably post whatever music i end up making on here, thank you :) I love that you called your messages page paper cranes!!

09.05.23

Zoe: re: Neon Indian - I love em all but I think the debut is my favorite whole album. I was riding the chillwave in the late 00s/early 10s, so it’s got a special place in my heart.

re: LoTR…oh my god I listened to the whole thing over the holiday weekend. So good, I don’t know how I didn’t know of its existence but thank you thank you!!

09.05.23

Alioop I love your page, gonna try to do something similar whenever I have a kid.

08.31.23

Zoe I just realized your recommendations page led me to listen to Neon Indian again for the first time in years. And now I’m listening to that BBC LoTR radio play so thank you

08.30.23

Em when are you here in new york? Depending on timing you should see if you can make it to the Queens night market!

07.14.23

Em - Also have had that book for like half a decade despite never getting past page 10 lol I am going to try to read it sometime this year for sure. Would love to hear your thoughts on him tho!

07.11.23

Em you cant fault us 10-alarm-Americans, we are an overlooked, under-loved group and we should not be demonized!!!

I have gotten mine down to three. One day I’ll do one.

06.27.23

Em: hope you’re able to get something figured out soon! Sounds awful. I have a friend dealing with long covid/chronic fatigue and the amount of hoops she has to jump through is insane. Best of luck!!

06.08.23

Em: Just read that Paris Review link you posted, so brutally sad holy shit

06.01.23

0-0: he was interviewing FOR a job?? Oh my god. What was HR doing lol

05.30.23

0-0: yeah wow that’s truly something. Not someone you’d ever have to interact with again I hope

0-0: no problem! So easy to miss messages lol

I think it was about someone who invited you back to their bunker or something out in the country alone for a week?? Some weird shit like that

05.20.23

0-0: what the actual fuck, where do these people come from lmao

Em: thank you, it was fixed but it was not a fun morning lol

05.13.23

em: thank you and I’m glad you have something of a resolution re: health. And also glad your work eval went well!!

Also have you seen Chile ‘76 by any chance? Saw it yesterday and it was pretty good!

ztbd: thank you!! And I did use the weisenburger a bit when I did my first read thru of GR, but I think for a first read I got more from this one despite the fact that it was a summary.

I’m sure you’ve seen it but still

I was just using the weisenburger to dip in and out of for anything very specific. This time I’m poring over it lol

05.08.23

Alex: thanks for the hell yeah group link, finally getting my (our) shit together financially and this is helpful (as an immigrant kid who grew up pretty poor but now fairly solidly PMC wrt income)

04.28.23

em glad you’re feeling better! Also omg Trump quoting Lenin. I wish that guy could just get to pretend he’s president and have no power whatsoever but continue to entertain us forever. Truly a beautiful mind.

04.27.23

em Thank you! If it doesn’t go down with antibiotics an eyepatch is in my future. Hope you didn’t have covid btw? Remember seeing you were concerned about possibly having it.

04.25.23

thank you em!

04.03.23

ztbd:

V is going well, about half way done, but Capital less so lol. I haven’t abandoned it but also it’s not a gripping read exactly (to me) so it’s much slower going. I will probably be dipping in and out of it over several months, to be honest.

I know what you mean re: Pynchon. I basically trained myself to like it by jumping headfirst into Gravity’s Rainbow and sticking with it somehow. feels like as a reader you have to practice being on his frequency.

Editing to add: I think what really finally hooked me on Pynchon was thinking of him less as a towering figure of literary erudition (which he is but yknow) and more as a wacky conspiracy theory-loving uncle with a good heart who did a lot of drugs back in the day and could also predict and/or diagnose a lot of things wrong with the world? In other words, I grew up and started to take him and in a way myself and my own intelligence less seriously lol. Kind of finally moving away from my previous lit bro aspirations

04.01.23

ztbd: trying very hard not to abandon either. Slow going on both so I’m jus trying to enjoy them whenever I actually can get to them. Have you read other Pynchon stuff?

03.29.23

em: that sounds very rough, hope you feel better soon!

03.25.23

Ztbd Those paintings are great, love the colors!

03.16.23

starjump as a mech/aero major yeah that tracks with my experience a decade ago. Nice to see shitheads have stayed as shitty. one time at my old company the VP of the aerospace division said the reason his group didn’t do well was because “the wars are winding down”, his face red as a lobster. In case you want to get a sneak peek into what they grow up to be :)

03.15.23

Wow that is on another level

The pronunciation of “water” in that list has to be “wooder” right

03.14.23

Alex happy birthday!

03.09.23

em followed you back, yeah I love the aesthetics and the search is like 2010 reddit search bad lmao. I’ll use your tip on ISBN!

em Oo never seen this one. I like it

same username over there

03.03.23

Dori this is the place.

Looks like there’s a few locations but we walked past the Soho one. It was pretty busy but we were told it would just be a 30 minute wait. They have daily deals and stuff too like yesterday it was get three $50 designs for $130 or something. They’re not like particularly great designs but for $50…I’ll get any dumb thing lol

02.09.23

Dori my wife works as a nursing educator at a large hospital system, and they just gave every nurse and nursing-adjacent role a bonus and raise because too many are threatening to strike and/or unionize. All that to say, I don’t know if or when a general strike would happen but even with everything getting expensive and people being more alienated than ever the bosses are trying to stay a step ahead as usual. Let’s see how long this shit lasts.

01.22.23

0-0 thank you very much!

01.21.23

dori thank you!

starjump thank you!

01.19.2023

Dori I am 5’7”. I think I’m on the short side compared to non-Indians (I am Indian). But among my family I am average to above average.

01.18.2023

0-0 congratulations on the recovery

Em feel better soon!

01.16.23

0-0 Deserves nothing but scorn tbh. Hope you don’t have to throw hands! Lol

01.15.23

0-0 Been following your pencil pouch saga…I think I would throw hands if anyone took my mildliners and pens.

01.14.23

Em I keep hearing the rapid tests aren’t as good at detecting this new variant… don’t know how true that is. If you can swing a PCR it might be good for peace of mind. I might have had covid a couple weeks ago too, had the usual symptoms (other than breathing issues) and a weird thing where all cooked food smelled awful??? But the rapid tests all came back negative.

Alex personally I like the text editor. Does what it needs to do and works well and quickly across desktop and mobile. Can’t complain.

Dori yikes I guess I will stick to buses when I’m out there next then

01.10.23 dori I kept meaning to take the LA metro when I visited but couldn’t get a chance due to work etc. but anyway I can’t imagine transit smelling worse than NY subway, that’s impressive. Speaking as someone who loves NY public transit lol

01.05.23 thanks em!! Hope you’re well

01.04.23 thanks dori! I missed it here