2023
31 for 31
I’m turning 31 this year, a number I have a surprising number of feelings about. In recognition, if not celebration, of the occasion, please enjoy 31 songs from 1992. 31 for 31. No, these songs don’t represent 1992 perfectly. I hope, though, that they capture some of what made that year compelling and complicated musically. I also hope they capture some of what I love about the music of 1992. There’s a little metal, though little of it from bands in their prime. (Bolt Thrower is probably the exception there. Or Darkthrone?) There's a little rap, a little R&B, a little country, one song from a musical. There’s a little bit of everything, I suppose. That’s what I want, I think. A little bit of everything with a solid dose of decent riffs thrown in for good measure. Horns up and, as self-congratulatory as this is, here’s to (at least) 31 more years, to more music and complication and wonder.
What I Read in September 2023
I wrote this month’s entry while eating mochi cake in a coffee shop. It was very nice to have the bustle around me. I am not usually a person who absolutely must write around people, but equally I do not need things to be perfectly quiet. Today, though, I enjoyed thinking about books with my cake and tea while listening to the Kirill Gerstein recording of the Busoni piano concerto. It was perfect. Call it silly if you want! I had a great time. As a person who works in higher education, I find early fall to be a very stressful time. Cake, tea, music, and time to write are balms in the face of this busy time of year. I hope that you, if you also find this time of year to be a stressful one, can also find your cake, your tea, your music, and your time to write, whatever those may be to you.
What I Read in August 2023
Happy September! I did not read a lot this last month, but it was a great month for music, music, music. My wife and I saw Bon Iver to kick things, then caught Brandi Carlile and Kamelot to end it. Each show was truly great, but I have a special place in my heart for Kamelot, a band I’ve wanted to see for nearly 15 years. They were fun in a way only power metal can be fun, all bluster and drama in the service of lyrics that make very little sense. It’s theater with guitars and the odd scream. Who wouldn’t want to spend their time at a show like that?
I Love Things By Examining Them
From Molly Templeton’s most recent Mark as Read column for Tor.com:
This is how I love things: by examining them. Some things, I want to look more closely at than others. Some I just want to bask in. Some I want to pick up and carry over to every friend I think will understand, to hold them out and say: Here. Try this. I know it’s a whole book and it takes longer than trying a bite of something. Trust me. Please? Or: Can I tell you the seventy-six reasons why this is the best thing I have ever experienced, or at least I think it is at this particular moment in time?
Molly Templeton’s writing for Tor.com is generally great, but this week’s column really resonated with me. A thing that often frustrates folks I know is that I want to pick at the things I read, consider them under a harsh light, poke and prod them until I understand them and how they work. I love things by examining them. That is exactly it. Exactly the thing. To be critical — not to criticize but to think critically — is the way that I engage with the writing I most enjoy. I find joy in coming to grips with a text, with the ways it says what it says, with the ways it succeeds and fails to convey what it means to convey. That’s fun!
Templeton is writing about reading generously, about giving the books we read the breathing space and the grace to be what they are. I appreciate that she makes a distinction between reading critically and being a jerk. These aren’t the same thing! It’s possible to see flaws in a book and still have a great time, to root around and find the inner workings without the whole falling to pieces, to weigh up and toss around and find real pleasure in the weighing and the tossing. And it’s possible to do all of these things without being unkind to an author or disliking a book.
What I Read in July 2023
As I write this, we’re just a few hours past the United States bowing out of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. I’m sad about the loss, but I’m hopeful that the team will come back stronger next time. It wouldn’t be a terrible thing if someone else won, I don’t think. Japan have done it before, in 2011, but they’re playing so well at this tournament that I might just have to root for them. Sweden are perennial contenders, Spain play beautifully, Colombia would are tremendous fun. I would love to see any of them make a deep run. It’s been a fantastic tournament so far. I hope you’ve been watching! Or at least reading while the games are on?