EPISODE 425: OPRAH ENERGY
POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW
Man, last week…as Generation Text would say, smh. I’ve got a month straight in LA and a lot of writing I need to do, and somehow I spent the week totally off balance and out of synch.
(Yes this is code for spending way too much time on social media.)
Will things be better this week? Should the fact that instead of writing “this week” I just wrote “this worse” worry me? I think it should. But what can you do, you know? Just keep showing up and trying to do better.
People ask me what my writing regimen is, if I have a word count or hours-I-must-chain-myself-down-to-desk-to-feel-okay, and the fact is I don’t and I haven’t worried too much about it.
But I’ve seen this hashtag “#1000WordsofSummer”, where writers try to pound out 1000 words a day. And a lot of my writing right now is more like “#FinishTheDamnOutlineThenTurnTheDamnThingIntoYourManagerForChrissake”.
But I’m going to give some version of that a try. Somehow the idea that there are others out there doing the same thing feels like a huge source of strength. Like we’re all at the library studying together.
Isn’t it weird that things you used to because you had to and were just as happy to not have to do any longer when that time of your life was over are actually things that could help you right now? ++ Seth Meyers does an occasional segment on Late Night with Seth Meyers where he spends an afternoon drinking with a star. Unlike the other late night shows, there’s no business to it, there’s nothing they’re forced to do, it’s just about hanging out and laughing at Ever More Intoxicated Seth.
His most recent adventure with Rihanna is perfect. It’s all about the way she laughs.
But also: it’s just nice to watch people having fun, you know? ++
Dad Joke Solo is the Best Solo ++ I have a lot of questions about the new Taylor Swift video. Like is there really such a thing as a cotton candy margarita? And why does it sound so good?
Also, has Taylor Swift ever actually been in a trailer? Because one big room with bed and kitchenette drink dispenser is not how they work.
And what does T-Swizzle have on Katy Perry? Because basically everything in the video is a direct rip off.
Having said that, it is also possible that I spent an entire 30 minute drive with the song on repeat while I tried to get this down:
And I ain’t tryin to mess with your self-expression
but I’ve learned a lesson
that stressin’ and obsessin’ ‘bout somebody else
is no fun.
(The key is hitting that “‘bout” just right.)
I would definitely be happier if everyone followed her advice more.
And also if we would all just post videos of us sitting around in trailer parks having fun. ++ Although my Dad fits almost none of these stereotypes I wish I had sent him this for Father’s Day: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/your-dads-hbo-stand-up-comedy-special.
Wait, what do you mean it’s because this was written for men my age, that’s can be right you’re wrong shut up no you are. ++ I don’t know what in the universe led to this Moment of Oprah, but I love it so much. (Listen to the refrains.)
And it helped me to begin manifesting to the cosmos my own deepest desire, namely I WANT SAM NEILL’S BEARD IN MY LIFE.
(Beard maintenance: it is really a thing! And I do not know how to do it!) ++ This is also a thing that happened on the internet this week and I am posting it here because I want you to have it forever.
I don’t understand how you do a sequel to Star Trek: The Next Generation about Picard, but then I see that face like that and who cares about any of that it's clear this is what the world needs. ++ Have you noticed a sudden upswing of “crazy theory” Star Wars stories lately? I don’t know why they’re happening, we’re still six months out from Episode IX. And I refuse to read any of them in case they end up being true. (Although most of them seem to be about how maybe Rey’s parents were not who Kylo said, which if it’s true would be really disappointing so I’ve decided they can’t be true.)
But this completely random story, about a character from Empire Strikes Back who is seen for just a moment and never again but has a following (he is called here a “legend”) because Hello, this is Star Wars was wonderful. I live for the editorial correction at the end. ++ Elsewhere, here is a great clip of Bernie Sanders being his best self. I have no idea who is going to be the Democratic candidate or who should be or what the right strategy is, but it seems pretty clear no one else does either so I just want to find moments like this and enjoy them and avoid everything else.
For me one of the great things about Bernie Sanders is that even when he’s being sarcastic he just can’t quite level up to full on mean or ad hominem. He’s all about the issues. I like that. ++ Tonight I was at dinner with a bunch of Jesuits of different generations and we had this whole conversation about the meaning and necessity of the term “cisgender”.
Sometimes when conversations like this come up in community I shrink into myself so hard I am one step from going full black hole; I’m always a little afraid of what people are going to say.
But really that’s not giving our guys enough credit. We don’t always get it all right, but our older guys at LMU always seem open to at least wrestling with the thinking of the world today. And I love that. ++
One more thing I loved this week:
I see the way you’re looking at me; you haven’t heard of this, have you?
You’re not alone. And it’s not because it’s some film school art house foreign film from 1950s Russia; it’s actually a hilarious, bawdy story in the spirit of the great John Hughes movies of the 80s and Judd Apatow shows/movies of the 90s/00s, about two smart girls who realize the night before their graduation they have been missing out on having fun all this time without needing to and decide to go big or go home at a graduation party.
YouTube has put the first six minutes on line. Click this link to jump to the moment that I was absolutely all in. (Once again: There really is nothing so great as watching people have ordinary fun.)
(Man, that’s really the theme of the week this ep, isn’t it? Totally unintentional.)
(One warning: Definitely adult language, especially if you shuttle back to the very beginning of those six minutes. FYI.)
If Booksmart is still in your town please go see it, because it is not a superhero franchise genre big star extravaganza and it really is wonderful. ++
What It Feels Like When Your Children Refuse to Laugh At Your Jokes
No links this week (although if you're looking for stuff to read, here are three articles I'm looking forward to digging into.)
For those of us in the northern hemisphere we're living in that period of the most light we ever get all year. It's easy to miss in the midst of everything else going on, but it's an entrance into a magical time of year, crickets and fireflies and the peaceful twilight with the sounds of kids playing somewhere in the street.
It'll be gone before we know it. It always is. But for now, these weeks around the solstice, we get a moment for gentleness.
See you next week.