Syllabus #24

Full story at 11

How has this week treated you thus far?  I spent all of Tuesday fully believing it was Wednesday until I was crushed by the truth in late afternoon.  I had a four year old tell me he is a very old man and his back hurts.  I think I was speaking for both of us when I told him it's all downhill from here.

Here's an assortment of stuff that seemed interesting at the time.  Perhaps you will agree, or maybe you are a Russian bot, repeatedly pinging this tiny slice of internet real estate for no reason at all?


What do we make of Justin Trudeau's gift for bumbling into racially insensitive but not obviously malicious costumes?  I remember my high school musical making overly liberal use of orange stage makeup in an all-caucasian production of Once on This Island in 2001 or 2002.  It was problematic, all right, but it's difficult to articulate exactly how.  I mean, they were certainly (and anachronistically) culturally appropriating Tan Mom, but she would have only relished her time in the spotlight (and then been pissed that the lights weren't emitting UV radiation). 

This brilliant piece by Jenny Slate cuts right to the pointless absurdity of it all.

Did you watch Hannah Gadsby's Nanette?  I loved it, I love this, and she sounds like a swell human being.

I think *my* version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar would be a better fit for this story hour, but I love everything about this and want it in my life.

Reading:

Inland by Tea Obreht - This Western is somewhat unique for its subject matter (involving camels in the American Southwest) and the author's perspective (a 30-something female who came to the US as a child from the former Yugoslavia).  There's something about the prose that takes a bit of getting used to, and the vast difference in pacing between the two different story arcs that will ultimately intersect is a bit jarring at first, but ~275 pages in and I'm enthralled.  I'm rushing to finish this post so I can get back to reading it, and will certainly be tired tomorrow from staying up too late reading just one more page.

Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino - Scathing, incisive, yet almost nihilistic essays of cultural criticism about the internet, feminism, etc.  I'm on board.

I'm currently trying to ramp up my own writing efforts outside of this space.  This weekend, I'm going to a one-day travel writing course just for shits and giggles and a nudge in some kind of direction.  I have two sets coming up in mid-October in a local comedy festival, so I need to get cracking on those.  I also just committed an outrageous act of hubris and submitted a piece of writing to McSweeney's and the New Yorker.  I expect to be slapped by the sting of rejection from both publications in the very near future.  I had a dream last night that McSweeney's sent the meanest rejection email that ended with the barb, "...but it was funny.  Sort of."  The "sort of" qualifier was so unnecessarily bitchy.  I anticipate that the actual rejection will be much more tactful but no less disappointing.

May your weekend be free of rejection or cultural insensitivity (but full of Large Cox, if you're into that sort of thing).