My attempt to continue this long-term relation spéciale...

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/what-france-and-america-know-about-each-other

The debate is on but the captions just say [Dog noises]. Incredulous, you turn up the volume as talking points devolve into growls and yelps. You turn to your wife but she just lets out a mournful howl that fills you with a heavy sadness that wells up inside of you until all you can do is throw your head back and howl along with her.

I have high friends in places

Let he without typos cast the first store.

Is Biden's age an issue? I know who seeded the topic and I know why they want it to be the topic, and I know they'd like us to all to discuss it in a way that excises the observable fact that Trump is also historically old and his brain has been mush all along. So no thanks.

Now the new year can start...
https://vimeo.com/900680873

"I used to dwell on the absence that remembering requires... That space seemed insurmountable, both in making myself known to others and in reconciling life decisions that kept taking me away. Lately that space seems to be growing thinner, or perhaps I am just realizing that nothing is ever truly empty." From the beautiful essay 'Extra Terrestrial' by Lainey Wood...
https://www.galerie.com/read/extra-terrestrial

The Big Chill is 40 years old. I am older. So I time-travel along through pieces like this one at Bright Wall/Dark Room where the theme this month is Nostalgia. I might have anticipated a lot of this.
https://www.brightwalldarkroom.com/2023/09/05/as-much-as-id-like-to-stay/

I have noticed that whether political views are trivial or sacred depends on the professional civility advocate's situational goal.

They are trivial when we are meant to make friends despite *political views.*

They are sacrosanct when we try to point out what those beliefs actually are, and what they actually do to actual people..

I bet the first guy to ever throw shit into a fan had no idea what an incredible legacy he would leave behind.

they say autistic people take things literally but they're thinking of kleptomaniacs

On Dec 20, 1777, the Kingdom of Morocco became the world's first country to recognize U.S. independence. Sultan Mohammed III ordered Moroccan ports to open to American ships & an alliance was built.

Some ignorantly claim that Islam & Muslims are incompatible with America. In truth, America's longest global alliance is with Muslim majority Morocco.

So this July 4th—recognize that America’s greatness is as a secular nation that celebrates people of all faiths & no faith on the tenets of justice.

Sharing the TNY Daily Shout I wrote so that you too can end whatever group chat convo you may currently be involved in...
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/the-most-effective-group-chat-ending-texts

Maybe if we start calling it Unborn Baby Earth instead of Mother Earth republicans will be more concerned with its well-being.

As we collectively tally and then almost instantly forget the tragedies of mass shootings in the U.S., here's one antidote: sit with the stories of the people impacted by one such event and consider the ripple effect that still emanates years later. The final episode in this profound limited series ran this past week...
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0UZbgTRCXts64PC7KsGY2q?si=e33eaa82225f4285

The trio of ragged travellers in Fellini's La Strada (1954) may represent the Holy Trinity, or Earth, Air and Water, or Italy's Past, Present and Future, or Body, Mind and Spirit, or something deeper that has yet to be uncovered in this magical film. My essay at #brightwalldarkroom goes down this road again.

https://www.brightwalldarkroom.com/2023/03/18/the-circus-sands/

#film #filmcriticism #fellini #bwdr

"Can you explain this gap in your resume?"

Yes. Life is about more than constant and meaningless toil for 40-50 years and a desolate twilight of failed ambitions. The social contract is broken and the system is a lie. You and I are both trapped in the same Sisyphean hell, where no amount of working harder or longer will ever truly grant the rewards we were promised. The real question is, why are there no gaps in YOUR resume?

“…”

Errr, freelancing. I was freelancing.

"The exquisite pain of being alive has something to do, I think, with how impossible it should be to have these moments of beauty—this sea breeze, that inquisitive finch, this small foot in a bunk bed, that laughter after a fall—but perhaps even more to do with how many choices we slowly realize we can never relive, never re-choose."

It's not too late to revisit the Best of 2022 on Bright Wall/Dark Room and Elizabeth Cantwell's beautiful essay...

https://www.brightwalldarkroom.com/2023/02/02/maybe-so-sir-but-not-today-top-gun-maverick/

Instead of another podcast where the host interviewer can't stop yammering, try This is Actually Happening, where the storytellers are front and center and the host and creator knows how to step out of the way to let the stories take hold.

https://www.thisisactuallyhappening.com/

Sure Avatar 2 is fine, but have you ever read Carl Safina’s book Voyage of the Turtle about globe-traversing sea turtles as the planet’s last living dinosaur where all the water special effects turn out to be real?