The Descent, Part 2: Electric Boogaflu

Honest question: has there even been a work of art in any genre that is more well known based off the title alone that Breakin' 2? I watched it often during my HBO-soaked childhood, but all I remember now is a plot based around rebuilding a youth center/mansion. I can't really decide if it's a victory of marketing or one of ironic meming, but it's a victory nonetheless.

Anyway, my week was dominated by the flu in our house and an eye-destroying amount of reading on a computer screen that left me thinking of John Milton, whose eyesight was lost to ten years of reading the classics by candlelight. These weekly notes are my Paradise Lost, I suppose, but at least I'm not torturing my wife and daughters as I write. (Side note: did you know Milton wanted to outlaw music? What an asshole.)

I didn't get through much, but I found myself watching someone named Quill18 play Civilization 7 during my moments of downtime. I've decided to dive into the game when it's released on Tuesday, and I watched his livestreams and preview videos to get a sense of the strategy that underlies the many choices I'll be asked to make. It wasn't lost on me that when overwhelmed, I watched someone else make many low-stakes decisions instead of engaging in the increasingly depressing news or obsessing over the amount of choices still before me back in the office. It was denial and deflection at its finest, but it got me through.

Now how to get out of it?

Books
The Heart in Winter, Kevin Barry (finished): I didn't know what I was walking into with this one, but that ultimately proved fitting for this fever dream of a novel in which the only certainty is that death is coming for the protagonist Tom Rourke. He doesn't avoid it - or really face it either. He knows it's coming and has known its closeness for most of his life, it seems, but he courts it nonetheless – convinced that fate rules all. By the end, he has assured he's remembered once he's gone and he has loved not wisely but too well. I loved it.

Personal Achievements
I broke my record for a Saturday NYT Crossword this week with a 6:12 run through Alina Abidi's puzzle. Felt good.

Episodes and Articles
The Shift to Vibes, John Ganz (Unpopular Front): An oblique way into the "what the hell is going on these days" conundrum that I found fascinating. I wonder if the avant garde can ever be a coherent faction in the post-internet hyper-atomized world we live in.

Where the Wild Things Aren't, Agnes Collard (asteriskmag.com):

We tell our children that weirdness is a blessing in disguise. That’s our fantasy, not theirs.

One Guy's Collection of the Weird Snacks and Cereals He Found at the Grocery Store Last Year (cabel.com): This is what I needed. Also, a Coca-Cola Oreo? Hard pass.

Shrinking S02:E01, "Jimmying": This is the best writing going for my money. I couldn't bring myself to watch Episode 2 when it became clear that Jimmy was falling apart for real.

Music
St. Stephen, Russ Anixter's Hippie Big Band: Talk about a fever dream.