Digest, 1/15/2022: God doesn't always have the best goddamn plans, does he?
the thirty-fourth digest
If you missed it yesterday, please take a listen to my appearance on the McGill International Review podcast. And please do check out my new ebook on how to make it as a professional writer if you haven’t already.
This Week’s Posts
Monday, January 10th - One More Time: What Do You Want Us to Do About Covid that We Aren't Doing Already?
I continue to hear from many people in my (admittedly very left-leaning and coastal urbanite) community that we’re not doing enough about Covid. But nobody’s very clear about what we should be doing that we’re not.
You Already Know the Normal Distribution (subscriber only)
A brief little explainer on the normal distribution, written by a beginner for beginners. Hopefully a little more research methods stuff to come.
Tuesday, January 11th - Review: Julia Galef’s The Scout Mindset
A review of a book that I admired but did not like.
Thursday, January 12th - It's With Some Reluctance That I Say That Bill Simmons Got It Right With the Ringer
Sometimes you have to give the industry a little sugar.
Friday, January 13th - It's Not the Politics, It's Their Expression (subscriber only)
The problem with Matrix Resurrections, like so much art today, is not the content of its politics, but its clumsy, undergraduate execution of those politics.
And the Book Club returned to regular duty with No One Will Miss Her! Jump onboard if you haven’t already.
From the Archives
Song of the Week
WHOOOOOAAA! ALL I WANT TO KNOOOOOW!
Substack of the Week
One of the common complaints about Substack is that there’s not enough original reporting or breaking news, which are essential functions for the media to fill. This is a bullshit complaint because a) nobody has ever claimed that Substack is meant to replace newspapers, including the founders of the company and b) there actually is a good amount of reporting on Substack, and they’ve made significant investments in local news. And the platform has picked up a serious reporter recently in Tana Ganeva, a veteran journalist who’s covered criminal justice and its many permutations for years, for publications like Rolling Stone and AlterNet. (Or if you want a nice three syllable version of her beat, you can see it above - drugs and crime.) Ganeva is a veteran at concerns about criminal justice reform, and is a harsh critic of our inhumane and senseless system. At the same time, I’ve always admired her pragmatism and dedication to real criminal justice reform that can actually work, rather than the empty sloganeering of recent forays into that territory. Her Substack is more than worth checking out.
Book Recommendation
In the Night Kitchen, Maurice Sendak, 1970.
Milk! Milk for the morning cake! Maybe my favorite book for young children, In the Night Kitchen is a semi-classic that’s better both visually and in terms of story than Sendak’s overrated Where the Wild Things Are. I always love absurdism that proceeds under its own internal logic and fantasy that seems guided by a set of rules. The little bread plane! His slightly-frightening bread suit! I love the protagonist’s sense of disobedience and his joie de vivre. One of those foundational books for little kids that’s a treat for parents too.
NFL Picks of the Week
We almost almost alllllmost got back to .500 in the last week of the season. Alas the Chiefs won but did not cover. But….
Sports betting is legal in New York State! Finally. Don’t worry, I’m only going to wager on one game a week, no more than a couple hundred bucks or so, and only NFL and March Madness. I had a bookie for a year when I lived in Chicago and never was out more than like $250 the whole time. I’ll be fine,
My money’s on the San Francisco 49ers (+3) on the road against the Dallas Cowboys. I’d probably go money line here and pick the Niners to win straight up. Convention has it that home field advantage in an NFL line is 3 points, so Vegas is calling this one even, and if anything that’s a little more respect than the Cowboys deserve. They’ve simply not been impressive in the last third of the season beyond a win over a Washington Football Team that was beset by Covid, injuries, and apathy. I’m not in love with putting money on Jimmy Garoppolo, but Deebo Samuel is easily the best offensive weapon in the game and the Niners are stout along both lines - if Trent Williams plays. Either way I got San Fran.
Win-Loss-Push: 14-16-0
Comment of the Week
The problem with propaganda art is that it's generally ineffective propaganda and shit art - Michael M.
That’s it for this week! See you next crime.
The promotional bets on the various competing betting sports sites in NEW YORK are a lot of fun to exploit. Free money, sort of. I wonder what the ultimate ROI will be for these "hook-'em" expenditures.
"Did you ever hear of Mickey, how he heard a racket in the night?" OH MY GOSH, BEST BOOK EVER! Oh, wait, The Phantom Tollbooth is the BEST BOOK EVER, but In the Night Kitchen is a close second. I read it to my first-born and now I look forward to reading it to his first-born, my beautiful and amazing granddaughter. Thanks for making me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy on a cold winter morning. 💙