As I mentioned in this week’s open thread, I have been in the weeds putting my second book to bed. But I’m delivering the manuscript next week and while there’s work to be done I should be less distracted moving forward.
This Week’s Posts
Monday, January 23rd - Remote Work Shifts Costs From Management Onto Employees
I’m not saying it’s a bad deal! I’m saying to count the costs.
Tuesday, January 24th - Remember Rich Uncle Pennybags
Ask yourself, does this political action really threaten the powerful?
Thursday, January 26th - If I Have to Keep Hearing "Nobody Believes In Us" I'm Going to Jump Out a Window
Athletes don’t need “bulletin board material” to play hard!
From the Archives
Song of the Week
Non-Garbage Online Reading
Because I’m a man of such impeccable integrity, I’m sharing this takedown of The Banshees of Insherin, despite the fact that I disagree with it and quite liked the movie - it’s well-crafted and well-argued.
Book Recommendation
In Search of Bacchus: Wanderings in the Wonderful World of Wine Tourism, George M. Taber, 2009
An excellent example of a kind of nonfiction that I really enjoy - tightly focused, relentlessly informative, and dedicated to the transmission of experience above all else. I’m not a huge wine drinker, but I like a glass now and then, and as is so common I feel like there’s always more to learn. This book is a grab bag of useful wine knowledge, dropping in bits of trivia organically. The book’s status as a travelogue helps keep everything fresh; the constant travel creates a sense of propulsion to make all of the information go down smoother. A fun and illuminating book.
NFL Picks of the Week
Here’s another example of a line that’s moved from when I put my bet down in my app and when I’m sharing my picks with you. I got the Bengals +1, then I saw it rise to as high as Bengals -2, here I’m picking the Cincinnati Bengals -1 on the road against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game. The high ankle sprain Patrick Mahomes suffered definitely matters, but I’d be taking Cincinnati regardless. Joe Burrow has proven that he can play his best in the biggest moments, they’ve beaten the Chiefs three times in a row, and I genuinely think the Bengals have the better roster - a shaky offensive line, but a more talented defense altogether and the best wide receiver corps in the league.
Season Record: 11-7-0
Comment of the Week
I think this is a good example of a post where I'm writing descriptively and should probably have taken more care to make it clear that I wasn't writing normatively. - Freddie deBoer
That’s it! See you tomorrow.
I watched The Menu a few weeks back and it’s still haunting me. I only saw it once but I have whole scenes memorized just because I keep going over them in my head.
The movie touched a nerve, and not just for me. A lot of my friends saw it on my recommendation and loved it too, including a professional chef working in high end restaurants.
I’m on a discord server based around wargaming (like simulating the staff work and planning in set piece military campaigns, not like video games- like old school war nerd stuff) and the last film we bonded over like this was Death of Stalin. People have been adapting monologues from the Menu for their own chosen profession. One American Lieutenant stationed in Germany hating his life appropriated Jeremy Louden’s “The Mess” to apply to his own disenchantment with Army life.
Anyway, thought I’d mention it. It feels like the movie is spreading by word of mouth so I’m just doing my part by helping it along.
I’m kind of a McDonagh stan and I loved that takedown piece. Guy makes some great points, particularly the bit about being an “Irish” writer in the same vein as a “romance” writer, “sci-fi” writer, etc.