First snow of the season. Other than that not a lot to report from me at the moment. There’s a couple appearances I did on podcasts in the can which I will share with you when they are released.
This Week’s Posts
Monday, January 3rd - Welcome to Group
My thoughts on group therapy, its annoyances and its value.
Tuesday, January 4th - You Can’t Be Good Enough
Pointing out the obvious: avoiding extreme public social sanction is not a matter of how you behave, because you can’t behave well enough.
Thursday, January 6th - Imagine If Everyone Who Tried to Write Like Choire Sicha Had His Emotional Integrity
A tribute to a unique voice, and a desire for a more humane style.
Friday, January 7th - The Buried Giant, My Favorite Ishiguro
A brief review of one of my favorite novels of the past decade.
We also had the first post for our new book club, on No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield. It’s gonna be a lot of fun, so join us.
From the Archives
Short and to the point: the conversation about whether we should allow moral considerations of artists to affect our feelings about their art is entirely different from the conversations about whether immoral athletes were good at their jobs. They shouldn’t be.
Song of the Week
Book Recommendation
Burning Chrome, William Gibson, 1986
This is one where I wonder if everyone who sees this has already read it, but I feel I must recommend it here: it’s a pure joy. It’s a collection of cyberpunk stories from the earliest days (as conventionally defined, simmer down megafans) and thus beautifully free of genre expectations or clichés. “Johnny Mnemonic” is the fan favorite and the highlight draw for a lot of people, but “New Rose Hotel” is my favorite and the favorite of a lot of others; it’s everything I want cyberpunk to be. The collection is a bit up and down at times but never boring, always teeming with ideas and cool situations. This should be by every 14-year-old’s bedside, but if it wasn’t by yours, now is as good a time as any to read it.
NFL Picks of the Week
Last week of the regular season. Soon these picks will get put out of their misery.
I like the Kansas City Chiefs (-10.5) over the Denver Broncos. The Chiefs can still get the 1 seed with a win and they’re the first game of the week, and more to the point, they’re really good. The Broncos suck and are playing for nothing but draft position. I’ll take the Chiefs on the road.
In contrast the Miami Dolphins (+6.5) have nothing to play for and the New England Patriots have playoff implications to think about. But the Dolphins are still the pick. I think their players care about Brian Flores and want to go out strong, and I think we’ve established at this point that Mac Jones can’t play from behind. I like the points at home for Miami.
Finally, I’ll take the Seattle Seahawks (+6.5) over the Arizona Cardinals. I don’t think the second-half swoon for the Cardinals is fake; I think they’re not a particularly good football team, particularly without Deandre Hopkins. Just looks like value to me.
Win-Loss-Push: 12-15-0
Comment of the Week
I'm a very introverted and private person so group therapy (in and out patient for addiction) was absolute torture for me. But looking back I mainly remember the good stuff. After the session was over most of the group went outside for a smoke. This is where the real bonding happened. We would talk shit about Dr. Dickhead but also share a lot of stuff that didn't make it into the session. So many funny stories.
I've pretty much stopped judging people after group therapy. I despised this guy named James. Everything about him made me angry. One day we walked back to the subway together and he told me about growing up in the foster system and being physically and sexually abused. Then finally escaping to the army, where he had two great years until he was raped by a very popular officer, and put through absolute hell when he reported it. Then years on the street struggling with opiate addiction. It's amazing how all your previous judgments seem incredibly petty after hearing something like that. - TuringCompleteMe
That’s it! Enjoy the weekend.
I commented on "from the Archives" at the archived post. Thank you for your clarification. Here is what I posted:
$19,259,524--that is how much money from Ty Cobb has supported poor Georgia students with college scholarships. https://tycobbfoundation.com/
The Georgia Peach also endowed a hospital in Royston, GA.
(The Tommy Lee Jones movie and the Al Stump book are the only things pop culture seems to know). Cobb invested in Coca-Cola early, endowed a college scholarship for poor children and also supported his less well-off team mates after baseball.
(Full disclosure: I am a member of the Ty Cobb Museum and have visited many times).
You all visit! https://tycobbmuseum.org/
I have tried to read Neuromancer from Gibson twice, and I never make it more than halfway. I have no idea what's going on in the book, seems like a random collection of sentences. I'm not even sure why that's an issue. I can't think of another books where I've struggled to understand the basic plot.