29 lines
4.8 KiB
Markdown
29 lines
4.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: I know if I don't go now I won't make it out (week notes 010)
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date: 2024-09-22
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tags: [week-notes]
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draft: false
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---
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# Doing
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* My volleyball rec league started back up! I'm awful and uncoordinated on the court, but it's fun to play with friends, and I have learned the hard way that I'm a lot less depressed when I'm active.
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* I'm enjoying reading ex-cohost folks on the bearblog discovery feed. The trending feed can get a little stale.[^1] I hope they stick around.
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* I took a walk (and a run) with a dear friend that I've been trying to get together with for a while. She's decades older than me, but we are incredibly like-minded. Kindred spirits. I appreciate her wisdom and guidance and friendship immensely as she listens to all my neuroses.
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* On Sunday night, Joe and I went to a wedding for two of our best friends. Maybe I'll make a longer post with all that stirs up for me — thoughts on marriage and commitment...
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* Unfortunately, I left the wedding feeling sick. COVID test was negative so here's hoping it's just allergies from the changing season.
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# Reading
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* **_No One Belongs Here More than You,_ Miranda July.** I stand by what I said last week. I think I need a break from the sexual deviants I'm apparently (and unconsciously) selecting lately. I'm glad to be done with this; I appreciated July's occasional wit and found it Handler-esque, but those touches were few and far between, and the rest of it mostly just grossed me out.
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* My next books will be _The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating_, recommended by a friend and coworker, and, I think, _Into the Wild_, which I've always meant to read. It might not seem like much for an English teacher, but these past few months I've been reading for pleasure more than I have in years and it has me feeling so full. It's great to rediscover that joy.[^2]
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* **["Linkin Park, From Zero"](https://netigen.com/read/linkin-park-from-zero) by n3verm0re.** I'm not a Linkin Park fan by any means, but I have been interested in seeing how a group reawakens after such a tremendous loss. I really enjoyed this piece about it.
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# Listening
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* **_Green Dream in F#_ and _Rare Birds_, The Bug Club.** I asked a student of mine what kind of music she listened to; she said her music was too weird and I'd probably never heard of it. I took that as a personal challenge. But it's not that weird — although, as an (ex?) Xiu Xiu listener, my barometer is off. I liked both albums! They're light, fun listening, and absolutely up my alley.
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* **_Romance is Boring_, Los Campesinos!** Listening to the music students of mine like has me thinking about the music I was in love with at their age. _RiB_ came out at the exact right time for me and holds a special place in my heart. I listen to tracks from it often, but this was the first time I'd revisited some deeper cuts, like "Who Fell Asleep In," in years.
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* **_All Hell_, Los Campesinos!** I'm still forming my larger thoughts on _All Hell_, but it was interesting to compare side-by-side with _RiB_. It is far more even and consistent in quality — _RiB_ has some all-timers but also some real duds ("Plan A") — but there is a visceral, adolescent melodrama to _RiB_ that _All Hell_ lacks. _All Hell_ is instead grown up and wistfully forlorn, especially compared to juggernauts like "I Just Sighed." Both are good and appropriate for me at different times and headspaces, but _RiB_ holds more of hook — although I have fifteen years of relationship and baggage with it compared to _All Hell_.
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* I'm thinking about a recurring theme in songs I am or have been fixated on —
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* **"Drops (reprise)," The Peripheral Ones** - "I know if I don't go now I won't make it out"
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* **"The Whale Song," Modest Mouse** - "I guess I am a scout / so I should find a way out / so everyone can find a way out"
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* **"Ave Maria," Mac Miller** - "Have you found a way out?" & **"Come Back to Earth"** - "I just need a way out of my head / I'll do anything for a way out of my head"
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* — the idea of making it out is, of course, not a unique theme, but perhaps it's why *The House on Mango Street* resonated with me: *"For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out."*
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[^1]: I think posts don't decay quickly enough from the feed, and the top page or two of trending posts are all by the same handful of people. There's a handful of very active posters, which is a great thing, but I like to see variety there.
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[^2]: A friend of mine, a music teacher, told me a few months ago, sadly, that she wasn't finding joy in listening to music recreationally anymore. She made a life change and was hoping to reclaim it. I think that's what inspired me to start reading again. I of course engage with literature in my job as an English teacher, but it's not always mentally stimulating — for the most parts, I'm reading the same texts over and over to a young audience.
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