Damn, son. I’m cautiously optimistic because those aren’t superficial changes. They really do go to a priority shift for the office. I’m particularly excited about the removal of cash bail, which is an excellent first step. Here’s hoping he’s less messy than Mosby in Baltimore, ugh.

Seeing the lineup each year reminds me of how much more out of touch I am about music. That said, only the Friday lineup seems worth all the trouble. I’m not gonna be a hater because I’ve done my time there, but I cannot imagine sitting out in that desert with all those folks anymore. 

I’ve heard a lot in the last few years about being excellent every day. I think that sets up terrible expectations and can throw folks off balance of what their body and minds actually need. It seems that people should do the best they can every day, but sometimes that amounts to just being okay. I know I don’t have…

For the fantacists section, I’d add some Victor LaValle, both the novel The Changeling and the graphic novel Destroyer. I’ve already given both as gifts.

I like when books do it too. For folks like me who only speak one language, it’s an exercise in another way to use context cues to flesh out a setting and what’s going on. And it’s another way to be comfortable with a story without knowing exactly what’s going on at all times.

I think Radiohead is great but doesn’t quite have the legacy yet in comparison to other musicians. So I guess not deserving just yet.

All the props to Janet Jackson because everyone knows she deserves it. But I’m calling shenanigans on Radiohead as being too soon. Once you let in Green Day, though, I guess it’s a slippery slope.

I think I heard about that short in passing, so this is some exciting news. I recently finished Victor LaValle’s comic Destroyer that has it’s own speculative twist on the impact of police misconduct. There’s such good storytelling out there keeping attention on this in creative ways.

Yeah, I know a lot of people who don’t have the disposition to travel alone, which isn’t good or bad, just an individual inclination. There’s something to having an adventure with a traveling partner too.

The older I’ve gotten the less that happens, thankfully. 

This was exactly my epiphany in my mid-30s when I embraced spinster living. For years I had wanted to go to Italy so I went by myself and it’s still one of my favorite trips. It was scary because I had never traveled that far before, but I learned a lot about resilience and my own boundaries. The point about not…

Co-sign about Natalie’s. Obligatory.

I’ve said it before that I think writers and producers have run out of ideas so they try digging up shows from the grave to see if that will get viewers.

or half the cast of Black Panther now I think of it...

I don’t hate the holidays at all, but I have very little holiday spirit—mostly as a function of having to work a lot during the season. One thing I will say is helpful, even for those who love this season, is that it’s nice not to have so many strict traditions and just get into it (or not) as it pleases.

Agreed, and it’s a very practical matter rather than any kind of political one. I like to think of it as The Fast and the Furious effect. There’s something to telling fresh stories or ones that appeals broadly, especially as society’s gotten more access to global media. When there’s a whole swathe of movies already…

This is a valid point. Sanders has a track record for not being much of a consensus-builder and that is a problem for the head of a party (and in a different than Obama made missteps as head of the party).

This is...a lot

“Hamilton” is a musical (a very, very good musical) but it is not 100% historically accurate.

There’s a documentary that Ava DuVernay did on Venus’s role in the equal pay fight for women’s tennis. It’s really good (even seeing salty Maria Sharapova playing nice). And I love that she was the first recipient of that prize. Venus’s tennis legacy is one of the things I love about the sport—she’s one of the top…