COVID life #1

 As I sit at my office desk, listening to a light rain fall and watching the haze developing around the obnoxiously bright alley light directly in my line of vision, I am mentally preparing myself for what promises to be a long, uneventful winter. With the numbers in our state tracking precipitously upwards and stronger restrictions once again looming, the reality of a COVID winter is ever so slowly beginning to set in. It could be worse, as always. We both remain gainfully employed and as difficult as balancing a full-time job with parenting and assisting with remote leaning can be, endless grateful for the unexpected time to watch our son grow every single day. That said, it's worth acknowledging the ways in which the immediate future feels gloomy. One of the balms has been weekend treks through various local nature preserves and walking trails, obviously to be a distant memory when the Chicago winter kicks in with full force. It's a good reminder of the necessity of taking stock of that which one has already to hand and finding ways to appreciate it all anew. What that means and how that looks is ever evolving. We'd all love to pretend that the extra time at home has allowed us all to indulge those long dormant hobbies and develop, no, master, those previously latent talents. But no, making it through the day with psyches intact and sanity still clutched, no matter how tenuously, is the highest we can hope for on the best of them. While I can sit here and wish for a vaccine, or more robust testing, or better yet, a nudge towards normalcy, whatever that may mean, it feels all too futile, as far out of my hands as all of these things are. For now, I'll listen to the rain growing more steady, watch the distant lightning flash and remember those things today that would have been unimaginable on an average Wednesday workday a year ago - the smell of a fresh pot of French press, my son leaning into me for a half-hearted hug during one of the breaks between his Zoom lessons and the commute home consisting of a walk from the dining room where my work laptop is set up to the chair in our sunroom where a book awaits. May we all find and savor these moments of peace in the months to come. 

Recently Enjoying

While I continue shaking out how I want things to evolve in this long dormant bit of digital real estate, I thought I might fill the time by passing along a list of some things I've recently been enjoying. Or at least those things that have served as momentary distractions from the unending horror show that has filled even the margins of 2020.

Albums

Low - Long Division (1995) / The Curtain Hits the Cast (1996) / Secret Name (1999)

Not new to everyone, but I didn't really start following Low's career until after they had signed with Sub Pop around the middle of last decade. I since went back to check out their highly regarded final two Kranky releases (Things We Lost in the Fire, Trust), but I'd always neglected the earlier part of the career. The Curtain Hits the Cast was the big revelation for me, epitomizing the trio's starkly beautiful slowcore roots.

Blue Oyster Cult - The Symbol Remains (2020)

The long running cult classic returns for their first new studio album in nearly two decades and, honestly, it has no right to be as good as it is. Long time BOC fans will instantly find something to love, with all of the band's trademarks in full supply - horror and sci-fi derived lyrics aided by notable authors, killer hooks and blistering guitar playing. They even make a song called "Florida Man", a twisted tale in the vein of Butthole Surfers' "Pepper" and Jim Carroll's "People Who Died" that ties the titular screw-up from our daily news reports to the curse of the conquistadors, work, and exceptionally well at that. Such a conceit would fall flat as gimmickry in lesser hands, it's a testament to these lifers that it works so well here. And it's only one of the half dozen or more truly great songs on this record.

Books

Machineries of Empire Trilogy (Ninefox Gambit / Raven Stratagem / Revenant Gun) - Yoon Ha Lee

This is a sci-fi trilogy that drops you, in a rather disorienting manner, into the middle of a universe filled with maneuvering political factions, heretics and space battle controlled by belief in the calendar imposed on them by leaders and math, lots and lots of math. It's dizzying, to start, but Yoon Ha Lee compels you forward with exceptional set-pieces, epic battles and intrigue, all while very slowly unveiling the world they have built to fill in the pieces you didn't have from the start. It is gripping and, quite rarely for a sci-fi series, it sticks the landing in spectacular fashion, tying up the loose ends in a most satisfying and consistent way. I cannot recommend this series highly enough and I can't wait to see where Yoon Ha Lee's imagination goes next.

Televsion

Lovecraft Country (HBO)

I was a big fan of Matt Ruff's novel when I read it a few years ago, so I was ecstatic to see that it was picked up to become a series on HBO. I've also really enjoyed the work I've read by H.P. Lovecraft, though acknowledging that his massive talent in crafting deeply unsettling work is balanced out by his horrific views on race, so it was a thrill to see Ruff twist the two threads into the highly original story of Atticus Turner and his family. The series ups the ante in spectacular fashion, expanding on Ruff's stories in fascinating and horrifying new ways while striking a balance between a horror anthology series that tackles different themes (the haunted house episode, the demonic possession episode, the time travel episode, etc) while weaving together an even more satisfying overarching story. The acting is superb throughout, especially Jonathan Majors' Atticus, Aunjanue Ellis' Hippolyta and Michael K. Williams' Montrose. I'm not sure I will ever completely expunge the horrifying image of Diana's pursuers in Episode 8.

Succession (HBO)

We were rather late to this one but in a way I'm really glad, since it allowed us to binge both seasons rather quickly instead of having to wait a week for each new episode. There's been a lot of digital ink spilled already about how great this is and I'm not sure I have anything of significance to add, other than to add another voice in the chorus confirming that it really is as good as you've been hearing. Individually and collectively, the entire Logan clan is as despicable and disgusting as you might expect a bunch loosely based on the Murdoch clan may be, but this is never less gripping for them being so. Kieran Culkin is a revelation as Roman Roy and Brian Cox is never less than wonderful, but it's the ensemble that makes this a show worth watching. 

Checking In

 I can assure you that I never intended this blog to fall into such a state of disrepair and abandonment that it became nothing more than a dumping ground for my increasingly late year end wrap ups, but that is apparently what has happened. Believe me, dear hypothetical reader, I'm as disappointed about that as you are. While I'm not naive enough to think this is the time for a grand declaration of renewed promises to fill this daily with scintillating new content, I do want to put an intention into the universe that I will return to more regular posting - if for no better reason to give myself a creative outlet and to goose myself towards working on the craft of writing. 

I probably will get my best of 2018 and 2019 lists up at some point, but in massively diminished form, likely just a list without any meta commentary, video links or images. Those are all nice but I fear providing them all for the backlog of two years feels like so much more busy work on my plate. I'm much more interested in getting the actual contents of the lists up for posterity's sake.

There are no grand plans for what I will do in this space, no overarching project or themes, but there are multiple things floating through my head that I would like to expand on over time. Again, if for nothing more than getting back into the process of writing and sharpening my skills on that front. 

For now, however many people may even bother to check back in here, I hope you are holding up as well as possible in the year of 2020 and I hope to continue filling this space with interesting thoughts and ideas very soon.