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Every running selfie I take is awful but it’s nice to be out and running and not sick anymore. Plus the weather is really starting to warm up.
Random Thought
I lost an entire weekend to being sick. And it was gonna be a good one. In some ways, it felt like it was gonna be the first real, jam packed weekend of 2024, like the year was really gonna start warming up now. But instead I was bed/couch ridden, completely exhausted and wiped out with a fever, body-aches, and a headache that refused to give up.
It’s the sickest I’ve been in years. It was worse than that one time I had covid (I tested this time around and it came up negative. Also, I think I got off easy when I had covid). I had been hearing and seeing people get sick around me but no one seemed to have it as bad as I did. The weird thing is I didn’t even have a cough or a runny nose. I was just hot and completely exhausted, I mean to the point where feeding my cat was a mighty chore.
I had a false alarm in the middle of the weekend when I woke up feeling pretty good on Saturday. But then two hours later it all came back with a vengeance. Any thoughts I had of maybe enjoying some of my weekend were quickly dashed when I was confined by my losing battle against gravity to stay couch bound under a blanket.
On Sunday, I remember telling a friend I felt like I was going to die. That might’ve been a bit dramatic. The probable truth of the matter is that my brain was mush the entire weekend and I was no longer good at words and it was the most simple, efficient way to express how joyless my life was at the moment.
So what’d I miss? Well, Friday night I was supposed to go see Porno for Pyros with my brother, Phil. He bought me the tickets as a Christmas gift which was super cool and super thoughtful. I’d never seen PFP before and getting a chance to do that with the combo of getting a concert hang in with Phil was something I was very stoked on. I was devastated to miss this one. Bonus devastation- this was apparently a big night for Generation X as I got a few messages from some of my Gen X friends who said they were gonna be there. (Phil ended up going solo which was the right move at that point. I hope he enjoyed the show.)
The next night I had a ticket to go see my favorite living singer/songwriter, Laura Jane Grace. That Saturday morning comeback had me thinking for a few minutes that maybe I would make it out to this one. But once the fever spell came back, I knew I was toast and I would miss this one too. This one didn’t hit on as sentimental a level as the PFP show from the night before, but when I say LJG is my favorite, I mean it, and ever since, whenever I hear one of her songs on my Spotify, I can’t help but think, “damn, can’t believe I missed that show. That sucks.” I tried to stay away from LJG’s social media but when you’re sick like I was, social media is your only lifeline to the outside world so of course I eventually scoured her stories to see the fun time everyone had at this one. I am spoiled when it comes to LJG though. I see her and any band she happens to be in pretty much every time she comes around. Knowing that I’ve seen her before and been one of the maniacs in the crowd several times was a somewhat comforting thought.
Then on Sunday I was supposed to go to my niece’s 6th birthday party. This was probably the one that hurt the most. Especially because it was later in the weekend so an optimistic part of me kept thinking I’d maybe get better by then. It was not to be. I’m sure it was a blast and she had a great day and the house was filled with love and laughs and cake. I just hate to miss these moments. This sorta stuff really warms my dumb heart and I don’t ever wanna be an absentee family member when it comes to the nieces.
And then Sunday night Porno For Pyros were playing again in the area, this time in Montclair, NJ. Now this show was never in my plans but as soon as I missed Friday’s show, there was a part of me holding out hope I’d maybe feel better by Sunday and get a ticket for that show instead. It didn’t happen and that didn’t feel like too big of a deal because it was never on the agenda to begin with. But it was just one of those things, like maybe I can salvage a small part of the weekend but instead I’d remain sick and lose the entire weekend.
But guess who woke up feeling refreshed and fully recovered Monday morning just in time for work??? The human body is a real miracle. I don’t ever wanna frown upon healing up and feeling better. I’m happier healthy than I am sick but it’s oddly frustrating to wake up for the work week and think, oh sure, now my body gets its shit together. I did work from home as a precaution, but I was good. It was all behind me, the sickness and the awesome weekend I never got to have.
Movies I Watched Recently
Poor Things
(Hulu)
This movie was strange and awesome. I read two things about it elsewhere, though I forget where, but they were:
“Post-modern Frankenstein”
and
“Horny Fairytale”
Both of these work to describe what’s going on here. Emma Stone plays Bella Baxter who is sorta the monster but really she’s the body of a fully grown dead woman brought back to life with the brain of an infant. So we sorta get to watch her learn about the world with her childlike brain but fully adult/hormonal body. When the sex first starts happening, a part of me thought it was really weird since she had the mind of a child. But then she just keeps having sex. There’s a lot of sex in this movie. Or jumping furiously as she calls it.
Bella does seem to grow up quick. She traverses the world a bit and learns a lot of things and there’s something about her view on things, it’s very unpolluted by the standards of society or “polite society” as they like to refer to it in the movie. There’s a lot of odd philosophizing throughout the entire movie.
The scenery and colors and settings are all strange and bizarre and bright. Willem Dafoe is in this movie. He’s actually the mad genius who created Bella and that role is casted very well.
I had no idea it was even in the Oscar convo. This just happened to look like a strange movie that was available on Hulu and that’s why I watched it and also enjoyed it very much. I don’t care about award shows so I don’t even know if it won anything but it probably won as the highlight of my otherwise ho-hum weekend.
Frankenstein comparison aside, there really is nothing I’ve ever seen that is quite like this movie. It’s a new kind of weird, a very entertaining kind of weird.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
(Netflix)
I actually watched a bunch of movies and docs this weekend. But if I wrote about all of them, I’d never finish. I did see the Super Mario Brothers movie though and it was silly and delightful and as someone who grew up on Nintendo since back in the 8-bit days, it was everything I could’ve wanted out of a Super Mario Brothers movie and more. Jack Black is a show stealer as Bowser.
TV show I’m currently watching
Atlanta
(Hulu)
I don’t think my brother ever told me I had to watch this show but I do remember him talking it up so in search of a new show to pass the time of being sick, I dived semi-deep into the first season of this show.
‘Atlanta’ is very interesting. At first glance, it kinda felt like a modern, less famous take on, ‘Entourage.’ The star the cast revolves around is Atlanta rapper Paper Boi who is blowing up on the mixtape circuit. He’s got his top homie, Darius, by his side, if not all the time, then close to that. And then there’s his cousin, Earn, played by Donald Glover, who tries to offer his services as his manager.
The show mostly focuses on Earn although I’m still only in the first season and there’s already been an episode or two that dedicate complete narratives to other characters/things which is cool.
This show is funny but it works on many levels. There’s something cool about this show. I can’t put my finger on it, it just feels like a cool thing to watch. It’s also oddly cerebral at times but not all the time and isn’t afraid to completely drop all that for the occasional moments of stupidity. It’s dramatic but only slightly. Earn’s in a bind. His girlfriend, Vanessa is in a bind. Maybe they’re all in a bind but it never hits you over the head with all that. I never feel like I’m drowning in the drama. There’s just enough to keep it compelling.
The crew.
Album of the Week
Half Divorced / Pissed Jeans
This album is a bit enigmatic to me. I’ve listened to it three times already and yet I’m hesitant to say I love it. I definitely love some of it. I think I went back for two more listens to see if I was missing something in the songs I didn’t love. Maybe it’s just not meant to all be loved but there’s enough about this album that will make me come back to listen to it and this band again.
I suppose this is some kind of post-punk. The vocals remind me of Rollins Band-era Henry Rollins, but the dude singing (or shouting) seems more relatable or seems to sing about more relatable topics. But there’s anger and fury and I’m feeling it. My guess is this dude feels really good after a live performance, like he’s really going for it and getting all the shit off his chest.
This is one of those odd bands where I think if I could build a band from the ground up, it might sound something like this. It’s just a very no-bullshit approach to angry rock music. It feels very relatable and unpretentious. It’s got heart and there’s nothing more important than that.
I’m not exactly sure what’s going on here which is sorta how I felt 3-4 songs into the first listen of this album. But I keep liking it more and more and I think I will probably try to dive backwards a bit into their library after this.
Book I’m Currently Reading
Stay True / Hua Hsu
I did a thing I haven’t done in quite a while and that’s breeze through a book in a week. I’m sure being sick helped a bit in terms of free time, but this book was very entertaining and I never wanted to put it down. It was a recommended read to me by my friend Joshua, that’s right, a different Joshua altogether.
This book has cheat codes. The author is two years older than me and it’s heavily about being young in the mid-late 90’s. It’s his memoir about growing up, friendship, and a friend who passes away (murdered, actually). But he was also a bit of a punk rock kid. He heard Nirvana and that changed everything and when I read that, I knew immediately that I was gonna fall deep into this book.
I felt like I had a front row seat to relive some of my own youth. These kids were smarter than me though so the major difference is they all went to college but outside of that, the similarities are wild, especially when it comes to just passing time.
There’s also obviously some things I can’t relate to, like the Asian American experience growing up or having to deal with the pain and grief of a best friend being murdered in my teenage years.
There’s this quote towards the end of the book that the author plays with a lot, “It’s fucked up the way it is sometimes.” Life is fucking awesome till it isn’t and then things happen and you wanna be like why and the answer is simple but also dumb and disappointing. And sometimes that’s life.
But like, that’s no reason not to have gratitude for the good times. In fact, that might be more reason to have gratitude for the good times because eventually something bad is gonna happen and you don’t wanna let that shit win. This book was not only a memoir but a celebration of friendship, love, and building memories with your homies.
Love the title of this book. ‘Stay true,’ is just a cool motto to try and live by but also the two best friends, Ken and Hua, would end their letters to each other with, ‘stay true,’ which had actually been shortened down from, ‘stay true to the game.’
Random sports thought of the week
These hoes ain’t loyal, and by hoes I mean NFL teams.
Saquon Barkley’s contract was up with the NY Giants. He has since signed a semi-lucrative multiyear deal with the Philadelphia Eagles and I guess some fans are mad about it because the Eagles are a divisional rival of the Giants, so how dare he??? But like, the Giants could’ve been that team to give him a contract. Instead they kept giving him the franchise tag which pisses most players off. Barkley stayed silent and did the work. He just kept showing up and never complained. He did everything the “right way,” as they say. His reward at the end was a juicy contract elsewhere. If the Giants were loyal, they would’ve been the team that offered the juicy contract.
The Browns signed Joe Flacco last year in a pinch and he saved their season. He put the entire franchise on his aging back and took them to the playoffs. Flacco played out of his mind, was maybe the most feel-good story the final 3 weeks of the season, and won the Comeback Player of the Year Award. The Browns repaid his Herculean effort by letting him go elsewhere so they could sign Jameis Winston instead. And this is no slight against Winston, but Flacco did everything you’re supposed to do and was shown the door anyways.
I’m sure there’s more examples but I’ll leave it at that. The beginning of free agency in the NFL is always a solid reminder of how disloyal some of these teams can be. But y’know, they expect their fans to remain loyal to them. Something’s broken. This is why I never root for the same team over a long period of time. As far as I’m concerned, I’m a free agent fan. I’ll leave a fan base the second I even think one of these teams is being a disloyal hoe towards me.
I hope this running game runs on the tears of the Giants next season.
Random pro wrestling thought of the week
Things that rule in AEW right now:
-The debut of Mercedes Mone. It was much anticipated and the surprise was spoiled some time ago but what a signing for this promotion and its women’s division.
-Will Ospreay. He’s already had two hot matches since signing with AEW fulltime and the dude can connect with the crowd. I feel like we might be on the precipice of something big here. Ospreay might be that next “it” guy for American pro wrestling.
-Okada! Maybe the best pro wrestler on the planet. Is it weird to see him debut as a heel with the Bucks? A bit but I don’t think him and Ospreay could both debut around the same time as faces. I think this is actually a clever booking strategy that will pay off huge in time when they’re ready to turn Okada face.
-The sentimental signing of The Bounty Hunter Bryan Keith. This might not be a big free agent splash but this kind of signing just shows what can happen when you put in the work. It’s fun to see a guy get a shot. I think he’ll be a great asset for AEW.
-The current run of Timeless Toni Storm. It stays incredible.
-The continued ascension of Swerve Strickland who finds himself solidified at the top of the card as a fan favorite.
-Samoa Joe killing it as the champ.
- An upcoming tag title tournament that could provide many exciting matchups in the very near future.
-A roster that is suddenly very hot. We’re finding ourselves at a point where main eventers will have to start trading off weeks. There’s no room for everybody all the time. I think this will help extend the shelf life of stories, runs, and the wrestlers themselves.
So these guys are gonna fight at the next PPV. That’s pretty cool.
Top 5 Characters in the Super Mario Bros. Movie
1- Bowser
2- Donkey Kong
3- Toad
4- Mario
5- Princess Peach
Weekly Quote
“It’s fucked up the way it is sometimes.”
-quote from ‘Stay True,’ by Hua Hsu
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