It's JULY Already!

Greetings from a desk at the gym where I am trying, very hard, not to be cowed and judgemental about some possible teens (tweens? Alphas? I don’t know anymore!*) in the desk over. I have to charge my headphones, and my auditory processing won’t adjust into the radio, which seems to be Q101 from 2003 (“Girls” by Beastie Boys, “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand). Mostly I have been desperately trying not to eavesdrop on the one kid who is obsessed with what I assume is ApplePay and the Sweetgreen App, and the other one who has offered, at this point, multiple times to just pay cash. The salad sounds pretty intense: kale, romaine, cashews (??), "avocadoIjustloveit”, potatoes, broccoli, and “eggs are healthier than chicken, right?” (incredible and edible eggs). The one has a “homebase” Sweetgreen (okay, okay, okay). If I hadn’t looked at them, the Kardashian vocal Chameleoning would have put them at least at the age of your average West Loop denizen. I am overwhelmed. I am remembering gaming the Wendy’s dollar menu with a car full of my pals in High School (nuggets ofc), because you also had to make sure you could save four bucks for a gallon and a half of gas or possibly some squares. Maybe you could get a two-fer at the station on Central and Wilke. Maybe.

Getting old, man.

I had about 1500 words on ::vaguely waves hands:: twenty years of bisexuality or whatever, but man, the past few days. I just don’t know if I have it in me for that sort of tone. So I didn’t send it out last week. There’s a lot more people who are better at writing about this stuff than myself, including David Roth and Hamilton Nolan and Luke O’Neill, so go read them. If you have any h/t’s on non-dude writers you like with takes, I’m here for them.

In any case, here we are, mid-year. What the fuck, right? What the fuck. I have some nebulous goal of being better at this or at least pushing through all the feels to have something like a “habit”. I don’t have 1500 words in me, today, though, so here’s some accounting of the year, so far.

Currently: I am averaging about the 10 books a month I wanted to read, but could pick up the pace a little bit!

I did finally start the “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series and lol you guys, there’s no sex in there. Faerie smut my ass. I wrote dirtier fan-fiction when I was thirteen. I’m here for the ride, though. Why not? More enjoyable was the “Akata Witch/Akata Warrior” books by Nnedi Okorafor. “Noor” was also very fucking cool. Based on the real attitude of this year, I have my doubts the last Locked Tomb book by Tamsyn Muir will come out in 2024, because nobody wants to give people anything nice, so any other series recommendations are welcome!

Speaking of water dystopias, George Packer’s The Valley really, uh, well it was really something. The writing was excellent, the pacing, etc. True, I think the Atlantic is sort of as dumb as the NYT these days, but yes, the rich people I house-sit for have a subscription to both. I couldn’t help myself and would resignedly scan the print copy each morning ,and each morning I did I muttered, The New York Times must be stopped. It is honestly ATROCIOUS! Whereforart thou, editors? YIKES. The New Yorker on the top athletic surgeon was REALLY well done, and the batshit article about Ye and his Ando house.

I went to the Leather Archives and Museum for a pretty rad reading/variety hour, and this person, Andrew Sa, made me cry, but is very, very good, so 10/10 recommend. The newish BadBadNotGood is good summer listening. I am vaguely concerned about the surviving Big Star, X, and New Pornographers line up at a music fest this summer, but may go anyway!!! (LOL jk probably).

There’s part of me that wants to write 3k words about how this job hunt has been the past 6 months, but it feels really embarrassing. Suffice to say I’ve run the numbers and it feels very fucking bad. Neck and neck but not my neck, or very hard decisions, or so many hours spent, etc etc and it is real fucking rough. Wordcount: 63. Not bad.

Tumblr > Insta > Bluesky > Twitter, probably. Oh, I’ve really liked 404’s reporting, lately. I stole this from Laura Olin but it still rules, and I read it a bunch because I’m a Luddite: I Will Fucking Piledrive You If You Mention AI Again.

I went to a reading a few weeks back and someone got up and read a couple poems in a “form we are inventing” which is cool except its SUPER hard to understand what that form IS when you read it out loud and I kept imagining it in the shape of a Crescent Moon? Not the point. The point is that this preson kept going on about being invited by the editor of This Magazine and The U Of C Press and This Other Magazine to submit his poems and magicadabra they got published and I walked down 18th just realizing I give up and all of this is such bullshit and I’m just still not sure what to do, but here we are anyway.

OK COOL less than 1000 words and safe to say I will call these bullshit takes. I will try not to do many of these, and as always, I love advice questions please.

Finally:

Beaches, Ranked

1. The Point

2. 12th St. Pre Revamp but still ok.

3. The Topless Part of Hollywood Beach

4. Ocean Beach

5. Malibu

6. Venice Beach

7. The Beach in Front of the Camp

8. The Dunes

9. Night time in front of the Planetarium

10. Montrose, I assume, if you are a dog or a bird.

    ….

    1000th. North Ave, probably.

xo, caiken

_{*hahaha a funny story from IML where someone said to me It just sucks people over 30 won’t do stuff with people under 30 and suffice to say that I found this out TOO LATE TOO LATE D:}