Click your heels 20 times
Lotsa links, a couple books, zero regrets
Before I get to an absurdly long list of links (which I hope will dazzle and inform), I want to remind you that our current book club pick is David Lynch’s CATCHING THE BIG FISH, and we’ll be discussing it via Zoom on March 2.
RSVP here for the Zoom and read a related piece I wrote called “Catching Fish at the Movies.” If you’re not in the mood for the written word, Lynch narrates the audiobook, which is probably available digitally via your local library.
“It’s not for the bath — it’s for pranks.”
— something I overheard a boy tell his mother the other day (and I’ve been trying to decipher it ever since)
stuff i’m reading
Last weekend I read Olivier Schrauwen’s SUNDAY, a 500-page graphic novel that landed on a bunch of “best of 2024” lists. In meticulous detail, it retells a real day in the life of his cousin, Thibault, during which nothing happens. But guess what? Things do happen in life all the time, even though they may seem boring on the surface!
I recommend it, particularly if you’re a fan of the quotidian and experimental. I also read it in semi-real time over the course of one day, so that was fun.
Right now I’m in the middle of VOL STATE 500K, Nancy Barber’s account of walking 314 miles through the South (mostly Tennessee) in an annual challenge that attracts more than 100 participants, most of them over 40. Many people who do this sort of thing are searching for something; for Barber, a 59-year-old English professor, she’s trying to understand our divided country, engage with folks along the way — and, of course, prove to herself that she’s physically up to this hardcore task.
Tennessee occupies a huge space in my heart, so I was eager to get into this. (Thanks to Andy for the rec!) The more I read, the more I long for a walkabout of my own.
so many links, it’s like a blog from 2006
R.E.M., Interpol, The War on Drugs, Modest Mouse and other bands you like are part of an album benefiting L.A. wildfire recovery. (It sounds like we can only purchase it TODAY?)
The Questlove-directed doc Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music is delightful in every way. You can watch the stunning opening montage on Instagram.
New York magazine profiles Sarah McNally, owner of McNally Jackson Books. Their Seaport location is my favorite (although I may have accidentally stumbled into a Gen Z dating night there recently, long story).
The Fantastic Four teaser looks promising, and I say this as someone who suffers from Superhero Film Fatigue.
Lucy Sante is now on Substack and her beautiful memoir, I Heard Her Call My Name, is out in paperback. It was my favorite book of 2024.
The incredible Tituss Burgess is going to star in Oh, Mary! on Broadway.
More B’way: here’s a piece about how Stranger Things was brought from screen to stage. (It opens in the spring, which will be before Season 5 arrives on Netflix, if it comes out in 2025 at all).
Dora Abodi designed the “vampire castle headpiece” Jaden Smith wore to the Grammys. I can’t afford her “Transylvania” clothing, but I’d totally wear it if I could.
Also for the trendsetters: Anna Sui lipstick in the shape of Hello Kitty’s head.
Here’s comedian Neil Hamburger singing “Just When I Needed You Most.” (Love Neil and Tim Heidecker, but the Dolly Parton/Alison Krauss version is more my speed.)
Sparks has a new music video for “Do Things My Own Way,” an appropriate song title for 2025 (for better or worse). If you haven’t seen the wonderful Edgar Wright-directed doc about them, it’s not too late!
Where is Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner? Buying a bunch of records, including one called Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO, which includes her version of “Can’t Get It Out of My Head.”
Joan Didion’s diary is going to be published. If anyone publishes my diary after I’m gone, I WILL HAUNT YOU.
BrooklynVegan has “10 Weird, Wonderful Music Videos Directed by David Lynch.”
Briana Loewinsohn makes a playlist for her new YA graphic novel, Raised by Ghosts, that includes R.E.M., The Cure, Jawbreaker and Belly. I’m eager to read this tale of a middle schooler in 1991. (via our friend David at Largehearted Boy)
The latest season of The Real Housewives of New York was, in a word, icky. However, I did track down the old-school floral swim cap they all wear in one episode, and I may start using it as a shower cap.
Alison Mills Newman is teaching a one-day Zoom workshop on “hearing the music in our writing” that sounds rad. Her 1974 autobiographical novel Francisco is back in print.
The Abducted by the ‘80s summer tour includes Men Without Hats, Wang Chung, The Motels, Naked Eyes and Animotion. The I Want My ‘80s tour includes Rick Springfield, Tommy Tutone, Paul Young and The Hooters. Lost ‘80s (the one I’m most likely to see) includes Flock of Seagulls, Big Country, General Public, Icicle Works, Josie Cotton & more.
One Story is a literary magazine that sends you one short story in the mail per month.
If you can read cursive — something my child definitely can’t do! — you may want to sign up for the National Archives’ Citizen Archivist program.
That’s it for now! If you enjoy these posts, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. (Paid subscribers receive short fiction every Monday as well as other extras.)
Enjoy the weekend — I hope you treat yourself to something for the bath and for pranks.
*adjusts her castle hat*
tabitha stephens