I’ve re-downloaded the Peloton app
Mostly so I can do Andy Speer’s outdoor runs, and at minute 13 of his 45 minute beginner’s (why does beginner have two “n's”?) interval run I can be inspired by his lisp as he says, “turn me on, baby!” in just the weirdest way as you’re supposed to go from a 4 RPE jog to a 6 RPE run.
My reintroduction to the Peloton world may explain why on Friday as I was leaving counseling I said, “Happy Easter! He is Risen.” And my counselor didn’t say “He is Risen, Indeed,” fast enough, so I just said, “let’s get it,” over her, “He is Risen, Indeed.”
I am running again, but only for the month of April. And then I plan to go back to full time walking. I plan to be in and out of counseling my whole life, because I truly believe anyone can benefit from the right kind of counseling. Sometimes you need to bring in the big guns, if you will. Sometimes you just need someone to tell you it’s a good thing to have access to a wide range of emotions.
All of that to say, keep signing up to be sent stickers and magnets. I promise I will mail those out this week, last week just got ahead of me. And sign up to become a paid subscriber if you want to :)
This sentence now has links to the my instagram, and old issues of the newsletter.
Number One: Made You Look // Operation Varsity Blues
I unscheduled the newsletter, because I am 15 minutes into “Made You Look” on Netflix, and I am HOOKED. Fake abstractionist art! Rothko! New York City! Armie Hammer’s father!
The Netflix documentary on the college admissions scandal was recommended to me as “actually, pretty good.” And I gotta say, my review is that it’s actually, pretty good. The movie makes use of reenactments of actual phone-tapped conversations. Usually reenactments usually just make me think of the visitor center videos at a Civil War battlefield. But the casting here is uncanny, and it’s mixed in with interviews. It’s all very interesting without being earth-shattering. It’s a good doc to watch in two parts over your random 45 minute pockets of time next week.
Number Two: The part of the newsletter where I just link out what Caity Weaver has written
I set up google alerts for Caity Weaver sometime between glitter and trains. She’s done it again with how states color-code their COVID-19 Guidance.
Number Three: I was Told There Would be Cake
My friend Morgan lent me I was Told There Would be Cake on the way on the way to airport and told me, “if you wrote a book, I feel like this is the kind of book you would write.” And reading the book I got a little annoyed, because it would appear someone has already written the book I would write if I wrote a book.
It’s just a fun series of quippy short personal essays, perfect for your airport read.
Number Four: I would recommend being a Christian to anyone
In 2016, on my front porch in Pittsburgh, Leah Kasony said, “I would recommend being a Christian to anyone.” And I laughed, but have held onto that sentiment ever since.
I would recommend counseling to anyone, I would recommend not using cruise control in the rain to anyone, I would owning a cast iron skillet to anyone. But mostly I would recommend humble dependence on Jesus as your savior to anyone.It sounds trite, but I can face the frustration and heartache and injustice of this world because I am confident that for every Good Friday, there is an Easter. Resurrection is coming. Hope is both here and on the way. It’s not up to me to make sense of this world, or assign meaning to things. All of the sad things are becoming untrue. My college friends may grow weary of me recommending they read “Fix Your Period,” but God the Father does not grow weary of my prayers.
In the words of Way Rutherford, “and that’s good news, I hope you take it.”
Number Five: In This House…
This weekend I’ve been staying in Brookside and continuing my passion for walking. Brookside is not only home to a dreamy tennis court, but it is what I might call a “yard sign neighborhood.” The yard signs have only led me to remember this piece that I know I’ve linked before but it still tickles me, so here it is again. I made Makenzie read it out loud yesterday and she laughed, I hope you do too.
Love is LOVE
No human is ILLEGAL
Science is REAL
Lava lamps aren’t REAL LAVA
Lava would evaporate the water and the lamp would EXPLODE
Salad forks go on THE LEFT
Soup spoons are too BIG
They make the soup eating experience GO TOO FAST
Soups should be SAVORED
Nobody NEEDS an assault rifle
BUT we got to shoot our cousin’s one time and it WAS pretty FUN
War is NOT the answer
The song “WAR (What Is It Good For)” is by EDWIN STARR, not WAR, the band that did “LOW RIDER”
We get that CONFUSED sometimes
But get this: FACTS MATTER
Climate change is MAN-MADE
But the pyramids ARE NOT
No SHOES allowed in the house
Socks NEITHER
Let’s keep those TOES where we can see them
WAZE is slightly better than GOOGLE MAPS
But it sometimes takes us down a RANDOM ROAD
Where you have to make SKETCHY LEFT TURNS past oncoming traffic
Capitalizations are FOR EMPHASIS
It is NOT SHOUTING
A contrary interpretation ignores the ARTIST’S INTENT
The VALUATION of the Beanie Babies and Pokémon cards in our basement will BOUNCE BACK
Then we’ll buy a BETTER HOUSE
But our BELIEFS will PERSIST
We’ll use the same REALTOR we always use
EVEN THOUGH our nephew just got his license
It’s just a little thing called LOYALTY
AND WE VOTE!
Bonus: KC friends, remember to vote Tuesday
And if anyone has major opinions one way or the other on the earnings tax, I am all ears. I hate taxes but love city services, could go either way!