This week….
1| Can We Pretend that Airplanes… by Kelly J. Baker
This essay speaks to so much of what I love about traveling – the solitude and introspection allowed when you’re flying 30,000 feet above the ground. However, Kelly’s appreciation is tempered by her anxiety about all the things that can go wrong while traveling. I don’t share that fear (mostly because I naively assume everything will work out in the end), but I assume her thoughts and emotions will resonate with someone else!
Yet, I find myself craving the time I spend on airplanes. Quiet and solitude capture me for the length of the flight. My mind wanders away from the pressing deadlines, the ever-growing to-do list, and the what-must-be-done to what-could-be-possible. When I travel, I tend to face myself, the good, the bad, and the ambivalent. I cannot escape who I am by pushing onto the next task, the next essay, or the next school event. The captive time of each flight leads to revelation, small and large.
2| The Try Guys Get Prostate Exams
Someday I will do an entire post on the Try Guys, but for now, their latest video: getting testicular and rectal examinations to bring awareness to Movember, an organization dedicated to men’s health. I like when the Try Guys get political and raise awareness for things, and I really like when they’re making jokes to hide their fear and discomfort. This video has both IN SPADES.
3| JJ’s Top 10 Moments from the Hamilton Cast Album by S. Jae Jones
This is the post that tipped me over the edge and made me try listening to Hamilton: An American Musical (which I hardcore fangirled about over here). I used to read JJ’s blog all the time, but then she tapered off and didn’t write consistently for a couple years. I keep checking back, though, and was rewarded to find that she’d broken her 6-month dry spell…to write about Hamilton! FINE, I thought, if even she is raving about this weird musical, I’ll give it a try. Plus, I was very intrigued by the fact that a line from the show was apparently, “I’m a general, wheeeeeeee!”
4| 40 is NOT the new 30 by Jamie the Very Worst Missionary
Jamie the Very Worst Missionary (this is her given name in my head) has turned 40! Oh, like, a month ago. I don’t check her blog all that often, I guess. But! Like everything else, she describes and analyzes this milestone with candor and humor, once more confirming that I want to be her when I grow up.
As my 40th birthday approached, people kept trying to make me feel better about being almost dead. They kept saying encouraging things like “40 is the new 30!” or, even more ridiculous, “40 is the new 20!” And I just smiled back and nodded with a look that I hope said, “YOU ARE EFFING DELUSIONAL.” That’s a damn dirty lie, that’s what that is. And we need to talk about it, because A) You have been the victim of this lie, and you think something must be wrong with you because when you turned 40 you definitely DID NOT feel 30. Or B) You haven’t turned 40 yet, but you think you might someday, and you’re clinging to the hope that 40 is the new 30, or preferably the new 20.
I have been blogging ever since the Internet became a thing. I’ve had blogs on Xanga, Blogger, and WordPress. And I kept it all! I have massive Word documents of archived blog posts, and I recently realized that I have these saved back to 2005. The ten year difference seems auspicious, so beginning Monday, I’m going to start “Ten Years Ago…” In this new series, I’ll share a blog post from sometime that week ten years ago (it won’t always be on the exact day because I want leeway to find more interesting posts to share). Then I’ll react to the old post as my ten years older, and hopefully wiser, self.
It Is Trish 