Yum & Yuk

Just finished Don't Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never-Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems by David Rakoff. Wry, smart, but not taking himself too seriously, Rakoff (who I'll always think of as "Our Friend David" bc of the TAL episode, which is absolutely incredible) contemplates everything from Log Cabin Republicans to high fashion to Playboy photo shoots. For someone so cranky and wary, he's also incredibly game to toss himself into new situations and experiences. He's just. so. lovely. It's hard to know how much of my affection was developed over years of hearing his voice on the radio, and whether I would enjoy the book otherwise, but, as it is, hearing his beautiful voice as I read each essay was a real treat. R.I.P. David.

Image: source.

Excellent mix of love songs (including this gem I had never heard). What can I say, I'm a sucker for a mix laden with blatant meaning, and hearing people talk about why the love the tunes they love. Is anything better?

Despite knowing next to nothing about art, I somehow ended up on this excerpt of Simon Schama on Rothko, and though it was amazing. "A space that might be where we came from or where we will end up. They're not meant to keep us out, but to embrace us; from an artist whose highest compliment was to call you a human being." Poetry.

"You have got to sometimes become the medicine you want to take. You have got to, absolutely got to put your face into the gash and sniff, and lick. You have got to learn to get sick. You have got to reestablish the integrity of your emotions so that their violence can become a health and so that you can keep on becoming. There is no sacrifice. You have got to want to live. You have got to force yourself to want to." - Ariana Reines, “Advertisemet”