We spent a lot of time thinking about the rules of this challenge.
That’s a lie.
We spent a short amount of time thinking about this challenge and we have probably made some mistakes in creating the rules. But Lyndal and I are so stubborn that we would rather be miserable than show any weakness in the face of this arbitrary list of directives for consuming culture over the following year that we, ourselves, invented.
So we spent a short time creating the rules and a lot of time wishing we had created them differently. By "differrently" we mean, of course, easier. By "we", I mean, "me". I think Lyndal’s pretty zen about it.
Continue reading The Rules →
I considered writing the first draft of this post on my typewriter. I like using the typewriter for reasons that no one really cares about. They might see it as an affectation—the peculiarity of a contrarian in the modern age.
I did begin creating this post while listening to Big Star’s Radio City, an album released the year I was born and given to me on vinyl for my 40th birthday. I played it on my Technics SL-220—a turntable that has served me well since my mid-twenties.
There are some things I will never be able to let go and I don’t know if it’s because of the memories they hold for me or that they truly provide a better experience: The typewriter forces me to re-type a second draft, which gives me more opportunity for improvement and pushes me out of laziness for leaving things as they are; The turntable helps me engage more with the music because I have to be in a specific place to listen to it.
I also think the turntable sounds better but I don’t know if that’s true or just nostalgia.
Continue reading The Music: The Beginning →
(or My Year without Sonic Youth)