Things I Learned This Week

Why does Woody Allen have to suck so bad?

Week two of the semester done. Let’s get into it.

• Japanese-born American writer Kazuo Ishiguro is a genius, obviously. I am taking a survey on his full body of work, and it is the first time I have ever taken a class on a single writer. Two books in, it is fascinating to watch the evolution of a talent. For any creatives out there who are sitting on an idea, let the fact that Ishiguro wrote Remains of the Day in four weeks sink in. If that’s not motivation to get off your ass and do it, I’m not sure what is.

• Annie Hall was always a favorite film of mine in my youth. I watched it this week for probably the third time ever and for the first time since we all learned what a shmuck Woody is. It’s too bad because, except for a few moments of foreboding ick, that movie is still pretty flawless. So spot-on and sharp, even by today’s standards. A great piece on Vice sums up my feelings on the matter. “Annie Hall is a work of art whose meaning has surpassed its creator’s intentions. What was once an untarnished classic is now a record of an artist’s failure to live up to his own worldview.” I am recommending a rewatch. Smart guys are sexy. Let’s not let one toxic nerd give them a bad rap.

• On the sexist flipside, in Oceanography, I discovered Marie Tharp, cartographer and all-around badass. Her mapping of the ocean floor in the 1950s showed it to be topographically diverse, leading to the theory of continental divide being proven. So misogynistic was the man-club, that my boy undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau was determined to show her up. He took his ship Calypso and crossed the mid-Atlantic ridge with an underwater movie camera to prove her wrong and ended up solidifying her findings. Years later, Tharp slam-dunked him with, “There’s truth to the old cliché that a picture is worth a thousand words and that seeing is believing.” Slay queen.

• Speaking of queens, I went to PechaKucha this week. One of the speakers was Maura Bobbitt, a death rights advocate and mortuary scientist. She became a licensed funeral director to create access to death practices that are community-focused, radically accepting, sustainable, and divested from capitalist forces. Her mantra is good deaths help us lead good lives and that accepting our deaths is an act of revolution. After hearing her speak, I am so ready to be wrapped in ratan and flowers and buried on private land so the worms can have at me. She mentioned hosting Last Supper parties where everyone brings a potluck of what their last meal would be. Who’s in?

• This past year (I know that is not something I learned this week…sue me), my son turned me onto Adrianne Lenker. We got to see her this summer on tour in Austin, and I can’t remember the last time where I saw a show that intimate. She was alone on stage at the Paramount with a guitar, and at any point during her performance, you could have heard a pin drop. The audience was totally engaged and hung on her every note. Her album Bright Future has been on rotation in my house/car for months, and “Vampire Empire” is now in my top five songs of all time. If you haven’t already, have a listen.

• The liberal’s favorite conservative dropped an op-ed yesterday entitled The Junkification of American Life. It hit home on so many levels. It opens like this… “Back in February, the music historian Ted Gioia wrote an essay on the state of American culture. He argued that many creative people want to create art (work that puts demands on people), but all the commercial pressures push them to create entertainment (which gives audiences what they want).” This read is so right on. If you have a few minutes, I suggest a look see.

• Lastly, with so many parents losing their children on national and international stages this week, it’s hard not to end on a somber note. Hug your kids, folks, and then do something about it. Protest, call your member of Congress, talk to your neighbor about difficult stuff, read things by beautiful people about sadness and joy, and help others where you can. Join a cause you believe in. Make a difference. Enjoy your life. We only get one, and even that’s not guaranteed.

Quote of the week:

They witness our fight too, the quick jerk of our feet, see our hearts lurch to beat again in our art and music and work and joy. How revelatory that others witness our battles and stand up. — Jesmyn Ward

‘Til Tuesday kids.

Burgin