Things I Learned This Week

Mo, Versailles, Better Things, Boarding Schools, Hemingway, and Sly

It’s so freaking cold here in Texas. The sweet little tomato plants I planted a week ago WHEN IT WAS 80 are sweating it out in the greenhouse while the rest of us freeze our nuts off. Diverting myself from all the bad news with new things to know.

I’ve been learning more about Native American boarding schools via Shakespeare. For every good thing, there are a hundred really dark histories this nation was founded on. Histories that, from the looks of it, are less history and more current hate that’s been simmering partly out of view since the beginning, and now, not so out of view. If you have an hour this week, check out the PBS documentary Unspoken: America's Native American Boarding Schools, which not only gives a short history of the terror of Native American boarding schools but also shows how this sort of forced assimilation/ ethnic cleansing creates a legacy of culture annihilation and generational pain. Here’s some further reading for me and further reading for any young ones you have around you.

The second season of Mo is here, and if you didn’t watch the first season, step up! Mohammed Amer is a Palestinian American (and now Texan) stand-up comedian who my husband and I saw in Austin during the pandemic at an expensive night of comedy that involved COVID tests and outdoor tables spaced appropriately. We loved his character on the fabulous show Ramy, but in Mo, he takes center stage. Taking on themes of immigration, love, and racism, the show is loosely based on his life as a Palestinian refugee living in Houston. Mo is as hilarious as it is thoughtful and handles hard subject matters with grace and humor. You can’t help but fall in love with this guy. Great interview too between Jewish Marc Maron and Mo taking on the elephant in the room.

I read Farewell to Arms for the first time. WOW. What a weeper. My professor is 82 and has very specific views about beloved American novels, and it is interesting to see him navigate the massively altered landscape of American lit. Would I rather be reading other stuff? Sure, but by reading Hemingway’s take on WWI, you can see how his influence echoed through film, books, and culture in general in ways we are still seeing today. His literary legacy and importance are evident in every word. Plus, he is a beautiful writer. This story is a heartbreaker. Two thumbs up.

Mikey Madison is all the rage right now for her performance in Anora, which I loved, but it makes me want to dial back and rewatch one of my all-time favorite shows. In Better Things, Mikey plays one of three daughters of Pamela Adlon. (My husband and I rewatched Say Anything for Valentine’s Day, and I loved seeing Pam so young in that part as one of Lloyd’s BFFs.) If you are a woman of a certain age (any age), this show is not to be missed. A solid, female cast navigate coming-of, middle, and old age with humor and agency. Even though the last episode aired three years ago, I still think about it. It stays with you.

Still deep in art history and this week we talked about Versailles and the art and architecture of power. The history of masculine energy is so intense. Louis XIV expanded this place to house 5,000 aristocrats, 14,000 servants and military staff, and employed 30,000 from the nearby town, all in the support of one man’s ego. The place had 2 million goddamn flowerpots people. WTF! Apparently, Louis’s court would circle around his bed at dawn so that when he woke up, they could usher his day in with a round of applause. Needless to say, kings suck. Lessons to be learned about the current state of America. Viva la revolution, y’all!

Lastly, I watched most (I have an issue falling asleep) of Questlove’s new documentary Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) on the life and legacy of Sly (another Texan) and the Family Stone. Now, that guy was a badass. The film explores his genius and the weight his talent and Blackness placed on him, and his eventual descent into madness. Questlove has a great visual eye for telling these important musical stories. Not to be missed.

Quote of the week?

“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.” — Ernest Hemingway

‘Til Tuesday kids. (Recently it’s been more like Wednesday, so who knows!)

Burgin

(I’m finishing college at 50+, follow along and read my story here.)