10 Things: Scary Movies, Cults, and Lists Within Lists
All my recommendations for what to read, watch, think about, consider, try, and listen to this week.
Happy This Time Of Year!
I am so grateful that we’ve passed through the solstice, and now everything in the Northern Hemisphere is a little lighter, day by day, for months.
It’s been such a long time since I’ve sent out a normal 10 things, that I had some VERY GOOD STUFF saved up! Enjoy!
LISTEN TO (OR READ): Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford
mentioned this book in a comment recently and I thought, “Yeah! I’ll listen to that!” It was such a relief to download something I knew I would enjoy consuming, rather than the dense sociology texts I’m immersed in right now that are So. Boring. I don’t mean “Boring” objectively; I mean that I am essentially a child in an adult’s body and when people write in Academia English, I feel instantaneously inadequate and start daydreaming about starfish. (How fast could they possibly move across a wall?!)Anyway, this was enlightening, funny, smart — it’s a good celebrity memoir without being too much about being a celebrity (but without being not enough about being a celebrity, either). New York Magazine recently published a thing about how there are too many celebrity memoirs this year, and I FUNDAMENTALLY DISAGREE. There are never too many. This particular memoir, which I listened to over the course of a single day, excised me from a deep depression. It made me laugh and it made me cry. As Myq shared, it is explicit about money. The afterword, about suicide, was crushingly dark and smart AND STILL FUNNY. The whole book helped me better understand OCD, which is a thing I have wanted for a long while. Besides of Murder on Sex Island, this was my favorite book of the year.
LISTEN: Too Scary Didn’t Watch
Not since Dr. Gameshow have I had a podcast obsession so severe. The obsession is interfering with my work and my sleep. But I can’t help it; I think about this podcast constantly. The premise is what you’d imagine: there are three girls and two of them are too scared to watch horror movies, so the other one watches them and describes them in magnificent detail. I’ve now binge-listened to so many that I’m not sure which one to tell you to start with; I really loved the Bodies, Bodies, Bodies episode; and the Krampus episode, actually; and Men; and Annhiliation. But Luke suggests (and he is right) that you pick a scary movie you’ve always been curious about and then listen to that one. Oh my god, I can’t wait until I’m done with this roundup and can go back to listening to this podcast.
My partner Luke grew obsessed with this Spotify-based music game this year — at the suggestion of my other partner Bob. (Multiple partners = a lot of fun, and this is proof.) To play, you gather a bunch of your music-loving friends (is anyone not music-loving?) and invite them to a league. Then you come up with five categories (“Road Trip Song,” “Crush Song,” “Instrumentals,” etc.) and everyone in the league chooses one track anonymously to submit for the category. Then, Spotify makes a playlist and you give points to your favorite song choices. Songs are ranked by number of cumulative points, and players gather points over five total rounds. I have now played, and can confirm that this is, indeed, VERY FUN. As well as it is such a terrific way to learn about new music!
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