Some Good Stuff… Eight links, two very different books with the same title, a funny book about grammar, and a book of essays about now. (Also, quite possibly my new favorite book)
But first, a dad joke:
I only seem to get sick on weekdays. I must have a weekend immune system… haha
It’s National Library Week. Here are eight ways to love your library! (There’s Always a Story)
27 Overrated foods… I agree on oysters, but I have issues with his take on nachos. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and redistribute the toppings as you eat them. May I suggest the “nacho sandwich.” Where you take one of the fully loaded chips and top it with one that is bare. Also, the naked chips add back in the crunch when an overloaded chip gets soggy. Problem solved (The Rubesletter by Matt Ruby)
The problem with nachos is the uneven distribution of toppings that occurs as they’re piled up. Some chips are loaded (mmm), but way too many wind up naked (aww). Y’know how Bernie talks about the 1%? That’s how I feel about nachos. A few of the chips are killing it, but the rest are barely getting by. Gimme socialist nachos with equitable distribution of toppings or gimme none at all.
Sterling K Brown recites Shakespeare while eating hot wings (HotOnes)
There’s a lot of talk about men and masculinity, and I think we are missing the forest for the trees. This short, anonymous essay feels familiar… Maybe men just need space to feel afraid? (The Small Bow)
I can go on about the men I'm jealous of, the men I wish I was, the dad I wish I was…Like, what good am I! All this sobriety and I'm still left with all this Little Boy Shit.
“We are as young and as hot as we will ever be again!” Yes! Busy Phillips!
A 32-year-old man weighing 68 lbs had been locked in his house since he was 12. This story is incredible! (The New York Times)
The Ghosts of Alta Dena. The story of one block where all but one home was burned to the ground. These images are unbelievable! (The New York Times)
“A block may be the most basic unit of community in American life.”
Recent Reads
How to Read a Book by Mortimer J Adler and Charles van Doren
This book is begging for a reboot.
I came away with more than a few tips for better reading, especially on how to quickly evaluate if a book is right for me, BUT it's absolutely impractical. Unless you're an academic or work in a think tank, there is no reason for a regular person living in this century to do what this guy suggests. I kept thinking, "Nobody has time for this!"
There is a ton of value in the questions the author is asking, and the structure is easy to follow. I'd love to see a smart person, or even better, a few smart people, take the baton and apply what's here to the digital age. The section on the encyclopedia could be turned into a section on internet searches, and there could be a whole new section on audiobooks.
How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
The premise was good, but the way it was told was not. The flashbacks were jarring. One storyline has absolutely no resolution, and another was wrapped up with the tidiest and completely unrealistic bow that was infuriating. Also, I'm not ok with a professor/ boss pursuing his younger and just-out-of-prison assistant. It's 2025, not 1925.
The title and cover didn't make a whole lot of sense.
The prison book club sections were really sweet. And the Harriet/Frank storyline was also cute.
This book is an absolute delight for anyone who loves a deep dive into a nerdy subject. It's weird and funny (especially the footnotes), and it's clear the author is obsessed with the subject. More than once, I laughed out loud at the nerdy-to-snooty ratio. It's if Strunk and White's Elements of Style were entertaining and not just practical. Speaking of practical, this book is not. You are not likely to come away with a deep understanding of HOW to diagram a sentence, but rather a headful of trivia and fun facts and maybe a bit of nostalgia for a pre-digital education.
Related: The Elements of Spam (as in Spam emails). What happens when you apply snooty grammar rules to grifters. (McSweeneys)
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green
“We all know how loving ends. But I want to fall in love with the world anyway, to let it crack me open. I want to feel what there is to feel while I am here.”
― John Green, The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
I love this book! The structure, reviewing things like Haley's Comet and Diet Dr Pepper, is so smart. It makes it both personal to the author and the reader can't help but be brought in... I would love an update to this book where different authors are invited to write their own reviews.
The reflections on COVID really got to me. I'm convinced America won't move on until we fully process and get honest about what went down in those 2-3 years. We locked ourselves up, and a million people died... that has to mean something.
In case you missed it
What do Jared Leto and Dave Chapelle Have in Common?
I once saw Jared Leto at Natural Cafe on State Street in Santa Barbara. This was post My So Called Life, but nobody really knew he was in that band yet… so he was kind of famous to most of the world, but very famous to people who were in high school in the 90s
I very intentionally timed it so I would be walking into the restaurant while he was walking out. I said, “Are you Jared Leto?” He said yes and then stuffed his hands in his jeans like Jordan Catalano himself, and I actually swooned...
The Bittersweet Weekly is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support this work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Loved John Green’s book too - I thought it was a great way to structure a collection of essays. I want to check out the sentence diagramming book you list - looks fun, and I’m a sucker for anyone who uses footnotes for humor/asides!