Folks! It’s been a minute! Hello!
You may have noticed that I haven’t written this humble little thing in some time now. If you haven’t noticed that, well damn. Ouch. But maybe, just maybe, you miss me more than you know.
Anyways, I haven’t written in a while. And instead of taking up valuable space to write about why that is, I shot a little video to explain myself instead. Who gets to watch 4 1/2 minutes of their pal Joe hamming it up on video? You do, dear reader. You do.
So there you have it. If you don’t happen to care about why I haven’t been writing (fair), that’s ok too! We’re through with that part and we’re back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Getting back into the groove here with a few random takes. Nothing too in depth, nothing too crazy. Just some takey-takes from your old pal Joe. <3
1) Enough with the Forbes 30 under 30.
Just enough with it. The whole ordeal is so over the top and obnoxious.
I’m sure there are plenty of cases where this take is off base - where some young whippersnapper has truly achieved something commendable and worthy of praise and publicity. But all too often, these awards seem shallow, egotistical, and sometimes even downright undeserved. They seem unnecessary. They seem like excuses for not-humble people to talk about how “humbled” they are.
I really don’t mean to demean anybody’s accomplishments. If you’ve been on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, that’s great! Let’s just be honest about something - getting on the list all too often means that you’ve had the connections and privilege that others don’t, rather than being able to accomplish things that others can’t.
I’ll never forget one experience related to this weird publication of “merit.” About 5 years ago, I was in a car ride with a group of people for a friend’s birthday. While the group of us were socializing and chatting, one member was furiously typing on his laptop to submit a recommendation for another friend to make the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. He had previously been awarded the distinction, and now he was trying to get his buddy on the list - via a highly effective award winner’s recommendation letter. This experience showcased to me just how “insider-y” and rigged the whole charade is.
Also, I hate the Forbes 30 Under 30 because I’m about to turn 31. Sue me.
2) “The Queen’s Gambit” has been hyped up so much that it is now overrated.
I watched “The Queen’s Gambit” and liked it. It was a good show, and it worked well as a miniseries. But friends, it is now overrated.
Since the show’s debut on October 23rd, over 62 million households have watched it. It has now become Netflix’s most watched limited series ever. Sales of chess sets have increased 87% since the show’s launch, Google searches for “how to play chess” have hit an all-time high, and the original novel has recently become a New York Times bestseller.
This is all cool! Everyone certainly needs an escape outlet during *these unprecedented times*, the interest in the show seems genuine, and I’d also argue that increased interest in chess globally is a good thing.
But then again…..let’s not pretend that this show is an all-timer. “The Queen’s Gambit” is probably an 8 out of 10, and it’s being hyped up like the fabled Iron Lotus.
Let’s all just calm down a little bit on the ol’ gambit.
3) “The Undoing” is the perfect quarantine binge watch.
Now before you rush to conclusions and think I’m calling HBO’s “The Undoing” the greatest thing since sliced bread, relax. I’m not. I’m not even sure this show can be considered “good.” It’s maybe a 6 out of 10. I think I liked it, but I’m not 100% confident that I liked it.
Anywhom, the overall quality of the show is beside the point. I stand by my initial take: it’s the perfect quarantine binge watch. There are so many things to like about “The Undoing” from a watchability standpoint. For one thing, it’s basically “Big Little Lies” of the East. You essentially replace the massive California coast mansions for opulent Upper Eastside apartments; sweeping cliffside Pacific Ocean views for 360° angles of Central Park; fancy California school fundraisers for hoity-toity New York school fundraisers; Reese Witherspoon for Hugh Grant. For another watchability point, Nicole Kidman is front and center, and Nicole Kidman is a legend. She’s really perfected the high class American accent at this point; it actually throws me for a loop whenever I hear her whip out her native Australian tongue. And, the show is a gripping murder mystery. From episode to episode, it’s a fun exercise to theorize “whodunnit,” and why Nicole’s blonde friend is so seemingly sketch.
Finally, and most important of all to the binge watchability point, the show is a tidy 6 episodes! You watch em and you’re done! You’re in and you’re out. If you are entranced by the show and love it, you get to the resolution quickly. If you (like me) find the conclusion of the plot totally ridiculous and unbelievable, good news! You get to the resolution quickly. And then you’re done.
Thanks for a good few weeks, “The Undoing.” I probably won’t spend much time thinking about you again.
4) The end of year holiday season calendar has been flipped on its head.
The end of year holiday schedule used to be pretty predictable. You’d get geared up for the end of the year with Halloween, ready for peak holiday season with Thanksgiving, and then primed for the end of year home stretch with Christmas and New Year’s.
It doesn’t seem quite that simple anymore. To me, the end of year calendar signifiers are totally different nowadays.
For some reason, Black Friday prep begins pretty much as soon as Halloween is over. As soon as the leftover candy is thrown out and the carved pumpkins begin to rot, J.Crew and Banana Republic let you know that it’s on. Seriously, any company that you’ve ever bought a pair of socks from has to let you know that they’ll be running a sale the day after Thanksgiving. WE KNOW. It’s insane.
As if Black Friday weren’t enough, the next major calendar event is Cyber Monday. That’s right, MORE SALES. After you’re done drowning in 30% off offers from every company that’s ever sold an item, you know what? You get to feel good about yourself for 8 hours on Giving Tuesday. Go ahead, donate some money to any number of worthwhile charitable causes. But you don’t get to feel good about yourself for too long because BAM. Just like that, Spotify drops its Spotify Wrapped feature. And you know what happens when Spotify turns on that faucet? Every person you’ve ever met lets you know what music they listened to that year! Fun times.
Once the novelty of Spotify Wrapped wears off, it’s time for List Season. That’s right - the time when every publication ever tells you what the 97 best podcast episodes of the year were. Who’s got the time for 97 podcast episodes?!?!!!
Don’t you worry, babes - yours truly will be partaking in List Season for sure. Happy holidays!
5) This dude still wins 2020.
I don’t care if you’ve seen the video thousands of times by now. I don’t care if you’ve decided that you’re “over it.” You’re not over it. This video is so pure. This dude is a vibe. This dude wins the year.
6) Animal Circus Cookies are my go-to quarantine food guilty pleasure.
Alright, stay with me for this one. Everybody needs a quarantine guilty pleasure snack. It’s just a fact. We’re all human, after all, and we all need ways to COPE.
I’ve seen Trader Joe’s peanut butter pretzels thrown out there. I’ve seen Trader Joe’s chocolate covered almonds making waves. Both worthy options to be sure. Mine though? Mine happens to be a true throwback: Mother’s Circus Animal cookies.
Man, these slapped so hard back in my youth. Does anybody else remember these mf’s being EVERYWHERE back in the day? For some reason, I feel like Circus Animal cookies were truly out there on the streets in the 90s. No matter - all these years later, and these cookies still bang. The pink and white colors pop as hard as ever. The sprinkles still make it happen. And I may be less able to pound half a bag in one sitting like I did at age 8 because of the sugar intake, but a handful of these things really still hits the spot.
I really wish the name brand of these cookies were different, because it’d make this next line a lot less creepy to say: Thank you, Mother’s, for your delicious ass treats.
7) Does Instagram Stink Now?
Finishing off this section with a spicy take. This is one I’ve been pondering since really around the time I stopped writing the newsletter. Right around that point, my Instagram use dropped precipitously. I just wasn’t finding it to be a fun place anymore. In the past, I had loved the gram as a place to see what friends were up to and keep in touch with people via funny meme shares and the like. But in 2020, Instagram took a different shape for me. It stopped filling me with joy and instead filled me with feelings I didn’t like - frustration at what people were sharing, judgment at what peers were doing, and overall angst. Still - I thought this was just a me thing. Instagram hadn’t changed so much as my circumstances and feelings around interacting with it had.
And yet - as more time passes, I’m really starting to wonder if Instagram stinks now.
We all knew it could/would eventually happen. Zuckerberg and his ilk run the joint, after all. But IG had held off from seeming like a subsidy of Facebook for long enough. Nowadays, I’m not so sure.
Here’s a look at a screenshot from my Instagram app just yesterday. This is from the easily-accessible “Shopping” tab, which used to be the tab you’d hit to see what friend interactions you’d had recently. Man, chill out Instagram. I don’t want to buy merch from Barstool or Friday Beers. I want to hang out with my friends! And shit, Allbirds already emails me 4 times a week - I hardly need you to pester me to buy Wool Runners too. I just want to see what new embarrassing meme my pals tagged me in.
This is hardly the only way Instagram stinks now - what’s with no longer being notified when you’ve been tagged in a post? - but it’s a shining, glimmering example.
I use Twitter waaaay more now - it’s not even close. Maybe I’m aging out of Instagram’s target user group (hell, I definitely am), but the less I use it, the more sure I am that I’m not missing out on much.
Y’all, it was great to be back writing again. Thanks for making it this far. Let’s wrap up with some tunes.
Alright, switching up the music section here with the return of the Digesta. I’m always thinking of ways to make the music recs more on point, and it hit me that some greater segmentation might be useful. While I’m quite the music generalist, it struck me that a Kamaiyah fan is not always a Chris Stapleton fan is not always a Local Natives fan.
So, I thought of an idea to break it up a little bit. Here are a few genre-specific playlists to check out based on your preferences. The titles should be pretty self-explanatory! I’ll add to these weekly to make sure to keep em nice and fresh.
And if you liked the old Digesta tracks playlist, have no fear! I’ve also uploaded a few of these selections to that playlist and will continue to fine-tune that bad boy.
So here ya go:
if u like pop - BLACKPINK, Clairo, Benee, 24kGoldn, Jack Gray, Vin fuckin’ Diesel
if u like indie - Rhye, Ondara, Bartees Strange, The Avalanches, James Blake
if u like rap - 21 Savage, Tierra Whack, Sada Baby, Baby Keem, clipping.
Alright everybody. Blessings and love.
Joey
https://twitter.com/joeymezz