Things to Consume: 01.23
A few items you may find enjoyable
This month was my first as a full-time freelancer. A full-time freelancer who works from home. I’ve broken out from behind the bar, slipped outside a chain of command, and now spend my days exactly as God intended: sitting in front of a monitor for eight uninterrupted hours finding creative ways to pay next month’s rent.
Ask any freelancer — the biggest perk is freedom. Freedom to create your own schedule. Freedom to work wherever and with whomever you want. Freedom from workplace dynamics and top-down management structures that have poisoned our work culture to the point that it’s now commonplace to ask another grown adult for permission to use the restroom. These freedoms do come at a cost — freelancers aren’t entitled to guaranteed pay, employee protections, and company benefits — but it’s an enticing trade-off. I’ll return to my normal work in the spring, but if I were to do this long-term, I’m not sure how long I’d last before sauntering back into something more stable. (The answer is two years, when I’m kicked off my parents’ health insurance.)
Though I’ve enjoyed it so far, freelancing invites a unique set of challenges, both internal and external. The external I’ve handled well. I’ve found consistent work for good clients who pay on time. I have a network of extremely talented designers and mentors on speed dial. I even have my own Employer Identification Number, which I’ve tattooed on my ass and flash to anyone who passes me on the sidewalk.
The problems I’m running into are internal. I am my own manager, and I am a bad one. As you see, I’ve waited until the last day of the month to send this. I knew it would happen. Easily distracted and driven by impulse, I procrastinate like a high schooler with an upcoming math test, opting to scour the annals of Wikipedia or marvel at super expensive furniture I’ll never buy instead. My headspace mirrors my environment, which means the only beneficiary of my proclivity is my girlfriend, who returns to a clean kitchen, made bed, and tidy living room every evening. I used to feel sympathy for people with malfunctioning attention spans. I realize now that it may be empathy.
Despite my cognitive shortcomings, I am a man motivated by deadlines and usually muster the strength to meet them. I have a list of today’s tasks on a sticky note in front of me. It will take three cups of coffee, six trips to the bathroom, nine snack breaks, a quick run, a long shower, and some pointless pacing around my home, but by the end of the day, I promise you they will all be crossed off. How’s that for a pitch?
Anyway, here are some things that distracted me this month.
Things to Consume
“Resurrector: Angels in the Outfield” by Hanif Abdurraqib for Believer.
A short, pleasant piece about cheesy 90s sports films and how we see the dead.
A Twitter thread about peculiar pyramids sprinkled across the U.S.
Why Everywhere in The U.S. is Starting to Look the Same
There’s a saying here in Fort Collins: Don’tGoSoPro (Don’t go south of Prospect). Prospect Rd. is one of the busiest streets in Fort Collins, running east-west the entire length of the city, interstate to foothills. It essentially splits the town in half. On the north side, we have the historical heart of Fort Collins: Old Town, CSU campus, beautiful old housing districts. On the south side, we have what resembles any other city segment that’s fallen victim to suburban sprawl: cookie-cutter homes, chain restaurants, chain hotels, shopping centers, sketchy bike lanes. This is, unfortunately, the side of town I live on. There are eleven — eleven — Starbucks within a two-mile radius of my apartment. And not one peculiar pyramid. I weep.
From restrictive zoning codes and interstate chokepoints to 5x1 apartments and the uncreativity of capitalism, this 20-minute video (which features Fort Collins) explains why big chunks of cities look identical to one another.
On a related note, consider the non-place.
“Welcome to the Shoppy Shop” by Emily Sundberg for Grub Street.
Why does every boutique grocer look the same? Sundberg asks.
Immense disdain for monotony right now. Must be winter.
🥵🥵🥵
Kurt Vonnegut: Shape of Stories
“The Strangely Beautiful Experience of Google Reviews” by Will McCarthy for Longreads.
Have a feeling that this will be one of my favorite reads of the year.
Line drawings by Harry Frost.
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.
Such a fun read, even if you’ve never worked in food service. If you have or do, expect visceral reactions. For 300 pages I was transported back to my first serving job at Firehouse Brewing Co., where, on any given summer evening, you could find me running up and down a flight of stairs with heavy trays of food, sweaty, exasperated, and half-buzzed off margaritas the bartenders would sneak me in plastic kid’s cups. There was a rule: no one in BOH except cooks, dishwashers, servers, and parole officers.
“Your stuff is actually worse now” by Izzie Ramirez for Vox.
Good explainer on why, despite this century’s advancements in science and tech, most products suck.
PRE PLEASURE // Julia Jacklin
lifted el camino
That’s all for now. If you’ve recently consumed something you think others may find enjoyable, personally deliver it to me or leave it in the comments below ⬇️
Thanks for consuming ✌️