Giving Thanks (This Year)
Thank you, as always, for checking in on me here, in my little writing space. I’m thankful I’ve given myself time and space to explore a craft that I really love, and I’m thankful for what it is teaching me about sharing, and art, and criticism, and people, and myself. I’m thankful for my Thanksgiving plans, and the people I get to spend a day with; I know not everyone will be sharing their day in the same way. Here are some things I’m thankful for in my life that have helped me both share spaces with others on days like today, and to hold space by myself when I’ve been or felt alone on days like today.
Music
I haven’t had the pleasure of following poet and writer Hanif Adburaquib’s recommendation of watching the Martin Scorsese directed The Last Waltz, which chronicles the last performance of The Band, during the Thanksgiving weekend. It’s not necessarily music that I’d ever run out the door to consume, but Abduraquib’s writing is, and his perspective is one that I seek out whenever I feel I can’t make sense of my perspective, both in the art space and in the being alive space. I trust him, and I’ll trust him enough to continue recommending his recommendation before I even see it myself. (Okay, this is kind of a movie, but it’s also about music, you know?)
Stevie Wonder Albums
Yeah, so, I know a bunch of people consider Songs in the Key of Life the best album ever made, and recommending it is kind of a softball. But you know what? Holidays spent with a group of people, especially family, means playing the hits. And a holiday spent solo can mean finding something with depth and joy and meaning to fill your time, and this record is exactly that. I can find 105 minutes of joy in the instrumentation alone, I can find depth in the songwriting, I can find energy in the pace and variety of the styles, I can find many emotions – sought out or not – in the vocal performances and the lyrics. I can turn to my host’s parents and say “Stevie Wonder! Am I right!! Come on!!!” There’s the big commercial hits, there’s lesser known masterpieces of artistry, there’s danceables and sit-downables. There’s endless, timeless value here, nicely packaged together. Drop it on the turntable and let it play.
Movies
For the first time in what feels like forever, there’s an adult holiday dramedy in the theaters for Thanksgiving: The Holdovers. It’s from Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways, The Descendents, Nebraska), one of the most effective American creators of his generation, who is back after a long – maybe semi-forced – filmmaking hiatus. It’s Paul Giammati being a grumpus of a professor while bunking at his school over holiday break with a student. He probably says some things that are funny! They probably expose themselves for who they really are! They probably learn something along the way! In googling a trailer, I saw that the king Wesley Morris himself positively reviewed it! Take yourself, take your grumpus professor parent, take your highschool bestie, take whoever you want. The movies are back (?) (!!!)!
A throwback for your (my) mom
One of the single best movie-watching experiences I’ve had in the last two years was my first viewing of All That Heaven Allows, which is a movie so dated in politics and ideas and decor and music that it actually has come through the wormhole into timelessness. This thing is so wonderfully saturated in color and sappy writing, it’s gorgeous and big-hearted and, in an extremely dated way, envelope-pushing and maybe even a little (a lot) sexy? Jane Wyman is incredible, and Rock Hudson – Hollywood’s premier gay icon who spent his career acting in hetero relationships – never disappoints nor fails to light a fire in whoever’s watching him on screen. Once again, I implore everyone alive to let old movies be good, to believe old movies are good, and not “boring and sexless”. Go find the sex in here, and take your mom (parent [anyone you care about]) with you.
I think you’ll have to rent this one for a couple dollars, as it is not streaming anywhere commercially in the U.S.
Games
I’ve spent a majority of my millennial existence during the holidays playing games, mostly by myself on the couch while people buzz around the house in my general vicinity. The world’s most obvious and potentially lame choice for me, this year, is simply the entire New York Times Games catalog, which includes their crosswords and the recently minted GOAT Wordle, but has a couple others in there that keep me warmly idle for at least an hour a day, if I want them to. If you’re spending the day with others, they’ll understand your couch-potatoe status if this is the thing you’re looking at. They might even want to jump in and play with you, too. Connections is the real hero, here.
Online Shopping
Ugh. I’m tired of the state of (I’m going to throw up if I type this) cyber week. (I’m vomiting) (I’m cleaning myself up) But it can lead to some funny, satirical, or inventive “gift guides”. This week, I enjoyed Fran Hoepfner’s, who recommends: a cup, maybe some fruit, and more.
Additionally, I’m pleased to say, that in writing this, I have discovered that an annual pleasure of mine has been shared: the Goop Gift Guide. This thing is always incredible, and I learn of the existence of at least 45 new products that sound simultaneously completely insane and rationally useful. Mouth tape? Of course. Dark Spot Exfoliating Sleep Milk? Sure! A negroni set? Get me there. Cocktail olives Christmas tree ornament? I need it. 24 month aged Parmigiano Reggiano? Yep. And, of course, their unparalleled selection of vibrators. There’s truly something for everyone here, gift or education or otherwise.
Okay, checking out. I’ve got a corn casserole, corn bread, and corn cheese to make. I hope you find something nourishing today, and this weekend – for your body, for your soul, for a relationship, for your mind, for your life. There’s so much out there to warm and sustain us, and we can help each other find it. Keep sharing your somethings new with your someone.
Happy (this iteration of) holidays.