Good morning.
It’s been a long time since you’ve heard from me.
I know earlier this year I said that I would be releasing multiple “seasons” of this newsletter based around some kind of theme. It turns out I lied about that.
Believe me, I meant to make good on that promise I made to myself and those of you who have been good enough to stay subscribed here, but it turns out that starting a fairly demanding new job, trying to revise a novel in the silent vacuum of your vain ambition, attempting to be a supportive and attentive partner, and trying to figure out what you’re doing wrong at the gym to make sure you don’t keep getting that lingering back pain that seems to move around can take up a lot of your time.
All of a sudden, the end of the year seems to be upon us. Once I started seeing the year end lists and the “things I wrote” this year stuff circulating, I felt the need to do some yearly assessing myself.
Below is a list of things I watched, listened to, or experienced this year that I think I’ll remember or continue to enjoy beyond 2022. These things weren’t all released in 2022, I just happened to watch, listen to, or experience them in 2022. Though, I suppose the experiences were all released in 2022 since I experienced them in 2022.
Overall, this was a very good year for me personally and professionally and I don’t have a lot, if anything, to complain about. I continue to ask myself why I feel the desire to write or tell mundane stories—and if they are even needed in the world. But I don’t think I’ll ever come up with an answer for that. It’s a compulsion at this point. It’s been over ten years since I published a work of fiction anywhere and that hasn’t stopped me yet. If you hang around, you might get to read a story or novel of mine published somewhere in another twenty years. Or you can just email me.
Otherwise, I wonder and think about the state of where media in general is heading. I don’t find myself drawn too much online these days. I don’t have the patience or stamina for Twitter anymore. Instagram feels like Facebook. TikTok is inventive, but how long will it be around? I’ve discovered beautiful newsletters and those tend to be my bright spots. But I often wonder why I am online when I’m not working. Maybe I’m missing a lot—or maybe I’m not.
My weekend subscription of the Times in print has been helpful, as have my physical copies of magazines and the several books I haphazardly read all at once. I hardly watch live sports anymore. Movies are more important to me than they ever have been, but I’m never sure which streaming service the ones I want to watch are going to be on at a given time and I usually end up having to buy or rent them through Apple or Amazon anyway.
I feel less connected to new “television” releases than I ever have; probably because there are too many to keep up with and they all kind of get released at the same time to binge so I end up forgetting about most of them. I fight on the side of the album in the war for my attention, but it too often loses battles to podcasts. I truly listen to so many podcasts. Like, I’ll even listen to shittily produced ones just so I can hear some dude interview people who did the set design on Close Encounters of The Third Kind or listen to some random hosts of some random podcast do a deep reading of the allusions in Eyes Wide Shut.
If anything, I spent way too much time reading the Bill Simmons subreddit, and I’m not quite sure what that means. I think it means something about moving to smaller communities, about fandoms, about places where you love to love, love to hate, and hate to love, someone or something along with other people who all get the joke. Except, that kind of sounds like Twitter but maybe more dispersed? Or, wait, that’s just Mastodon isn’t it?
What will happen in 2023? Nobody knows anything and I certainly know absolutely nothing. But if you ever want to talk about this stuff, you can email me. I’m here.
Watched
Save the Tiger (1973)
Growing up in a post-Grumpy Old Men world has always made understanding the full arc of Jack Lemmon’s tremendous career difficult. But after watching this mid-career acting masterpiece, it all clicked into place for me. In this performance, you see every shade of Lemmon—those that have faded, and those that are still to brighten.
The White Lotus, Season 2 (2022)
This seemed to be the most talked about show of the year—even my trainer asked me if I’d watched the finale. Mike White is writing some of the best fully-realized characters and dialogue in any medium right now. The second season was better than the first and I won’t hear any arguments.
New Girl, Seasons 1 and 2 (2011-2013)
I remember enjoying the episodes from these seasons as I watched them week-to-week back when I was in my mid-twenties and slowly approaching thirty. They’re funnier now. Jake Johnson’s work should be revered just as Matthew Perry’s work was on Friends. The two shows are spiritually connected; and New Girl may age better than Friends, which feels about 1,000 years old if you happen to catch a rerun in a hotel room in Dallas in September.
Nope (2022)
Every Jordan Peele-directed movie has been good so far. You can argue just exactly how good, but when you do that you start talking more about ideas and less about entertainment. This was his most entertaining movie so far and another example of Daniel Kaluuya being the best working male actor today.
Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
Both Colin Farrell and his sweaters were phenomenal in this movie. But were they as phenomenal Kerry Condon? Hard to say. Condon’s performance was the most forceful and moving, but Farrell puts everything he has as an actor on the table. I saw this crammed into a stupid seat next to a stranger at an Alamo Drafthouse that was serving bad popcorn and still loved it.
Under the Silver Lake (2018)
This had been on my list of movies to see for awhile, but I never got around to it. When my girlfriend went out of town for a weekend it was part of my ritual gorging of TV and movies—my watching metabolism is much faster than hers. A movie that thrilled me, frightened me, and left me wanting more in the same way that Eyes Wide Shut (1999) always does when I now rewatch it every year. I can’t wait to watch them together for a perverse and haunting double feature.
Argentina vs. France (2022)
This match has already been deemed the best World Cup Final of all time. Like Federer vs. Nadal at Wimbledon in 2008, it certainly had that feeling in the moment of “there’s no way this sport, on this stage, can get any better.” I had no reason to cry after the match, but I did. Because as I watched the Argentinian players and coaching staff crying and hugging Lionel Messi, I realized they were both in the midst of celebration and mourning. They’d been around greatness for so long and they knew how much this meant to Messi and his legendary career; but they also knew that it was the end. Greatness was going—it would no longer be so close, so near to them.
Barbarian (2022)
Horror movies are not my thing, and I didn’t watch this one “without reading anything about it” the way you were supposed to. Either way, I still loved it. After the movie, in the bathroom, a stranger said to me: “You know what the moral of that story is? Never go to Detroit!” Leaving the theater, I said to a friend of mine that I didn’t find it as scary as other horror movies because it didn’t feel like it could happen to me. “What are you talking about?” he said to me. “We just stayed at an Airbnb last weekend!”
Weird (2022)
I, a 37-year-old man, watched this movie on my couch with my 30-year-old girlfriend and her 25-year-old sister. We each had a different level of familiarity with and fondness for Weird Al, ranging from “towering pop culture figure from childhood” to “is this all he does?” We all loved this movie, especially the “hay boy” bit.
The Philadelphia Phillies (2022)
This summer, when there was a sense the Phillies might stumble into the expanded MLB Playoffs, I started following them closer than I had in a long time. And I winced through September when it seemed like they might collapse. Then, they transformed into one of the most entertaining baseball teams of the last 30 years (including Bryce Harper’s playoff run for the ages and his movie-moment home run in the NLCS) and eventually lost in Game 6 of the World Series—just like they did in 1993 when I was first becoming a sports fan.
Honorable mention:
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal Crying (2022)
Because I’m a Nadal fan, when I would discuss Federer with my friends, I’d call him “that smug asshole.” But I was always only joking. Seeing these two men, who have entertained and amazed me for nearly twenty years, holding hands and crying was one of the best things I saw all year. I’m still too young to understand how lucky I’ve been to be able to watch the entirety of their careers.
Listened
And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood (2022)
There is nothing on here as catchy as Andromeda Rising, but somehow it’s better album overall. She is one of my favorite artists working today. Yet, I worry about her next album and where she goes next. Maybe getting lost in the lushness of her work will continue to be enough.
“Look At Me I’m Sandra Dee” (1978)
Like so many people, the film Grease (1978) and its soundtrack had a formative effect on my life. Playing a T-Bird and feeling comfortable singing the song “Mooning” on stage in a 9th grade performance of Grease made me realize that perhaps I was capable of doing things that had previously made me uncomfortable. Celebrity deaths don’t really impact me anymore, but Olivia Newton-John died this year and it made me sad. This is an amazing song with an otherworldly vocal performance. Everyone should cover this song and make the closing track on their album.
London Calling by The Clash (1979)
I go through a phase every other year when I listen to this record non-stop for about a month. Somehow, it remains underrated. This is one of the five or ten best albums of all-time and probably the second-best double album. And if you don’t care for ranking things, it remains one of the most pure expressions of fun and creativity ever put to record.
“Rolla Rolla” by April March (2022)
April March has been working for decades, but she was one of my discoveries of the year. Her album In Cinerama is good all the way through, but this track was by far my favorite. Hooky, but tinged with the right amount of longing and melancholy.
Rewatchables: There Will Be Blood (2022)
The Rewatchables is probably my favorite podcast and Jesus Christ do I listen to it too much. Spotify says about 16 days worth. This was probably the best episode they did all year and included one of the best audio jokes I’ve heard in a long time: setting “Slow Ride” over the very end of the film.
“Alameda Apartments” by Neal Francis (2021)
My buddy told me about Neal Francis this year. I didn’t know the guy from Steve Francis. Then I listened to his album In Plain Sight, and the opening track “Alameda Apartments” jumped right out at me. It’s the kind of Elton John and Billy Joel Face to Face tour vibe that anyone can get onboard with: overly emotive piano playing, a sense of dramatic storytelling, a departing feeling of having been moved. What else do you want?
Revolver by The Beatles (1966/2022)
This marked, most likely, the last of the current round of reissues of Beatles albums (unless they end up doing Rubber Soul). There was no anniversary tie, just a chance to hear these songs remixed and reissued and to allow Beatles obsessives like me to get their hands on some outtakes that hadn’t been included on Anthology 2. Hearing John’s demo version of “Yellow Submarine” nearly shattered me several times.
Disco (1970- )
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like disco is pervading the distracted listening habits of today in a way that feels as if it has staying power. Kinda like when Fleetwood Mac crossed over back in the day. I heard Sylvester (truly the best) songs at a dinner party where I didn’t know anyone, heard “More, More, More” and “I Feel Love” blasting out of a car window multiple times during the day, and heard “Boogie Shoes” several times in supermarkets. I think disco is the best genre: on any random track, you always get your money’s worth. Listen to “That’s The Way (I Like It)” with soft ears—as if you’re hearing it for the first time—it sounds like an avant garde transmission from an alien planet.
“Bird Without a Tail/Base of My Skull” by Wilco (2022)
Wilco’s studio album output has been a mixed bag of green, beige, and Google Doc maroon for a few years now. However, I thought their new double album Cruel Country was expansive and forward-moving, in a way they haven’t been in a few album cycles. “Bird Without a Tail/Base of My Skull” is a good example of this. It’s a 1970-1975 Grateful Dead-style studio jam. If you know what that means, you know that it's good.
“All The Good Times” by Angel Olsen (2022)
Like the recentish fascination with Phoebe Bridgers, I never quite understood the flipping out over Angel Olsen a few years ago. Maybe I was too in the bag for Courtney Barnett and her neo-Sheryl Crow vibe; or maybe I still think Cassandra Jenkins deserves more attention. But when I heard “All The Good Times” on her new, excellent, album Big Time, I had to give Angel Olsen the credit she deserves. Fun fact about this song: there is a weird guitar part that bubbles up here and there that sounds like the hook from “The Joker” by Steve Miller Band.
Honorable mention:
“Prester John” by Animal Collective (2022)
Sometimes Animal Collective seems like a strange dream. Did Merriweather Post Pavilion even happen? Was it me who got a lucky ticket to a listening party on the Hudson River for that album at which there was rumor that Jay-Z was in attendance. Whenever I see Animal Collective has released a new record, I try to recall what a world where something like that happened was like. “Prester John” is one of those tracks that helps makes it a little easier to see, to call voices from the vasty deep, to make something now gone palpable once again.
Experienced
Soccer Mommy at Webster Hall
I bought these tickets on a whim because I’d loved Soccer Mommy’s 2020 record, Color Theory, and thought her new record Sometimes, Forever was a worthy follow up. But I wasn’t prepared for seeing them perform “Yellow Is The Color of Her Eyes” live. The guitar solo and extended outro of that song was already one of my favorite musical moments of the last five years, but watching it played live was even better. In that moment, in my mind, it was like listening to the guitar solo from “November Rain” played live in 1991. You can’t convince me otherwise.
Seeing whales off the beach at Hither Hills
The summer of 2022 was marked by a rise in shark attacks off the coast of Long Island. So sharks were at the front of my mind when I spent a week with my family in Hither Hills. But the only shark I saw was Jaws on AMC. Instead, we saw whales breaching almost every other day—and not too far off shore.
Eating at Dhamaka for the first time
Now that I work for Bon Appetit and Epicurious, people ask if I know about cool restaurants. I work around a lot of people who do, but I don’t really. I’ve been out of touch with what restaurants and bars matter for awhile. I’d heard about the buzzy Indian restaurant Dhamaka, though. I’ve been there three times now, but the first time was one of the rare restaurant experiences that lived up to the hype. Some of the most flavorful food, Indian or otherwise, that you’ll ever have. It’s better than its newer, sister restaurant Semma—at least for me.
The Godfather (1972) at Cobble Hill Cinema
At the start of 2022, my girlfriend had never seen The Godfather. Lucky for her they were showing the 50th Anniversary edition at Cobble Hill Cinema, right by our apartment. Seeing a masterpiece like this in a theater was great, especially because a man across the aisle from me, watching it alone, said every line of dialogue along with the characters.
Mike Birbiglia at Lincoln Center
I’ve known of Mike Birbiglia for years. I really liked his 2016 movie Don’t Think Twice. But I hadn’t really seen or heard him perform. My girlfriend got cheap tickets to his one-man show The Old Man and The Pool. This was a highly enjoyable Sunday afternoon.
Hearing Spoon from Barton Springs
My girlfriend is from Austin and since the pandemic we’ve been going there a lot more. We went this October during Austin City Limits. We didn’t go to the festival, but on a 90 degree Sunday afternoon we went to Barton Springs for a swim. Because of ACL, the place was basically empty. So we swam and sat on the grassy hill above the natural pool of spring water, listening to Spoon play a festival set less than a mile away as the afternoon cooled to early evening.
Talking about Andrew Wyeth at 1919 in Baltimore
One of my college friends got married in Baltimore in November. The night before the wedding, we went out drinking in Fells Point and ended up at a bar called 1919 that another friend of mine led us to. He’d been there earlier in the day for a drink and met an older gentleman who was having an afternoon beer. When we arrived at about midnight, that same man was there, drinking beer. He had the composure of a real drinker. I ended up talking to him about Andrew Wyeth, his father N.C. Wyeth and his son Jamie Wyeth, for nearly an hour. I don’t even know that much about the Wyeths.
Kardamyli, Greece
My girlfriend and I took a two week trip to Greece in June. We followed a Rick Steeves itinerary across the country. I don’t care how many people from New York are now going to Greece—life is too short to care about that shit and we had a great time. The only island we went to was Hydra, but the place my girlfriend and I agreed we would come back to over and over again was Kardamyli. Gerolimenas was a close second. There are a lot of excellent websites where you can look both of them up. Personally, I’d start with Google.
Seeing Wilco at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago
When Wilco announced their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 20th Anniversary Tour, I was planning to get tickets in New York, but a close friend of mine convinced me to go to Chicago to see a show instead. The extended drone at the fadeout of “Reservations” made the entire experience worth it. However, I did learn that seeing a band play an entire album start to finish live is not what I currently want from a concert.
Watching Alcaraz vs. Sinner in the Quarterfinals at the U.S. Open
The only time I’d been to the U.S. Open was back in 2002. My dad and I went to a day session during the first or second round and I was lucky enough to see Pete Sampras on the road to securing his final major title. This year, I went to the quarterfinal match between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, two of the best young tennis players today. I’m an Alcaraz man (because rightly or wrongly he reminds me of Nadal) and seeing him live was a treat. I didn’t stay for the full five hours of this match—my girlfriend began to fade at 1:00 AM. But I was able to make it home by 2:00 AM to watch the end of the fifth set and see Alcaraz survive and advance on his way to winning his first major title.
Honorable mention:
The Strokes at Barclay’s Center
The Strokes were supposed to play on New Year’s Eve, but that show got canceled because of Omicron. Instead I saw them at a makeup date in April. It had been 8 years since I last saw them perform—at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York. I’d been lucky enough to get tickets via a Twitter giveaway contest. What a time it was then. They still did a countdown and dropped confetti. They brought out Har Mar Superstar. Julian seemed disappointed in the show and in himself. Time, and the way it sometimes passes, is so embarrassing.