Crankcast, Vol. 7: Happy Hanukkah
In which I share a Hanukkah memory and discuss whether Muriel’s being raised Jewish (and reveal her real name).
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All I Have to Do is Dream
I found an old Modern Library edition of Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams at a book fair when I was 11 or 12, its dust jacket tattered but mostly intact, and purchased it with great excitement, convinced it would unlock insight into my unconscious that might allow me, perhaps, to finally understand myself. That
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Top Songs of 2023
Boy, am I elderly. If you’re looking for anything new and exciting (TM, A Stranger Among Us), you won’t find it here; perusing my year-end stats on iTunes, I see among my most-played songs of 2023 nothing too recent — across the top 10 entries, shared below, the newest came out almost nine years ago. If
Crankcast, Vol. 6: Miscellany
Prepare to fall asleep! In this, the sixth installment of Crankcast, I discuss a little bit of everything, from site changes and tennis (including the Sabalenka-Świątek rivalry) to starting an antidepressant and whether it’s weird to write personal posts like ‘Gone Girl.’ This was recorded a few weeks ago, prior to the ATP Finals in
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Mating for Life, Like Pigeons or Catholics
The Washington Post has been trying its best lately to make readers cry, between an article about a young Ukrainian couple that died together following a whirlwind wartime romance to breathless coverage of a fabled affair between two blue-throated macaws in Brazil. My eyes have stayed dry so far, but this nearly got me: In
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Gratitude and Ambivalence
No film has ever touched me more deeply than Ingmar Bergman’s Cries and Whispers, which portrays the reunion of three sisters, one of whom (Harriet Andersson) is dying of cancer. She is nursed through her agony by a servant (Kari Sylwan) who shows her more humanity than her unhappy siblings. Sylwan cradling Andersson to her
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Crankcast, Vol. 5: Slideshow
For this week’s Crankcast, no talking, just some pictures from my life. I’ll probably only leave this up for a few days since I’m not big on sharing non-movie images, but it’s a holiday offering of sorts since Thanksgiving will preempt next week’s Crankcast. [Video removed] Most of it’s pretty self-explanatory. If you need any
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“Merry Christmas, I’m Gay”
Our earliest friendships are often rooted in little more than physical proximity and mine were no exception. My first best friend was naturally my brother, the second the girl next door, but there was scant more to our bond than that. When we were four or five years old, her family moved to a nicer
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Morning Bird
In the wee small hours of the morning, after I’ve been roused by strange noises, strange intestines, strange movements, or strange music, I often think about my dog. Muriel’s sleep is deep enough that on my own sleepless nights I can (quietly) move around a bit upstairs, as long as it’s not yet 4 am.
Crankcast, Vol. 4: Crankenstein Talks Murder Ballads (and a Site Update)
I’ve written a bit here about Crankenstein and music in the past — see “By Way of Sorrow” and “Jesus to a Child” — and here we are in conversation about one of her favorite genres: depressing and distressing Celtic and Appalachian folk music. There are no explicit lyric warnings on these songs, but would
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