This Week
If you do not already know where I live, I live in the city of Chicago, a very great place I like very much. Summers here are summer perfection. But this one is a touch more perfect, because this summer we have an alligator.
It might not be an alligator. It might be a caiman or something of the sort. But that is of no significance. What is important is that Chance the Snapper (the animal’s now official name, by internet poll decree) has made Chicago summer better. It has introduced us to new local hero Alligator Bob, who evidently mostly studies snakes and also goes by the title “Bob the Snake Man.” It has brought people out to the park, it has inspired at least five alligator-penned Twitter accounts and it has in general brought us all together. While I deplore the fact that some people buy exotic pets and then dump them in the wild when they’re tired of them, and I hope this particular lagoon adventurer is safely rescued and delivered to a facility that can take care of it properly—in the meantime, I think it’s more than fine to have some fun. The world’s rough, man. Enjoy your Midwest community alligators when you can.
Links
The case for declaring a national climate emergency.
You know I’m always here to support the ongoing interrogation about why car culture dominates America. One of the answers is that the legal framework governing American life enforces dependency on cars: “Americans customarily describe motor-vehicle crashes as accidents. But the harms that come to so many of our loved ones are the predictable output of a broken system of laws. No struggle for justice in America has been successful without changing the law. The struggle against automobile supremacy is no different.”
“That is not to say that tea is not succeeding in America -- imports appear to grow year-on-year in America and consumers between 18 and 29 are evenly split on coffee and tea as their preferred drink. Still, tea will always struggle to become mass culture. Because tea takes time and tea takes people.” Tea culture in America.
The trans men who get abortions. A good reminder that reproductive justice is not just for women.
A cup of ambition and endurance: “9 to 5” unites workers across decades. Also: Dolly.
“[A] decade that saw the rise of third-wave feminism and a movement like grunge that championed women’s rights and power should have a woman for a spokesperson, rather than a man. It should be Love, not Cobain.” Live through this: Courtney Love at 55.
Despite The Lion King, lion prides are actually female-based and ruled. Just getting ready for feminist Leo season.
The traveling families of Carnival Town, USA.
I am charmed by Sweden’s floating library that brings books to remote islands.
"Self-care isn't just about treating yourself — it's about improving yourself, which is what truly makes us feel good about who we are.”
“Is this world cruel? I don’t think so. I think this world is indifferent and indifference is not cruelty. What connects me to you, Gianelli, and you to every other sentient being in the universe, is that the universe, simply does not care about us; it does not act with malice or desire to harm us – it is simply unaffected by our condition. If one acknowledges this state of affairs, then it sets up a situation that allows us to make a simple choice – either we respond to the indifference of the universe with self-pity and narcissism – as if the world has in some way personally betrayed us – and live our lives in a cynical, pessimistic and self-serving manner; or we stand tall, set our eyes clearly upon this unfeeling universe and love it all the same – even though, or especially because, it doesn’t love us. This act of cosmic defiance, of subversive optimism, of unconditional and insubordinate love, is the greatest act of human beauty we can perform. To stand before this great, blank, heartless cosmic event and say: ‘We believe in you’. ‘We love you’. ‘We care for you’. This is the definition of grace, Gianelli, and this is the epiphany you speak of. We create our own divinity, our own Godliness, through our ferocious need. We yearn the heavens awake, and if we are quiet, in prayer or in meditation, sometimes we can feel the heavens stirring, breathing our fragile and reckless love back through us.” Nick Cave.
Reading/Watching/Listening
This past week I saw Midsommar, along with a theater of people who, judging by the high number of audible utterances of “Jesus Christ,” were not adequately prepared for such an experience. It is long, weird and wild, with a core of psychological horror that goes very deep. I’m actually a little bit in awe of how accurately it depicts the toxic nuance of a relationship between a desperate-to-please young woman and a self-absorbed young man who doesn’t really know what he wants and doesn’t want to communicate about any of it. (I have my own experiences with this kind of situation; however, I never realized the film’s resolution was an option. Taking notes for the future.) There is a wealth of interesting things here about repression and expression, avoidance and catharsis, narcissism and empathy, friends and family, ritual and freedom—but do not assume there are any conclusions drawn about which of these are good or bad in any combination or amount. It’s all tangled up in itself and elevated to a Grand Guignol of deliberately absurd proportions. Go see this, but gird up your loins.
I read The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick, by Mallory O’Meara. A modern, breezy biography of Milicent Patrick, an early animator at Disney and the woman who designed the Creature (of Black Lagoon fame), who was then pressed out of the industry and her rightful place in history. It’s also part memoir of the author’s own experience as a woman working horror film production and her journey to uncover Milicent’s story. I tend to prefer my nonfiction less personal, but this book is earnest and enthusiastic and successfully makes the case for giving Patrick her due.
If you’ve got Amazon Prime, the first season of Columbo, including the two pilot films, is now available via something called IMDB TV (which interjects commercials, but now that Columbo is gone from Netflix, this is your only streaming option). I love Columbo so much. I also love the clothes of the era, as evidenced on Twitter:
One of the most important things to note when rewatching COLUMBO is that frequently the clothes people are wearing are in-cred-i-ble. For example, "Suitable for Framing."If you’re still looking for your music of the summer, never fear, Sizzy Rocket and her updated riot grrrl sound is here. Her new album, Grrrl, is slick and cool, but her earlier stuff heats up.
Around
In case you missed it, last week I wrote about the complexity of Independence Day, my favorite piece of writing about America and, of course, Bruce.
Also a note for the middle of the year: I keep my yearly media log regularly updated, so you can always check in there for a comprehensive list of the art I’m taking in,
Hope you’re enjoying your summer, with or without reptile friends.
Love,
Jen
Connections
Substack archive: https://jenmyers.substack.com/archive
TinyLetter archive: http://tinyletter.com/jenmyers/archive
Essay archive: http://modernadventuress.com/
Website: http://jenmyers.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/antiheroine
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antiheroine/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jenmyers
Letterboxd: http://letterboxd.com/jenmyers/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jenmyers
Email: hello@jenmyers.net
Post: P.O. Box 13114 Chicago, IL 60613
Today’s quote is from Nick Cave: “We cannot afford to be idle. To act on a bad idea is better than to not act at all. Because the worth of the idea never becomes apparent until you do it. Sometimes this idea can be the smallest thing in the world, a little flame that you hunch over and cup with your hand, and pray will not be extinguished by all the storm that howls about it. If you could hold onto that flame, great things could construct around it, that are massive and powerful and world changing, all held up by the tiniest of ideas.”