Monday Miscellany: If I’m honky-tonking, I’m going all in

Notes from the week of July 29 - August 4

Aug 05, 2024

Hello from my very active backyard! Today the kittens have been camped out at the back door watching squirrels, doves, cardinals, blue jays, assorted bugs, and probably a lizard or two. As for me, I spotted a couple of geese on my morning run and managed to capture a photo of the above bird friends while I was making coffee.

Currently reading

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler was the Stacks podcast book club pick for last month. It begins in July of 2024 (part of the reason for its selection) and follows Lauren Olamina, a 15-year-old who lives in a walled-in community outside of Los Angeles, as she and her family fight to survive in a world that is increasingly hot, resource-scarce, and violent. I don’t love how prescient Octavia Butler was with this!

I first read this book in November of 2017, and here’s how I reviewed it back then:

Ooh, I love me some dystopian fiction. This novel is very well-written, and though the narrator is pretty young by our standards, I never questioned her maturity or intelligence or writing ability—kids in the society she was writing about have to deal with some pretty heavy stuff and grow up fast. I also found the concept of “sharers” and the ideas of Earthseed / God as change intriguing. Definitely looking forward to checking out Parable of the Talents soon.

First of all, spoiler alert: seven years later, I still have yet to read Parable of the Talents. My bad.

And as for the rest, I hate to say this, but I think I might have gotten less out of the story this time around? Reading about Lauren’s journey (she eventually has to leave her community when the violence they’ve been holding at bay finally arrives in earnest) was engaging, though difficult and horrible in many ways, but her character annoyed me more than I remembered. And I felt a little icky about a relationship she has with a much older man, which I had completely forgotten about. Still, it’s worth a look if you haven’t read it before; the parallels with our current world are impressive and unsettling.

On a totally different note, I finally wrapped up McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #73, which I’ve been “reading” (ignoring) since mid-May!!!

This is a themed issue, a selection of manifestos presented chronologically, spanning all the way from “The Manifesto of Futurism” (1909) to “Manifesto for World Revolution,” “Press Conference for a Tree,” and “Destroy All Manifestos” (all 2023). It’s a compelling move, publishing all of these manifestos together in this way. Less compelling, however, are André Breton’s “Manifesto of Surrealism” (1924) and Fidel Castro’s “Second Declaration of Havana” (1962). These pieces in particular are QUITE long, and—dare I??—BORING! To me, at least. No disrespect if they’re your jam (I’m assuming everyone has read these two niche historical documents!). The Castro is where I lost my momentum, and was the reason I set the collection down for *checks notes* two whole months.

But I’m glad I ultimately continued, because just a few chapters later I encountered Valerie Solanas’s “S.C.U.M. Manifesto” (1967), a highly entertaining screed against the male sex (S.C.U.M. stands for “Society for Cutting Up Men”), which begins thusly (before continuing to go outrageously hard for the subsequent twenty pages):

“Life in this society being, at best, an utter bore and no aspect of society being at all relevant to women, there remains to civic-minded, responsible, thrill-seeking females only to overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, institute complete automation and destroy the male sex.” (139)

BADASS.

Some of the other favorites that I discovered after making it over the Castro hump:

“Redstockings Manifesto” (1969)
“Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female” by Frances M. Beal (1969)
“The Combahee River Collective Statement” (1977)
“No Stage” by John Lee Clark (2015)
“Manifesto for World Revolution” by Kalle Lasn (2023)

Exhibit by R.O. Kwon is a fairly new release that I snatched up in the “available now” section on Libby. It has gotten some decent buzz in the literary community, and I’d read and enjoyed Kwon’s previous release, The Incendiaries. This one starts with a photographer named Jin Han going with her husband to a party, where she meets and develops a friendship with a ballerina named Lidija Jung. This slowly morphs into something more when Jin’s husband won’t fulfill some of her desires and she is forced to seek satisfaction elsewhere.

Sounds pretty juicy, no? But in reality, this is solidly a Literary Novel. The writing is excellent, Kwon’s vocabulary is advanced and eclectic, and the focus on Art and Big Questions reigns supreme. It’s both explicit and not, simultaneously. The mood is a bit removed, a bit dreamlike, the narrative weaving between the present, the past, and mythology from Jin’s family history. I sometimes found myself unsure of my physical or temporal location within the story. I’m not sure I would describe the experience of reading The Exhibit as “enjoyable,” as I like my characters to feel a little more immediate and less distant, but I did leave with a lot to chew on and think about. Jeff and Rebecca discussed it on a recent book club episode of the Book Riot podcast, too, which added to my appreciation of the novel’s artistry.

Currently listening

Once again, I’ve been all over the place with my music consumption. I haven’t found myself sinking into full albums this week, but instead playing a few songs over and over.

Pop punk cover master Alex Melton released an interpretation of the 1991 country classic “Boot-Scootin’ Boogie,” which is really something. I don’t know that this song translates as well to his style as some of his previous work, but it’s an ambitious project and a fun listen nonetheless. I think I still prefer Brooks & Dunn’s original, corny though it may be, for the way it takes me back to my childhood. Listen, if I’m honky-tonking, I’m going all in.

Are you up to date on Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s beef?? I am not, but I have the gist (here’s a timeline going back to 2011 if you need it), and this week I truly could not stop listening to Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” I don’t know what to tell you besides: the riff is so catchy, and he is such a skilled rapper, and the video is so full of joy and dancing. I know I’m late to this party! But if you are too, here you go (NSFW lyrics):

And finally, a drastic swerve back to gentle, soothing acoustic guitar, in the form of two new singles from Yasmin Williams’s upcoming album Acadia. These caught my eye because one features Darlingside, a band that eagle-eyed readers might remember me discussing in detail last month:

Monday Miscellany: It’s gonna be a no thanks from me, dog

Emily Poe-Crawford

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And the other features Aoife O’Donovan, one of my favorite vocalists of all time! She is the singer for the bluegrass band Crooked Still, has performed with DREAM TRIO I’m With Her (alongside fellow absolute powerhouses Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins), and also releases solo material under her own name.

Anyway! Both of these tracks are beautiful and ethereal and lush, a perfect soundtrack for reading, studying, meditating, or zoning out. I’ve been looping them as I type this, and let me tell you, I feel calm AF. Williams’s full album is set to release in early October and I cannot wait.

Haiku round-up

This week I’ve been on social media too much and have gotten a bit itchy as a result, but there have also been moments of excitement, engagement, and openness. So I’m mentally tossing my phone across the room and focusing on those good feelings instead—more of them, please.