Recent Work
A villanelle to myself, an adult
Do not wear sweatpants to run errands, Kyle.
Old age should counsel more mature choices.
Put on your big-boy pants – you’re not a child.
Rolling Stones Deep Cuts
Since I did a playlist of Beatles deep cuts last week, I thought it was only fair to do one this week for the Stones. . . .
Paranoia Strikes Deep
Next year will mark the 60th anniversary of a seminal work in American political analysis, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” by Richard Hofstadter. . . . Sadly, his formulation has turned out to be more relevant in 2022 than he could have ever predicted. . . .
Beatles Deep Cuts
After watching some of the new Beatles documentary, I realized that I had never really familiarized myself with much of their work. . . . So I decided to give the later albums a listen. . . . [I]f it makes sense to say that the Beatles have deep cuts, I’m discovering those deep cuts in my 41st year – better late than never!
Soccer, the Beatles, and Competition
I grew up playing soccer. . . . When I moved to New York in my late twenties, I started playing pickup games. . . . I enjoyed playing again, but it was always a struggle to get a good game. Either there were too many people at a field, and you couldn’t get a spot, or the level of play wasn’t right. It’s no fun playing with people who are too far above or below your level. You either feel dispensable or indispensable, neither of which is good for a team sport. . . .
Crossroads
But for lovers of language, what does it say about America today, that one of our greatest novelists eschews beauty in language? And isn’t this the difference between literature and mere entertainment, or in 2022, has the distinction finally collapsed? It’s not just beauty in language that Franzen eschews in Crossroads, moreover; it’s contemporary life altogether, as if he is retreating to the past, where his identity was formed, and thus where only there things make sense to him. . . .