Cool Riders, Tea Birds
ISSUE #211
I know more Leos now than ever before. Ever since I moved to the South—what is that about? I suppose it’s easier to get romantic in November when you’re on the warmer side of the Mason Dixon.
So here I am in the lion’s den, and today’s playlist is a gift for one who had a milestone birthday yesterday. She loves Sharon Van Etten and Shudder Originals, Grease 2 and Sheryl Crow. For this playlist, I drew a line between Joanna Newsom and Dorian Electra and tried to fill in the gaps.
Tory and I met last October after a screening of Titane that I’d organized but missed. I was coming back from the northwestern suburbs and didn’t make it in time, so I perched at the balcony of our local pool hall and waited for friends to leave the Midtown Art Cinema below. Everyone I’d told to come see the movie hated it—except my roommate and two strangers, a couple, who loved it.
Later, the three of us separately divulged that the moment was a mental bookmark: “We need to be friends after this.” About two-thirds of the movies I’ve watched since last fall have been with her and Thomas. Today, she’s one of the two greatest artists I know personally.
Writing is not a resource-rich profession. Sometimes, a Wyrm is the best gift I have to give. And—say it with me now—it’s hard to make friends as an adult. I’m grateful still that people like her can show up unbidden in life. It’s our most practical argument for the existence of miracles.
I’ve been watching through the films of Danny Boyle. Some examples: Trainspotting, Sunshine, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire. From early on, Boyle was rightfully recognized for his edgy and sophisticated musical taste—the Trainspotting soundtrack alone, from Iggy’s “Lust for Life” through Underworld’s “Born Slippy (Nuxx)”, helped define the tastes of a whole generation.