What if…algorithm-free reco list, no. 4?

Maybe you will like one of these things?

Hello!

Back for another batch of algo-free recos. If you wanna read my endorsement for Single Drunk Female, you can do so here. Otherwise, here’s some new — but not really that new — stuffs:

Ardeshir Tabrizi via Strings of Desire at Craft Contemporary, which was A+

Rye Lane (Hulu)

This is billed as “two youngsters reeling from bad break-ups connect over a particularly eventful day in South London.” I would bill it as “a tight 82 minutes of snappy and slightly surreal rom-com perfection that will make you change your opinion on fish eye lenses if you are anti-fish eye lenses.” 

Random Article on Wikipedia

We do an exercise in the class I teach that uses Wikipedia’s Random Article function for generative poetry prompts. Every time I do it, I’m reminded how magical Wikipedia is as a perfect artifact of what the internet could/should still be. One of my students ended up on the page of a real scoundrel named Romani, and what a salacious tale! Ugh, I just love zero-stakes learning. FYI: They hid the Random Article button on the homepage UI since the last time I used it — you can now find it in the top left hamburger. 

Catastrophizing

Stay with me on this one, but I sometimes feel like catastrophizing gets a bad rap. For good reason, I guess. It’s probably not great for a person with anxiety to be letting the ol’ brain run wild. But when things are going to shit, it feels even worse to pretend they’re not. At least for me. I was reading recently about the Stoic art of negative visualization and felt immediately validated. Basically, those dusty old bros regularly engaged in “premeditatio malorum” (premeditation of evils) before battle or whatever to mentally prepare for the worst. That way, they’d either have lower expectations or feel more fortified that even if the worst thing did happen, it’d still be okay. Or they’d be dead, and nothing would matter. Another bonus of engaging in some light catastrophizing is that it manages to really jack up your imagination skills with pretty limited effort. Juiced!

Somebody Somewhere (HBO)

Every time I try and convince someone to watch this show, I do an awful job, because it’s not really about the plot (lady has been living back in her hometown after caring for her ailing sister and is also sort of working on finding herself, I guess?) Somebody Somewhere is instead about friendship and identity and finding joy even in moments of loss. The friendship chemistry is unlike anything I’ve ever seen portrayed onscreen. The details! Oh, and also — Bridget Everett is a big Bravo fan and a dream of a WWHL guest.

Eavesdropping

I have been using my AirPods case as a needle-minder (the magnet is perfect! not too strong), so I rarely go anywhere with headphones lately. Sure, I’m more present and mindful, but it also means I get to be a messy little eavesdropper everywhere I go. There are few things I love more than bearing witness to other strangers’ life drama or bad hot takes. A balm.

Jessie Ware

Specifically, “That! Feels Good!” but I’m not sure she’s ever made a bad album. I can’t get enough disco revival. If you’ve got recs, please share them!

This newsletter brought to you by:

• Everything above

• Being really fucking mad that I can’t find my beloved Cinnamon Chex for less than $7.99 a box, an absolutely criminal price that I refuse to pay

• Mainlining a bunch of contemporary romance novels 

• No cold brew this time, just a dash of mania and a touch of delusion