Everything is everything

Did we do it? Did we save the daylight? Have any of you updated the clock in your car yet? Because I haven't and won't for another two months at least, but I did the microwave one so at least that's sorted. Progress, not perfection. OK, let's go:

Sweet things worth sharing this week

1. We've lost a lot of phenomenal musicians lately—Roberta Flack, Angie Stone, D'wayne Wiggins (whom you might remember as one of Tony! Toni! Toné!'s three members, none of whom were actually named that). A friend sent me this recording of the inimitable Lauryn Hill singing at Roberta Flack's memorial service (with a casual assist from Stevie Wonder), and while I wasn't expecting to spend any part of my Tuesday openly weeping while also feeling uplifted, here we are. It's something of a two-parter, so stick around for the whole thing and tell me you don't believe there's divine beauty in gathering together through hard times.
2. Speaking of Ms. Hill, I'm looking forward to something having to do with her later this month at a bar I love. Modeled after a Japanese jazu kissa, this bar is a listening room, outfitted with a wildly expensive and exquisitely arranged sound system. A few times a month, they'll choose an album in advance and host a ticketed omakase night (yes, chef!) where people come sit together, shut the fvck up, sip on something, and listen to the album front to back without speaking above a whisper. In a couple weeks, they're playing the one and only studio album she ever released as a solo artist, which is just as well because it's perfect. While it's spinning, you can wander around the room and try on different headphones or just stay in place and vibe to the music. Afterward, people can share their reactions and relevant anecdotes and whatnot. It's kind of a spiritual experience, and it also reminds me of nights back in high school when I'd lie on my bedroom floor and just listen to music in the dark, which if you do it right can be kind of a spiritual experience, too. When's the last time you did that?
3. On the topic of music, since Gaga is all over the place promoting Mayhem at the moment, I have a Designer Impostors-style rec for you: If you like "Abracadabra," et al., you'll love Allie X, a Canadian pop singer who's been delivering one black vinyl banger after another for about a decade now. If you're not already familiar, I'd suggest starting with Black Eye, a song from a year or two ago that's regaining traction as she does the talk show circuit. Bonus points if you throw a lights-out dance party in your kitchen because who couldn't use some extra endorphins right now.
4. Did you pay any attention in science class way back when? Or, did you try and fail to grasp even its most basic concepts after you outgrew Mr. Wizard's World and/or Bill Nye the Science Guy (yes, I hear you, we should never outgrow these things)? I did the latter! But as a (so-called) adult, I've found ways to gatecrash a set of disciplines I've always found kind of opaque, mostly by walking up to the intersection of science and art/poetry and loitering until things sink in. I published a poem last year at a site called Poets for Science (you can find it if you want but I'm not linking it specifically), and I thought you might like to take a look through its vast collection of community-contributed, editor-vetted poems. Maybe some bit of hard science that once eluded you will oops its way into your brain by way of something beautiful. Pick something cool from the category dropdown—cosmology, microbes, birds?—and enjoy.
5. Re: science, if you just want to stare at something gorgeous for minutes or hours on end, never forget the Monterey Bay Aquarium hosts a live jellycam all day every day, complete with spa-like musical tones. (ps: if you love jellyfish in general, give Spineless by Juli Berwald a read.)
6. Re: re: science and things that nurture a sense of calm/wonder: It's never a bad day to revisit Carl Sagan's iconic Pale Blue Dot remarks, and it's never a bad day to listen to Ann Druyan talk about their time together, either.
7. One last thing: since the helpers Mr. Rogers told us to look for when we were little are now, in fact, us, here's a gentle reminder that we can do direct and specific things to support lots of people in lots of ways, including those in a place our electeds have now turned their backs on in its darkest hour, and those from a place the same electeds and lots of others have been helping to destroy for quite some time, and of course our own friends and neighbors here at home, too. Let's each choose one—the third one happens to be free—and do that.

Now go follow L-Boogie's instructions and develop a negative into a positive picture, to whatever extent you can, and I will too. <3

"If your spirituality does not demand beauty and liberation for every person and piece of the cosmos, it is not God you are seeking, but a shallow ritual of self-soothing."

—Cole Arthur Riley, Black Liturgies

11 March 2025

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