We can be weirdos
Apologies for last week's absence... I was out doing some traveling and came home tired but inspired. So, here are seven extra-special things to bring you joy, fuel, or whatever you need this week.
Early April bits and bobs
- One of the places I went last week was Vienna, and one of the places where I had breakfast was Vollpension. It's a multigenerational café designed to look and feel like a sort of grandparental living room, and the idea is to smooth the edges of the financial strain and isolation people so often experience in their later years. The staff has a mix of younger and older folks, and when you order a slice of cake made from one of the elders' own recipes, you're given a token to take to the counter, where the oma or opa on shift will chat with you and hand you your dessert. We dutifully went to some classical Viennese cafés, too—Café Sperl of Before Sunrise fame, Café Central where Freud hung out—and they were certainly beautiful, but this one was our favorite. Intergenerational connections (and familial cake secrets) forever, yes please.
- The other place we went was Dublin, in which you can wander the house where Oscar Wilde spent his formative years. I need you to know that this young man's bedroom was painted the most joyful shade of bubblegum pink. His life, of course, was beset by tragedy, some of which he brought upon himself and some of which was violently wrought by homophobic lawmen before he, barely out of prison for the "crime" of not being straight, died at the age of 46. But today, you can stand inside that pink room and gaze out a window at his almost comically suave memorial statue in the public park across the street. It's visited by hundreds—maybe thousands?—of people paying their respects nearly every day of every year, as well as those who attend the annual literary festival celebrating his life. Who's visiting the memorial statues of the twatwaffles who put him away? Nobody, that's who, because there aren't any.
- Speaking of stylish punks with lasting legacies: Kathleen Hanna just launched a substack. She promises posts on topics like "art, activism, anarchist DIY spaces, overturning the government, cyborg theory, self-care, intersectional feminism, situational Marxism," and more. Her vibe is vibing. Her topknot is topknotting. Why are you still here? Go! Bye!
- Well in case you're still reading, here's a sweet lil' muppet friend absolutely lost in the sauce of a nice piece of jazz. You're most welcome.
- Have you ever thought to yourself, “I wonder what Hozier might sound like if he recorded his music in a modest science lab of his own making, singing about tardigrades and clouds?” Probably not, but in case you now find yourself curious how something like that might sound, please feast your ears on one Cosmo Sheldrake. He's the brother of Entangled Life author Merlin Sheldrake, and his parents are parapsychology icon Curtis Sheldrake and voice teacher Jill Purce. We're in proper weirdo territory here, and I say that as a compliment. Listening to him feels, to me, like being inside a child’s mind as they explore a natural history museum.
- And speaking of odd delights, have you listened to the "We Can Be Weirdos" podcast? I fell sideways into a recent episode featuring Hannah Willows, a decorated tree-hugging champion... yes, you've read that correctly; please stay with me here, come back come back come back. As a part-time perpetual child of wonder and part-time skeptic of anything too woo-woo, I was drawn in by her descriptions of how she thinks the world works, many of which are similar to my own vaguely Shinto-ish ideas. She calls herself a “buffet spiritualist,” a self-deprecating nod to her refusal to subscribe to any belief structure as a whole (she grew up Mormon but left the church for greener pastures) while remaining interested in a great many existential ideas. She lost me in a few places (past-self regression sessions, tarot cards, et al.), but brought me back in others. Mostly, I'm charmed by this podcast's ritual of running each guest through "the batshit list," which I think is a FANTASTIC way to wade into the depths of each other's weirdnesses and truths, like Proust’s Questionnaire on dank weed. Listen on Spotify, Apple, or Global Player.
- Last but not least: if you've ever thought about hosting a Little Free Library in front of your home, place of work, place of worship, etc., but you've been waiting for a sign that it's time, well... get psyched, because {{{HERE'S THE SIGN, IT'S RIGHT HERE, TA-DA!}}} If you start one, please let me know and I'll send some good books to help you fill it up.
Go forth, riot grrrls, brrrls, and prrrls, and may the spirits of Seshat and Theresa Elmendorf shine upon you (and your books) today and every day.
"Be yourself—everyone else is taken."
—this quote is often attributed to Oscar Wilde, but apparently he never said it. Since we still invoke his name more than a century after his death, though, I doubt he'd care too much. He did, after all, say the only thing worse than being talked about was not being talked about. Ever the culturista, he knew he was that b. when he caused all this conversation.
03 April 2025
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