Hey there,
I tend to go through phases with reading. Some months, I'm just tearing through book after book. Others, I can't seem to build up the momentum or focus to get engaged. I'm coming off a stretch of no books and just all READING STRESSFUL NEWS, which I gotta tell you, is not a great way to get ready for bed. So it's been a pleasure to remind myself of how nice it is to get caught up in a book and not want to put it down. I read Adrian Tomine's newest book in one sitting (more on him later) and now I'm halfway through Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman's Big Friendship.
It's cool to read a book that takes friendship, and the work required to stay close, as seriously as romance. It's rare for friendship to get recognized as so important. But it really is. And reading their book has made me even more grateful for my own friendships and the people who, despite distance or pandemic, make it so clear that they care. In the past few months, I've had friends help me with scripts (cut the first three pages), resumes (send it to me, your formatting is a disaster), bread that wouldn't rise (did you try the windowpane test?), protests (put on a mask and follow @inthistogether_la), illness (check the mail, I sent you tamales), and legal advice (don't sign that). In a time when it frequently feels like the world is falling apart, it's so comforting to remember that we don't have to put things back together alone.
(Also this is neither here nor there, but Ann Friedman's weekly newsletter is so good and this week she reminded me of this video which I cannot stop laughing at.)
Upcoming Events
LIVESTREAMS:
- TODAY Saturday, August 1st at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET
COME ON DOWN, YOU'RE ALREADY HERE! A remote Zoom game show featuring audience correspondents from across the continent, celebrity guests, and potentially even you. Watch and laugh from the safety of your home or request to be a part of the show here: Link
This week’s list
GREAT:
John Lewis was a great American. He was the kind of leader that we needed and continue to need so badly. One of the things I've been most struck by, hearing the stories about him on the radio and at his memorial service, is how he always made people feel like he had time for them. Even when he was an important and busy congressperson. He made people feel seen. But he also saw the injustice and bigotry of America and he refused to believe that it was too late to change it. I'm guessing you've already read his remarkable final essay, but if not, here is a link. He wrote this in his final days and asked for it to be published on the day of his funeral. Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation
FUNNY:
This week, I performed on a Mars-themed Zoom comedy show for the American Museum of Natural History. You know, just a regular old week. Things are normal! One of the other comics on the show was Marcia Belsky, who I have admired for a long time and who has only gotten funnier and funnier. But I didn't realize she could also sing! This song she wrote about NASA's male engineers trying to prep Sally Ride for the Space Station brought down the house. Here's her performing it for Comedy Central Marcia Belsky - 100 Tampons (I cued up the video to the right spot for this song, but you should watch her whole set because she's hilarious).
INTERESTING:
Adrian Tomine is a cartoonist and illustrator. You might know him for his New Yorker covers or for his award-winning graphic novels. He writes stories about people trying and failing to figure out the world. He uses the medium of cartoons to convey those awkward silent moments in ways that a novel alone never could. His most recent book, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Cartoonist, is a memoir that's a collection of his most humiliating and embarrassing moments. And like I said up top, I couldn't put it down. It's incredibly vulnerable. Some stories were very funny. Some were infuriating. But he manages to weave them together into a powerful narrative about him becoming a husband and a father. Here's an excerpt: Brooklyn, 2006
Thanks for reading! if you're enjoying these emails, please forward to a friend or spread the word. If someone forwarded you this email but you're not yet on the list, you can subscribe here.
Stay safe and take care of each other,
Chris