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Firsthand Research

2 min read

Hi y'all,

  • Part two of "My Dunkin Commercial" is done. Take a look and, if you have a second, shoot me any feedback. This was an exercise to shake out some creative writing cobwebs that had built up from not using that muscle. It was important to me not to sit and rework it forever, and instead treat it as an imperfect thing that can just be done so that I can go do other things.
  • Had the good fortune this past weekend to go to Maine for a friend's bach party, where we rented a portable wood-fired sauna and it was cool enough on the coast that we actually enjoyed using it. Shout out to Driftless Saunas. That trip was also the firsthand research I alluded to in last week's newsletter - to get there I took the same red eye from Denver to Logan I talk about in the piece linked above. Being on the coast was a welcome break from the record-setting heatwave we've been having here.
  • My music rec this week also doubles as the funniest thing I encountered this week: "Mr. Jambo" by Kyle Gordon (Spotify, Apple). It might be making a little light fun of Graceland-era Paul Simon, you decide. If this seems like your thing, check out his 90's Eurodance hit "Planet of the Bass" (Spotify, Apple).
  • Went and saw The Odyssey a couple nights ago and loved getting to be part of the dialogue around a big summer movie. For me the film lands, and I'm very excited to see it again soon, hopefully in a larger format. I don't want to get into spoilers, but I enjoyed Nolan's take on a story that's been told so many times. It was also interesting to read Emily Wilson's thoughts on the film - she wrote the recent and acclaimed translation.
  • Finally, I finished London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe and really enjoyed it. If you're looking for a good read, I recommend picking it up. It's left me interested to follow more of his writing in the New Yorker and read his other books. I'm now on to Five Decembers by James Kestrel, which is a bit out of left field for me. It's in the hardboiled pulp tradition, but done seriously - a detective procedural fused with a WWII epic and a love story that, despite being recently published, harkens back to mid-century paperback crime novels.

Till next time,

Joey

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