In October, I visited with old friends (on the screen and IRL), discovered new music, rediscovered the 19th-century torchbearer of modern romantic comedies, flew further into the depths of humanity’s hubris, and had fun with a gang of criminals overthrowing an empire.
I also spent time in my favorite city in the world: New Orleans. Despite only four days there, we managed to fit in all of the best things: a daily shrimp poboy on the freshest, crunchiest bread in all the world, oysters on the half shell, a second line parade, wonderful food, the best people, and time spent floating through that ethereal je ne sais quoi that makes the city what it is.
There’s just something different about New Orleans. It’s like the bizarro-cousin of New York. Where everyone in New York is aggressively in a hurry, everyone in New Orleans is aggressively not. People savor their time like they do their food and drink. There’s always time for one more round.
Because time seems to slow down when you’re in New Orleans. Sure, you could Uber to that restaurant across town, but walking lets you appreciate each colorful building, each overgrown oak uprooting the sidewalk, and each person out enjoying a drink under a warm sun. Along the way, you start to unravel the threads of a city whose culture and people are as unashamedly unique as each individual resident.
And yet, as a melting pot of diversity, New Orleans also exists as one: one congregation (the Saints), one holy trinity (onions, bell peppers, and celery), one in whom we trust (Drew Brees), and one denomination (Mardi Gras). The best part? No matter who you are or where you’re from, New Orleans is always glad to have you join their flock.
Scrubs Season 2 Premiere
One of the only instances I can recall in which the reboot of a show is as good as the original. The jokes, the characters, the writing: they’re all the same, but slightly grown up (like the audience). Just like old friends, we still have the same shared sense of humor, but the humor is built around the things that happen to us individually as we grow older: children, divorce, new jobs. Sometimes it’s the constancy of those friends that reminds us that this too shall pass.
It’s also one of the only shows I can recall in which new characters are so easily likeable and perfectly woven into a story that spans decades. That’s not an easy thing to do—particularly with an existing cast and audience that’s as tight as those of Scrubs. It’s like trying to fold new folks into a friend group that’s been together for 20+ years.
Scrubs manages to accomplish that task with ease, while also continuing its ability to be one of the few shows to make you laugh and cry, all in the span of 20 seconds. I don’t know quite how they do it, but I’m glad they do.
The Importance of Being Earnest and Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde is one of those writers—along with maybe Shakespeare—whose writing has carried a torch of wit that pervades almost every good comedy movie you’ve ever seen. Both these writers have an unmistakable ability to turn the simplest “comedy of errors” setups into the most charmingly hilarious series of events.
These two plays were no exception. Wilde’s characteristic witty, nonsensical dialogue feels just as at home in a play that’s 130 years old as it would in the latest well-written romantic comedy. From mistaken identities to absurd double entendres, Wilde captures almost every tool of modern comedy. If you’re a fan of any good British comedy movie, or any really good American comedy (I’m thinking Crazy, Stupid, Love or It’s Complicated), then you owe it to yourself to pick up an Oscar Wilde play.
Goth Babe aka Griff Washburn
I happened across the musician Goth Babe (the alter ego of Griff Washburn) in (of all places) an article in the WSJ. Washburn produces and releases his music himself—often recording in the cabin of his sailboat or in the comfort of his bedroom—and tours sporadically throughout the country, giving him independence from the attendant responsibilities of a record company. He also has a fascinating YouTube channel documenting his adventures in following wherever curiosity takes him. Chaco even created a Goth Babe edition of their iconic sandals. Throughout all of this, Washburn has used his platform to advocate for conservation of our wild spaces.
He immediately felt like a kindred soul, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that his music is right up my alley. He manages to ride that line between millennial synthwave melodies (think MGMT, Foster the People, or Phantogram) and folksy songwriting (think Noah Kahan, Lord Huron, or Jack Johnson), all while releasing new music that remains relevant today.
He’s one of those few people who have worked hard to design a profession that adapts to his life, and not the other way around. In other words, he’s put a lot of work into creating his own luck.
In this way, he lives life according to his own terms: sailing the coast of Mexico, kayaking the Tongass Wilderness to raise awareness for conservation issues, and even building a camping cabin atop a jon boat. Within all of that there’s a reminder that not everything has to have a purpose. Sometimes it’s important to just follow where curiosity and fun take you.
Caliban’s War (Book 2 of The Expanse) by James S.A. Corey
Continuing in the My Friend Ryan Book Club,1 it’s been great journeying through The Expanse series. Although the story has a great mystery-thriller arc, the best part has been getting to know the characters. They remind me of the kind of close-knit found-family that you fall in love with in shows like Firefly or Rebels. Even the ship itself, the Rocinante, has that same feeling of being a character in the story—akin to something like the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars. Overall, the serialized nature makes it feel very much like every book is a season in a TV series. It’s no wonder that the writers of the books also wrote the TV series itself.
Abaddon’s Gate (Book 3 of The Expanse) by James S.A. Corey
This story continues to be so good. I can tell this is true because although I’m reading Mistborn (and enjoying it!) as a palate cleanser before starting the next Expanse book, I find myself missing The Expanse. The characters are great, the side characters are great, and I appreciate how we’re slowly pulling at the threads of the overarching story.
As my friend Ryan pointed out, it’s also interesting that each book in this series has a completely different feel: Book 1 was a noir detective story, Book 2 was a political thriller, and Book 3 was an action movie. It’s a testament to the storytelling that the authors are able to maintain such a common theme and storyline despite such different ways of telling the story. Can’t wait to get back into this series.
A Final Note
What I’m currently reading
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson: I have to admit, I always assumed this would be dense high-fantasy writing, but it’s actually just light and fun. Like really fun. The magic system is just as interesting as everyone says, and the underlying heist story brings a great cast of characters. Guess I’ve got another series to work my way through.
A quote I’m pondering:
[The relationship between author and reader] is a hopeful notion, because it implies that our minds are built on common architecture – that whatever is present in me might also be present in you. “I” might be a 19th-century Russian count, “you” a part-time Walmart clerk in 2017, in Boise, Idaho, but when you start crying at the end of my (Tolstoy’s) story “Master and Man”, you have proved that we have something in common, communicable across language and miles and time, and despite the fact that one of us is dead.
Another reason you’re crying: you’ve just realised that Tolstoy thought well of you – he believed that his own notions about life here on earth would be discernible to you, and would move you.
Tolstoy imagined you generously, you rose to the occasion.-George Saunders, from What Writers Really Do When They Write
Until next time,
Ferrell
Image Credit: ABC Studios/Disney
My good friend, Ryan, recommends sci-fi books to me and we talk about them incessantly while playing video games, much to the chagrin of our fellow gamers.