Stuff I'm Into

May 2023 edition

This Very Obscure, Deeply Joyful Hobby:

Shape-note Singing.

I cannot believe how much joy singing colonial era hymns with strangers is bringing me.

Singing. Hospitality. Joy. Community. History. I love having a hobby that exists quite outside capitalism. There are no auditions. No performances. No money to be made. Shape-note singings are simply about singing with and for each other. I’m in Indianapolis for a meeting right now and drove an hour away to get to one of these last night and it was entirely worth it.

Click HERE to find local singings near you! (Colorado Shape Note is hosting an all-day singing July 15th…join us!)

This Show:

Somebody Somewhere

Ok, I know I have pitched this show before, but honestly - IT IS SO GOOD. Honestly, I can hardly believe HBO made it. Not because good shows aren’t on HBO (obviously) but because it’s so. . . small. And I say that with great admiration. The story is not titillating or outrageous, just deeply human. It touches on grief and friendship and aging parents and queerness and even church, all while being very funny. This show manages to be touching but without smacking at all of sentimentality. Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller are a revelation.

This Podcast:

White Lies

White Lies is a “true crime” podcast from NPR about the murder of minister and civil rights activist Rev. James Reeb in Selma, Alabama in 1965. I found the final episode to be hopeful in its profound truth-telling.

This Other, Very Different Show:

The Silo (Apple TV+) - We were hooked right away.

This Recipe:

Chopped Salad Pizza - I have already made this three times since trying it.

This playlist created by folks in The Corners!

Last week, I wrote this piece and then in our subscriber chat, I invited folks to add to my dopamine boosting playlist on Spotify and well, now it’s nearly 40 hours long! Thanks to everyone who participated!

Dopamine playlist from the corners

This 12-minute documentary:

Beneath the ink

Tattoo artists in the South who offer to cover up racist tattoos for free.

I tend to shift in my seat when I see folks post stuff like “feel-good” pictures of white toddlers and black toddlers holding hands with a caption that implies that the powers and principalities wrought from the original sins of this country are easily solved by sentimentality and just being nice. So yeah, a thing like this isn’t anything like an entire solution to racism in America, but I found it kind of lovely. (Thanks to Mockingbird for showing this at their conference in NYC last month!)

This piece of good news:

Thank God.

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Thanks for reading and as always, please tell me what stuff YOU are into right now!!