Working as a peak season delivery driver is long hours and fast pace, six days a week. As such, it’s a necessity of the job and a boon to me personally that it takes me away from culture war squabbles and the news in general. I could use a break, and it’s nice to focus on the more pleasant elements of the work - that people are generally glad to see me and appreciative of getting their stuff.
Been leaning into the playing Santa role by letting my bread grow out over the month I’ve been doing it. Might as well get a little sappy with it. Also, it’s generally on the colder side, and even when I’m driving the truck I have to keep one of the windows or the side door open.
Every so often, I also have a non-adversarial interaction with a dog in the field. I get it, puppies, you’re just protecting your turf and I’m an intruder. But it’s nice sometimes to not be barked at. There’s Brandy in the photo up top. She comes to say hi when I pull the truck into her cul-de-sac. The first time, she protested a bit. I was informed the driver who usually has my route gives her treats when he pulls up. Sure enough, I started packing a few for her.
On paper, it was a pretty bad year for yours truly. I split my year among three hourly manual labor jobs. I was broke a large portion of the time. I had to bum money from friends. Media people who made my life hell for years didn’t even have to ackowledge it when presented with evidence of their dishonesty.
And yet, I don’t feel compelled to wallow in misery. I’m proud for standing my ground, having courage when most wouldn’t, and showing resilience. I learn to value the little things, and develop habits to soldier on. I continue to work to get better.
Oh, and I consume media. Lots bad, some good. Figured the newsletter could use something other than a rant, so allow me to offer scattered thoughts on art and works that made 2021 putter along more tolerably.
TV
The White Lotus didn’t quite stick the landing in the final episode of its short first season on HBO yet was one of the few shows from this year that stuck with me. Squid Game was a welcome surprise from the dregs of Netflix.
My wrasslin viewership goes in ebbs and flows. Some years I’m into it, others I barely watch at all. Lately I’ve been closer to the indifferent part of the spectrum, though CM Punk’s long-awaited return to AEW this past summer jostled me back into paying attention. Punk’s return and run has been satisfying, as has AEW in general, which I’m starting to watch with some regularity, though I will say if the promotion has a weakness it’s indulging the smarks a little too much.
Movies
Dune and Pig were good. Still seems the movie industry is only just now emerging from Covid abeyance. I went to the multiplex down the street yesterday to see the new Spider-Man and it was packed, meaning concern for Omicron is perhaps not especially high, and fatigue for Marvel movies hasn’t entirely set in either (guess I can’t talk here since I was watching it too). I hear Titane is worthy, and won’t see Licorice Pizza for a few more days. I’m not worshipful of Paul Thomas Anderson or anything, though there’s a fair chance I enjoy whatever he puts out.
Music
Really cementing my status as a Geriatric Millennial is that I’ve mostly checked out of music the last few years. I listen to some new stuff here and there, but nothing really resonates. That isn’t to dismiss what’s out there - I haven’t been working that hard to seek things out, so I’m sure there’s a bunch of quality I’m missing. Listened to a few tracks from the Beach House album that’s dropping in early 2022, and those sounded pretty good. Though that’s a pretty Geriatric Millennial album to be excited about.
Vidja games
Only played three games this year, which is about as healthy a relationship with gaming as one can get without swearing off them altogether. Two were very big on dialogue, complex characters, and storyline choices while the other was very big on amazonian vampire ladies.
Disco Elysium
Resident Evil: Village
Life is Strange: True Colors
Books
Gonna list every book I read this year as opposed to only mentioning one or two noteworthy TV shows or movies, in order to make myself seem more writely and well-read.
“The Three-Body Problem” - Cixin Liu
“The Dark Forest” - Cixin Liu
“Death’s End” - Cixin Liu
“Stoner” - John Williams
“The Coddling of the American Mind” - Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
“Toward Freedom: The Case against Race Reductionism” - Touré Reed
“Satisfaction Guaranteed: The Making of the American Mass Market” - Susan Strasser
“My Year of Rest and Relaxation” - Ottessa Moshfegh
“Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus” - Laura Kipnis
“The Gulf War Did Not Take Place” - Jean Baudrillard
“Hunger” - Knut Hamsun
“Virtue Hoarders: The Case against the Professional Managerial Class” - Catherine Liu
“Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy” - Christopher Lasch
My own
I wrote a couple pieces in 2021 on the issue of missing and murdered Native people, especially how the issue pertains to the state of Wyoming, for the non-profit Teton Truth.
One was an overview of the Missing and Murdered Natives issue in the wake of the Gabby Petito story that became massive national news. It was amusing that I was detailing efforts on this front by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland when just a few months earlier I was moving office furniture around for her in my role as a contract office mover in the Interior building in downtown DC. Given that I was wearing a mask and hat while doing so, doubtful she would recognize me again. Ah well, can’t say I’m trying to ingratiate myself with anyone in the Biden administration.
Another was an interview with a Wyoming woman who runs a popular Facebook group tracking missing person cases in the state, and her work to improve the state government’s ability to spread useful information about the missing.