~cgrayson

blurry shot zoomed into from the cheap seats, but a great show by Lucy Dacus (and opener Katie Gavin) last night. my first concert at Moody Amphitheater; pretty nice! 🎵

Dessa, 5 Out of 6 (live) 🎵

[youtu.be/RCp19f6Vn...](https://youtu.be/RCp19f6VntE?si=8kqmyDk5VV2kwa6z)

ouch. The Onion - Revised National Parks Webpage Describes Harriet Tubman As Human Trafficker (vs. the actual & true story)

new Lucy Dacus: Ankles 🎵 cleverest new music video I’ve seen in a while

I finished the book Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. it was great! read it over 28 days (as intended), and I fucking loved it. do yourself a favor 📚

I finished the book Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (tr. Christine Donougher). it was good: lots of in-depth historical & cultural essays mixed in (kind of like Moby Dick), but a beautiful narrative with plenty of great moments 📚

caught up on the falling out between @manton & the omg.lol guy. I understand the zero-tolerance feelings of the latter, but it’s too easy to go too far in pursuit of perfect purity, and it’s a misdirection of energy regardless. I’ve only met Manton a couple of times in person, but once was when he happened to canvass my house for Beto O’Rourke. he’s a good guy who lives his values, & I respect the way he conducts himself

new (to me) band, via The Guardian: Lambrini Girls. 🎵from their Bandcamp page:

Imagine your nan is in the boot of your car with a croissant in her mouth and hears bikini kill for the first time. That could be you. It will never be us as we are not bikini kill and we are not your nan. We are Lambrini Girls. Bon appetite xoxox

The Jesus and Mary Chain, Darklands (brought to you, some years ago, by some librarian at the Huber Heights, Ohio public library who stocked this LP) 🎵

birthday cheers, big brother 🍻

a stray line from a George Packer essay in the latest Atlantic (on Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain) perfectly sums up how I think of what happened on Nov. 5 (emphasis mine):

We live in an age of human self-contempt. We're hardly surprised when our leaders debase themselves with vile behavior and lies… when free people humiliate themselves under the spell of a megalomaniacal fraud.

the exodus (X-odus?) continues: Why the Guardian is no longer posting on X

we will no longer post on any official Guardian editorial accounts on the social media site X (formerly Twitter). We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives … The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.

to America: congratu-fucking-lations, you dumb sons of bitches to the world: sorry; a lot of us did what we could

our neighbor’s sign, blown down by natural forces and facedown in the dirt - just as I hope that campaign ends up a week from now 🇺🇸🗳️🙏

via the latest newsletter from author Elif Batuman (this edition provocatively titled, “On Being Butthurt”), announcement of a Harris-Walz fundraising Zoom featuring a pretty darn impressive array of authors 📚🇺🇸

hey, nice date today. 10/10, no notes

a frankly staggering number of songs from a lot of excellent artists, all proceeds to flood relief in western North Carolina: Cardinals at the Window. $10 (or more) 🎵

I found this entirely inspirational (and the brilliant slogan didn’t hurt): ‘Because secondhand is feckin’ grand’: how clothes swapping became huge in Ireland

his ability to say this kind of thing is just absolutely mind-blowing to me:

“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country and they are the ones that are destroying the country – both from the inside and out,” Trump told Fox News Digital.

“These are people that want to destroy our country,” he added. “It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat.”

best spice shop page I’ve ever read: Penzeys

From the environment, to racism, to health, to saving our democracy at home & growing it abroad, half the time Republicans are intentionally blocking the solution to the problems we face. The other half of the time they are the problem we face.

Ken Paxton, doing the nasty, anti-democratic thug work that Republicans feel they must do to maintain power: suing to stop voter registration drives

Friday Night Video: Howard Jones, Hide & Seek 🎵