august 29 etc
An old friend of mine is in town this weekend. We have known each other since 1997, when we were both frosh at McGill.
One time, in 2008, we went to Las Vegas together. I flew from Montreal to her city and met up with her in the airport. We had a beer, or maybe a coffee, or maybe both, and then boarded another plane to Vegas. It was a good little trip. We stayed in the Bellagio and the Luxor, ate at some good places including Bobby Flay's restaurant, and one night I turned $50 into $1,600 at the blackjack table. I spent ~$300 of that $1,600 on new leather boots that I ruined within 18 months because I didn't know how to take care of anything (including myself) until I was 40.
At the time I was living with two friends in a cheap apartment on Mont-Royal Est in Montreal. A year and a half later, I was not friends with either of them. I have not thought about either of them for more than a few seconds since because, like, sometimes it takes a while for you to see who people actually are but when you do, you can't unsee it.
One of the two roommates was a nice enough guy โโ on the surface. He was of those younger Gen-X/older Millennial types whose dad had emigrated from England and instilled in his son some... interesting views about race and class.
Case in point: this roommate once described (American) football teams as "fifty animals and one smart man." He said this knowing that I had played football in high school (against his high school!), liked to watch football on Sundays, and was (and still am!) a non-white ethnic minority.
Last I heard, he was living in Sweden.
When I write these things for you to read, there isn't always a point or a lesson or whatever else. Sometimes I just like to talk about things I remember so that I continue to remember them; sometimes I want to celebrate the beauty of the current moment โโ i.e. my cool friend is in town and that is awesome! โโ because so much about this current moment is awful; and sometimes, like today, I want you to know that if we are friends, regardless of what time does to that friendship, I will still remember you in 28 years.
On y va!
๐ด๐ Tough week? I feel you. Here, have a basketball horse on the house. (Twitter/horseimage)
๐ฎ๐ฎ Tough week? I feel you. Panic (Untitled Goose Game, among others) games/bundles are on sale on Steam until September 4. (Steam)
๐ฆ๐ฆ Tough week? I feel you. Nox, a high(er)-end Montreal-based sex toy shop owned by my friend's partner, is offering free shipping until Labour Day. (Nox)
๐ฐ๐ฐ Tough week? I feel you. Just remember that the bad guys still lose sometimes and carry that into the weekend. (Tumblr/tzifron)
๐๐ I have a few more NYT gift articles to share this month so here's a piece from last year about what sex therapists wished people knew about boning. (NYT)
๐ฆ๐ I have a few more NYT gift articles to share this month so here's a piece about how a shark can be the colour of a tangerine. (NYT)
โพ๐ Just me or does Philadelphia Phillies prospect Aidan Miller look just like Timothรฉe Chalamet (Shimmy Ya, Shimmy Yay)? (Twitter/PhilsTailgate)
๐ค๐ค AI everything is (still) going great, guys. "A tech entrepreneur named Jason Lemkin set out to document his experience using an AI 'vibe coding' tool called Replit to make an app," writes Frank Landymore. "But the 'vibes' turned bad real quick. The AI wiped out a key company database, he claims โ and when called out on its mistake, it insisted, sorrowfully, that it couldn't undo its screw-up." Just me or is this story really just about how an AI agent did exactly what a panicking human in wayyyyyy over his head would do? (Futurism)
๐ต๐ต I shared song recommendations yesterday and the day before (and the day before that), so it only makes sense to drop one today. This track should set you up for a dreamy, lovely weekend. (Spotify)
๐ฒ gonna
๐ผ go
๐ฑ touch
๐ณ grass
๐ท now
Be good to yourself. I'm out until Monday.
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