The last thing I want to do with my evenings is to get trapped in a quiet moment that could allow thoughts about my actual life to seep in and awaken me from the bliss of my mindless zombie state. I need content to fill the void, otherwise reality will. Obviously, these days, the evening news provides no respite. The internet isn't what it used to be. I need TV. And with the writers' strike dragging on, I was quickly running out of decent content (I already ran out of the high quality stuff). My back was against the wall. My unconscious was revving up its negative, self-defeating engines in anticipation of my impending, involuntary meditative moments. My prestige TV defense mechanism was lost between the couch cushions (along with several AppleTV remotes) and I was being dragged from an unprecedented age of TV, with a cornucopia of content at my fingertips, to taking a one-way trip to the Walden Pond region of my psyche, where self-loathing roams free. A seventh round of reruns of The Office would be no match for what was coming. Panic had set in. Seriously, do you know what it's like to eat a TV dinner in front of a blank wall? Shows once considered guilty pleasures or background watches had moved to the top of my queue. I watched bad documentaries on topics about which I had no interest. I attempted to connect with random, inaccessible episodes from every corner of the globe. Subtitles on or off, it made no difference. Gimme the content, I need, I need. Holy Hell, I even started watching shows with commercials—during which I wondered more than once, "Do I really want to live in a world where Taylor Sheridan is not typing out five new shows at once?" Thankfully, I won't have to answer that question. The pencils are being sharpened, the laptops are being charged, and the TV writers are back to work. As of 12:01am on Wednesday, The Writers Strike Is Over. (Which means Sheridan's probably hammered out 10-12 episodes of something by now.) 2Vhat Did I Tell You!?For decades, my dad told me that Donald Trump's wildly leveraged business was built on bad loans. He also predicted nearly everything else about the Trump era, including the fact that he'd refuse to accept the results of the election. So this one's for his memory, and for every other old real estate guy that is nodding knowingly right now. Judge rules Donald Trump defrauded banks and insurers while building real estate empire. 3For a Few Dollars More"Over the past year, that relief came in many forms. It helped Moore settle long-standing debts. But it also affected her life in quieter ways, moments harder to quantify. Like the week with her sister. Or the elation of her children on Christmas morning. Even the extra time and money she spent at the hair salon getting intricate braids to mark the start of spring. Those pauses are what Moore cherishes most. They are what she’ll hold on to long after the experiment’s end." Chicago Magazine with an interesting look at a guaranteed income experiment and how it impacted a mother who works three jobs. What $500 Means to Zinida Moore. 4Being There (and Everywhere)My daughter left recently her phone in my car and the sound of the nonstop notifications make it feel like I was getting an MRI. What's it like being a teenage girl with non-stop social media? Jessica Bennett in the NYT (Gift Article): Being 13. 5Extra, ExtraSystem Shutdown: "As the Senate marches ahead with a bipartisan approach to prevent a government shutdown, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is back to square one — asking his hard-right Republicans to do what they have said they would never do: approve their own temporary House measure to keep the government open." 6Bottom of the NewsDog Day Afternoon, Morning, and Evening: "The German shepherd is known to have bitten several agents a total of 10 times between October 2022 and January 2023." Commander bites again: Biden's dog has nipped another Secret Service officer. Holy crap, this boy is a menace. Get a beagle. Their howl is worse than their bite. Get a copy of my 📕, Please Scream Inside Your Heart, or grab a 👕 in the Store.
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