~cgrayson

The Guardian: Why shouldn’t two opponents kiss each other after a game? ⚽️

Women’s football… has the power to shape a new vision. It is a prism through which you can see a safer, more inclusive sport that can combine competitiveness and professionalism with inclusivity, empathy and a feeling that football really can be a place for all

(it’s also just really good soccer. check it out, if you haven’t lately: NWSL in US, WSL in England, this summer’s World Cup, etc.)

I’ve never butt-dialed anyone, but now I’ve butt-returned-an-audiobook-to-the-library 😑 now I’m “5th in line” so I can hear the last 28% of that book. a modern kind of cliffhanger, I guess 📚

There are days like that. Everybody you meet is a dope. You begin to look at yourself in the glass and wonder.

- Raymond Chandler, The Little Sister

from Julieta Venegas’ latest: Mismo Amor

🎵

Saturday’s beer: Dogfish Head Brewery’s Wake Up World Wide Stout
⭐️⭐️⭐️

waiting for the start of Austin FC v Vancouver Whitecraps ⚽️

after some thinking, some planning (characters, setting, and broad strokes of a plot), and lots of procrastination, I finally wrote some actual words for a first draft of what I hope will be my second novel. 553 down, thousands to go! (including those that will probably replace these 553) 📝

I was hoping this would happen: NPR quits Twitter after being falsely labeled as ‘state-affiliated media’

“At this point I have lost my faith in the decision-making at Twitter,” [NPR CEO John Lansing] says. “I would need some time to understand whether Twitter can be trusted again.”

the end of 52 official Twitter feeds! looking forward now to where their Mastodon accounts end up

possibly my favorite Liz Phair song ever, from some odd EP or bonus disc, I don’t even remember: Jeremy Engle 🎵

sometimes all you need

is a napkin

Saturday’s beer: Prairie Artisan Ales’ Chocolate Noir
⭐️⭐️⭐️
this single bottle cost more than most six-packs; damn if it wasn’t worth every cent 🍺

“the film” : nice trio of music videos from “the record”, boygenius’ new album

🎵

McSweeney’s: The White Hand of Saruman Will Be Given Only to Uruk-hai Who Subscribe to SaruBlue

Starting April 15, the White Hand of Saruman will only be given to Uruk-hai who pay subscription to SaruBlue. You do not know pain, you do not know fear, and you will taste man-flesh, all for just $8 a month…

Bearers of my White Hand will also have prioritized access to smelling whether a city is rank with fear and will be given a headstart on staining the land with the blood of Rohan. Additionally, White Hand-verified subscribers will be boosted and made more visible to the Eye of Sauron.

I continue to be a proud subscriber to The Guardian: Guardian owner apologises for founders’ links to transatlantic slavery

The restorative justice fund will support projects in the Gullah Geechee region and Jamaica over the next decade after consultation with reparations experts and community groups.

just bought tickets to see First Aid Kit later this year – seen them once before, at ACL Music Fest. this performance, in fact: It’s a Shame, live in 2017: 🎵

nice interview (& hilarious pics) with Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker, and Phoebe Bridgers, aka Boygenius. their self-titled EP is a real favorite; can hardly wait for “the record”, out next Friday 🎵

Saturday’s beer: Lone Pint Brewery’s Gentleman’s Relish
⭐️⭐️⭐️
best nitro brown ale I’ve ever had 🍺

as expected: DE. STROYED.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a masterpiece. (and I finished it just in time for today’s tournament) 📚

Saturday’s beer: Texas Ale Project’s The Caucasian
⭐️⭐️__
pretty good but more bitter than I expected 🍺

less than halfway through Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and something about its sweetness & poignancy has brought me to tears multiple times. it’s not at all cloying, just really resonant. (a little worried it will emotionally destroy me in the end) 📚

opening day of the Tournament of Books!

each weekday two works of fiction go head to head, with one of our judges deciding which moves forward in the brackets… with post-match color commentary from two “experts”

this has long been a great source of titles for my TBR list 📚

Eleanor Catton on similarities between our relationship to the internet & that of sociopaths to their victims:

Algorithms are flattering you by adapting themselves to what they think that you want; they can see what you desire & they’re very good at shapeshifting

The Besnard Lakes, Silver Shadows:

psychedelic 🎵

Weekend beer: Founders Brewing’s KBS Hazelnut
⭐️⭐️__
good! (though not quite as good as I’d hoped)🍺

“Always remember, mine Sadie: life is very long, unless it is not.” Sadie knew this to be a tautology, but it also happened to be true.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow 📚

The Dead Weather, I Feel Love (live) 🎵

the changes to Dahl’s books aren’t the end of the world, but they really do stink. The Nation: Let Kids Read Roald Dahl’s Books the Way He Wrote Them 📚

adding a preachy smiley face to a book written by an angry genius

when you make a grocery run for a few things and it’s Spring Bock season 🍺

Twenty One Pilots – Goner 🎵

really enjoyed reading Teaching Black History to White People, by Leonard N. Moore. short & written in a conversational style, it’s an unblinking survey of Black/American history. bonus: the ebook is free this month from UT Press with code UTXBHM 📚

when ur life is tuff

Goose Island Beer Co.’s Bourbon County Coffee Stout (2022) 🍺
⭐️⭐️⭐️
celebrating hitting my goal of literary agents queried. your move, universe