3/3/23
3/3/23
Hello friends,
Apologies for not sending out anything last week. Here at Quinn’s Newsletter Inc. we take commitment to our craft quite seriously, but sometimes we slip up. We promise that this will *most likely* happen again.
At any rate, I was in no condition to be writing as my uterus declared war on the rest of my body. I spent a majority of the week in bed with my heating pad, trying to sleep because being conscious was excruciating. My heating pad straight up died by the week’s end, I worked my little buddy too hard. I was even too bleh to watch Buffy, but for anyone keeping track I have finally made it to season 5. I love Spike and hate Riley.
Allyssa came to visit right before I was completely consumed by pain and we spent a Saturday night indulging in our edibles of choice. Per usual, our conversation eventually meandered its way to Jim Henson, and about the specific type of creativity that results in the romance between a frog and a pig.
A week later, on my way to brunch with a new friend, I missed my train stop because I was revisiting Quarterbacks and got lost in the ~vibes~ :
Yesterday I stopped the class that Liz Pelly teaches on “emergent media storytelling” at NYU. The students were studying my Clairo and Wednesday profiles, which absolutely blew me away. I’ve spoken to a few college classes at this point but it just hit me that my work is being studied in colleges. That’s so cool.
I have a really difficult time revisiting my writing, not like Adam Driver walk out of the theater anxiety, but it does make me very self-conscious. But when I reread my Clairo piece I…actually kinda loved it?! I enjoyed the structure of the piece, I liked the details and the quotes, and I felt that I did a good job of capturing an artist at a very particular moment. A fellow music writer called me a bootlicker after that piece came out, which is pretty hilarious in retrospect. I disagree with the accusation and I don’t know why you would tweet that about a peer…save it for the group chat, my dude!
All in all, Liz’s class seemed really cool and made me wish I could enroll! At the end I offhandedly mentioned the existence of this newsletter, which reminded me that I haven’t exactly publicized its existence. That’s fine with me! Someone asked what this newsletter is about…I said that I don’t know. Hopefully I’ll find out someday.
Some of you kind souls have offered to pay for these rambling words. Maybe I’ll take you up in the future but for now I would feel guilty. This newsletter is too incoherent to be worth anyone’s hard-earned dollars.
What I read this week:
I’ve been doing a lot of research for some upcoming freelance pieces! I’ll tell you more later but they are not about music! Let’s just say I’ve been reading a lot about the Black Panthers AND Riverdale…I contain multitudes, etc.
I have NOT kept up with the dialogue about the disappearance of English majors or whatever. I feel like every other person I know was an English major, so I’m skeptical. Cue “An English Teacher” from Bye Bye Birdie.
ANYWAYS.
I realized that I never mention what books I’m reading in this newsletter. I’m currently reading Stoner by John Williams! I bought a copy on sale at Mast Books years ago but the first few pages made me so sentimental that I couldn’t continue:
An occasional student who comes across the name may wonder idly who William Stoner was, but he seldom pursues his curiosity beyond a casual question. Stoner’s colleagues, who held him in no particular esteem when he was alive, speak of him rarely now; to the older ones, his name is a reminder of the end that awaits them all, and to the younger ones it is merely a sound which evokes no sense of the past and no identity with which they can associate themselves or their careers.
Now, my heart has hardened and I’m powering through this beautiful tale of one man’s quiet life. Just kidding, the early 20th century mumblecore is still making me very emotional. I highly suggest adding it to your reading list. Here are some well-written articles that support my cause—I’m no literary critic.
“Jeremy Strong Will Never Break” by Gabriella Paiella / GQ
Thank god for Jeremy Stong tbh. Not enough actors are also CHARACTERS. I loved that controversial New Yorker profile—give me the obsessive artist who wants to talk about the craft!
“A goose honks in the distance. ‘Should we follow that sound?’”
“Meet Pittsburgh’s Extraordinary Naked Mole-Rat Queens” by Sabrina Imbler / Defector
“Beyond their infamous appearance, naked mole-rats rarely get cancer, are impervious to some kinds of pain, and can survive without oxygen for 18 minutes. They produce no body heat and drink no water.” Who knew!
“High-Profile Art Couple Offers Worst Job Ever” by Will Heinrich / NYT
“And what made the blog post immediately catch fire across the internet was that it was only slightly crazier than the sorts of jobs many young people — the overeducated assistants, the underemployed M.F.A.s, all the well-dressed hordes of the exploited — already put up with to get a toehold in what looks like the glamour of the art world.”
I was really impressed that Sam W. was able to guess the alleged couple with just one hint.
Random ramblings:
Can I get some sort of filter to block any and all Cobrasnake photos from my feed?I can’t do it anymore.
I too would pay to not have to see anymore Hailey Bieber/Selena Gomez content on TikTok. That whole thing is just bleak.
Sweet as in heartwarming new Alex G video
I low key did an interview with Music Journalism Insider. It’s free for a bit but will eventually go behind a paywall.
To conclude, I finally watched Party Girl and now I would love a falafel with hot sauce, a side order of Baba Ghanoush and a seltzer.
