#22 - Odd Topics
Baby Bonding EP; Books, New to Me; Paramount-Minus
Hello, my friends,
It’s been a tiring week. On a few nights I even started dozing off at 9:30pm, hours before my usual bedtime. The bad news is that I can’t work on my various creative and other projects I’m forced to reserve for the final few hours of the day. The good news is that I wake up for work feeling better-rested than usual. I’m going to assume that this is my body’s way of making mature choices on my brain’s behalf. Good job, body!
Baby Bonding EP
Every so often over the years I’ve considered recording a rap album. When I was anticipating taking a month off after Michael’s birth four years ago, I planned to record the Baby Bonding EP. That didn’t work out as expected. Apparently, new baby’s take up a lot of brain cycles! As a reality check, I’ll admit that despite being a decent lyricist, I’m not actually a very good rapper. Sure, I can hold my own with the majority of popular rap songs in private karaoke rooms, but recording original lyrics is different. And unlike what Rose, a long-ago neighbor (likely dead now) said to me once, rapping is not just talking over loud drums.
It seems odd to me that as I get older, the idea of this potential creative expression does not go away. I do listen to rap regularly, so the inspiration remains, but I don’t write much. Who knows? Maybe when I retire I’ll record mixtapes called Rap Practice 01 - 06 and then finally drop Baby Bonding as a full-length. Just in time for Michael’s 21st birthday! Time does fly.
Books, New to Me
I’m surrounded by used books! Most of my book collection consists of them, titles acquired at library sales and used bookstores. When I worked as a Messenger Clerk shelving books for the Los Angeles Public Library, I would get first dibs on the book donations after the librarians looked them over. What a luxury for a curious young reader, to pick through authors and titles, known and unknown, and take take take take. I still have some I picked up fifteen years ago. I’ve even read a few!
Used books have the social proof of previous owners. They’re softer, open easily, and sometimes even stay open. They’re editions from another time, reflecting design decisions of their eras. Prefaces, forwards, and introductions show us who was well-known enough at that time to get asked for their welcome. On this end of history, it feels like watching celebrity game shows from, say, the 60’s. If one wasn’t around at that time it’s easy to get lost in the faces of those whose fame didn’t last.
Used books possess a different aura for me than fresh young things. At used bookstores, I always take the time to peruse the discount cart(s) outside. What a pleasant surprise when I find a good one out there. What was cast out by even the place that gives used books another chance goes home with me.
Paramount-Minus
I’m sad that Star Trek went to Paramount+ last year because Paramount+ is dirty socks compared to Netflix. When I subscribed to finish watching Deep Space Nine, which I had been making my way through for several years, I was shocked by problems with the service. The shows kept pausing to buffer, even when I had a perfect connection. The picture quality was bad, with green lines on my screen during the show. It would crash randomly. There was no back button.
What the heck, Paramount. Where’s the back button?
After I finished DS-9, I paused my subscription. Two months ago I had the yearning to re-watch Star Trek: The Next Generation and resumed my subscription. Some of the problems have been fixed, it seems. The picture quality is fine and it doesn’t pause to buffer much, though it does crash occasionally, and there’s still NO BACK BUTTON.
But you know what’s most annoying? Advertisements! (You thought I was going to say lack of back button, didn’t you) Yes, even though I pay for a subscription they still run two ads for THEIR OWN SHOWS before showing me my Star Trek. It’s confounding! I’m already a subscriber, I’m trying to watch another of their shows and I have to sit through ads for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and some other schlock before starting. All I watch on there is Star Trek, do they think I wouldn’t have already watched Strange New Worlds had I wanted to? Bad call to run ads for paid subscribers, bad decisions for the ads to always be the same, bad algorithm for choosing another Star Trek show.
If you’re reading this, people from Paramount+: Don’t be the basic bitch of streaming. Stop with the ads! (and add a back button. I’m tired of swiping for the back button every time my show ends)
And if you’re still reading this, friends, thanks for letting me vent. It felt nice to get that out.
