Hey y’all,

This is the time of year where I might think I’m done with the year, but the year has a way of letting me know it’s not done with me. It’s almost like the winter solstice hits and my body just nopes out.

Here are 10 things I thought were worth (over)sharing this week:

1. I had to bail on the Tuesday newsletter I had planned, because I’m currently ushering a 4mm kidney stone through my system! Yes, it has been a week of comfort and joy. This Friday missive has been made possible thanks to painkillers, muscle relaxers, a heating pad, and a bottle of Gatorade. Y’all have lifted my spirits with your cheerful retrospection, kind notes, and comments. Thank you!
   
   

2. Some weeks you’re ”born to sweet delight,” some weeks you’re “born to endless night.” Some weeks are a marriage of heaven and hell! I’m still enjoying John Higg’s excellent William Blake vs. The World. Blake once wrote a poem in which John Milton falls like a star from heaven and lands on Blake’s foot, invading his spirit. I’ve started to wonder if maybe my kidney stone is the ghost of William Blake? Maybe if I finish the book Blake will exit the building?!? Oh, to be a Clod without a Pebble!
   
   

3. I didn’t get a ton of reading done this fall, but I did read 3 great books.
   
   

4. I doubt I’ll make my annual year-end books list before the very end of the year but here’s a list of everything really good I read so far this year. The list I’m most looking forward to making is my “100 things that made my year.” (Somehow I’ve been doing this for 9 years? Wild.)
   
   

5. The director Francis Ford Coppola on how he chooses a single word for each of his films to guide his decision-making process. (I choose a secret sentence for each of my books.)
   
   

6. “Music is what keeps us sane.” If you want to try to catch up on all the music you missed this year, help from some of my faves: Matthew Perpetua posted his Fluxblog 2022 Survey Mix, Sasha Frere-Jones posted his year in music in part one and part two, and Amanda Petrusich wrote about one of my favorite songs, Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit.”
   
   

7. If you just want some nice holiday tunes, every year I look forward to my local station KUTX’s Christmas mix. You can stream it anywhere, but there’s something special about it coming out the radio. (I’ve gotten to do two DJ sets with KUTX and they were wonderful fun. Love them.)
   
   

8. When I read Ander Monson’s Predator: A Memoir, A Movie, An Obsession (my friend Michael Schaub says it’s his favorite book of 2022) I told him his project to watch Predator 146 times and write about it reminded me of Paul Krasik’s advice to “Study something you love in depth!” and Sean T. Collins’ 365-day project, Pain Don't Hurt: Meditations on Road House. Monson said he’d look into the Road House book. Turns out he did… and he wrote an essay about it!
   
   

9. Some advice from my friend Mark: “Make sure you’re running toward something, and not just away from something!” (Mark is full of good advice in winter.)
   
   

10. RIP Terry Hall, frontman for The Specials. The two songs I’ve had in my head are “Doesn’t Make It All Right” and “you’re wondering now / what to do / now you know / this is the end…”

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I wish you all the best this weekend, a holiday that can be hard for many. Be kind. (To others, for sure, but also to yourself.) Get cozy in your box. And don’t forget to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

“Everything passes eventually.”

xoxo,

Austin