Just re-listened to: Return to Cookie Mountain (2006) by TV on the Radio. Thick, noisy, wordy, loopy apocalyptic post-rock that manages to maintain pop leanings. (We observe once again that minimum viable pop is catchy melodies plus reliable rhythm, which this album has in large, dirty piles.) An excellent... scottstilson.blog

Just park right here with the hazards on
I think I’m sure the bastard’s gone
✏️ 🎤 🎵

You find yourself lost ✏️ 🎤 🎵

Most metonymy is a mistake.

Here’s an audio recording of my essay about the reasons and mechanics of Jesus’ self-subjection to crucifixion for folks who prefer listening to reading. It’s roughly 50 minutes in length.

Just re-listened to: Jesus Freak (1995) by DC Talk. Is it nostalgia that enables me to delight in it? Surely in part. I was 13 years old and well ensconced in evangelical subculture when it came out. But Smitty’s fellow CCM platinum release I’ll Lead You Home came out that year, too, and you don’t see me w... scottstilson.blog

It’s fine, Babe
It’s fine.
I do it all the time, Babe.
Except I never what to tell you when I’m done.


✏️ 🎤 🎵

It is a degradation of public space that no one can see what you’re looking at when you’re staring at your phone or laptop in the cafe or on the subway without having to look over your shoulder. I dream of a world in which all such devices display the title of whatever you’re looking at on their backs. Th... scottstilson.blog

Geez, Steve
We’re gonna need you to leave
We’re just trying get some work done

Please, Steve
Don’t act so bereaved
Can’t you see we’re working under the gun?

What’s with the Cross? scottstilson.blog

Hey!
You married him.
He’s always and in all ways gonna stay him.
Means he won’t leave ya,
But he’s prolly gonna grieve ya
Again and again and again.

Don’t worry
You’ll be the next hard act to follow

At the level of the individual, there is wisdom in my friend’s aversion to marriage, which she stated the other day as “I don’t know why people would want to get married.” I prefer to reword it as: “Don’t make a commitment you don’t think you can keep.” But at the level of society, there needs to be a comp... scottstilson.blog

You’re saying I should give in to the vernacular?

— Scott

percentage of adult household members holding a full-time job ∝ (frequency of dinner guests hosted by that household)^-1

Just re-listened to: Carrie and Lowell (2015) by Sufjan Stevens. When Christgau wrote of this album, “How best expiate a conflicted grief? Surely something with more tensile strength than musical flower arrangements,” he wasn’t listening to the lyrics. As far as grief albums go, this one is better even tha... scottstilson.blog

I miss the white pages

Just listened to: The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow (2024) by Charles Lloyd. Easygoing, desultory, flute- or breathy-tenor-sax-led freeish modal jazz for inspiring hippies at night. Bonus point of interest: The esteemed saxophonist/flautist is 86!

Uncommitted time I anticipate with pleasure, but planned time I often anticipate with a low level of discontent, even if it’s time I planned for pleasure. Why is that? [edit, 8/13/24]: I think it’s planned social time that evokes the mild discontent—and I think it’s because I still hold an idolatrous cand... scottstilson.blog

Switching costs and triskaidekaphobia be damned: We oughta ditch the Gregorian calendar and replace it with a this (Scotian?) alternative: thirteen months of the exact same 28-day length, New Year’s Day as its own intercalary one-day week, and every leap year, a two-day New Year’s Week. Accountants would... scottstilson.blog

Just listened to: Fireflies and Songs (2009) by Sara Groves. Piano-based adult alternative whose graceful combination of melody, voice, harmonic voicings, and themes make me want to cry—or, just as often, actually make me cry—at least half of its runtime. Christianity Today’s runaway number-one choice for ... scottstilson.blog

Freeloading days are here again

Just listened to: Silence & Music (2017) performed by Gabrieli’s “Rolls-Royce” of a choir, conducted here by their artistic director Paul McCreesh. This is fifteen 20th-century secular British partsongs exquisitely sung and perfectly recorded, gratifying my anglophilia, audiophilia, and love for small-choi... scottstilson.blog

Just listened to: Open Your Heart (2012) by The Men. Noisy, abrasive rave rock. Sometimes like Sonic Youth, but often faster and shoutier, hence punk-er. I like it best when droning, as in “Oscillation” and “Presence.”

Finished reading: Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith (1999) by Anne Lamott. A funny, worthwhile, quotable episodic memoir. My only complaint is probably one directed at her editors: There are fewer thoughts on faith than its subtitle indicates.

@mwerickson Does The Lord of the Rings count?