1. CD player
You might read this and think I’m insane, which I won’t deny. I recently invested in a CD player of the portable kind. If you’re wondering, yes, I am crocheting a little pouch for it so I can wear it while I walk my dog Smudge.
This was a little bit of trial and error. You might remember that I have a radio/cd player, but I recently came into ownership of some books on CD (from when that was normal, the 1990s and 2000s). I do listen to them at home, but I wanted to be able to take them along on my dog walks.
I asked my family if they happened to have a spare, working CD player (or even a walkman, because I’d find some free books on cassette) collecting dust somewhere, but I was out of luck.
Originally, I purchased a second-hand CD player from someone who swore that it worked, but, when it was in my hands, it wouldn’t function. (It is a CD player that’s old enough to drink alcohol in the US and vote.) I was bummed because I loved the idea of a super vintage, retro-colored CD player. So I mailed it back to the original owner.
But, after that incident, I ended up doing a bit more research (thanks Reddit CD community). For the same price as my vintage dream, I could get a refurbished CD player made by a company that actively makes these. The advantage? It comes with some 2024 perks: it works with bluetooth headphones and it has a rechargeable battery!
This is one case where I feel like a newly made item may have some advantages over a 20-25-year-old one, and I was glad to get a refurbed/open box model.
2. The If Books Could Kill podcast
I go through podcast-listening phases and audiobook listening phases, and because I was laid off recently (so fun, story for another time), I needed some snark. Some escapism. Some people talking shit about people who aren’t me. You know?
Enter If Books Could Kill. This podcast dissects the “airport book.” More specifically, the “self-help”/”personal finance”/”betterment”/”invent your way to wealth” type of book.
Hosted by Michael Hobbes and Peter Shamshiri, the podcast is smart, hilarious, and offers thoughtful criticism (and low-brow, well-deserved, snarky criticism) of books that grace tech bros’ nightstands everywhere, right next to their Soylent and their AI girlfriend.
3. Reading a book at a bar
I was at a bar for the first time in, let me tell you, probably a couple of years. I drink alcohol very rarely, and I don’t like loud places where I can’t hear what the people to whom I’m speaking say, nor do I really like crowds.
But, I was meeting a friend! I was reading by votive candlelight–don’t recommend for eyesight health, but what a vibe–when Ginuwine came through the speakers. (Damn, what a catchy song. Just makes me want to put on some silk pajamas and take a bubble bath in champagne and money.) I was watching people play indoor bocce ball.
4. Walking without listening to anything except the world
I do this often, but lately I’ve really enjoyed it. I heard a beautiful crow cawing this morning. There are times of day that the city gets very busy, and I like tuning out the world, but early morning walks with my dog as the sun rises and the quiet morning (while many New Yorkers sleep in a bit) have been a nice part of my day.
5. Inverse Cowgirl by Alicia Roth Weigel
Inverse Cowgirl is a memoir by Alicia Roth Weigel, an American activist and intersex person. I had seen the title on various parts of the internet, and I found it at my local library and borrowed it on a whim. If you don’t know, an intersex person is a person born with a mix of male and female sexual traits—such as ovaries, breasts, and XY chromosomes, or testes and a uterus. Intersex people can identify anywhere along the gender spectrum, which is why its important to note that their sexual traits and organs do not define their entire identity, nor are they “automatically male/female.”
Of all of the Queer/LGBTQ2SIIA+ community, I feel like intersex folks are still one of the most marginalized and least acknowledged, and their stories are deeply needed. Their bodies have historically been operated on without their consent in a way that is so normalized and deeply disturbing but rarely talked about. (Of course, this is also true of other American colonialist or Eugenicist-informed medical practices, like the US’s history of forced sterilization on Mexican women and other groups of people.) Most intersex people have their bodies operated on shortly after birth, such as removing qualities/organs to “make” the person’s body more normative.
In Roth Weigel’s case, she was born with a vagina but no uterus or ovaries and internal testes. While her body could naturally convert the testosterone she produced into estrogen and she would have been fine, the doctors removed her testes, which meant she needs Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for the rest of her life. It also had the consequence of throwing her body into a menopausal-like state as a child, where she struggled with mood swings, insomnia, and other symptoms. Her hormone dysregulation caused by the removal of her organs also meant she struggled with osteoporosis in her 20s-30s.
If you’re looking for a book that might widen your perspective of the world, I strongly recommend it! Roth Weigel balances humor, tough realitieis, and reflection in equal measure, and the book is highly readable.
What are you reading or enjoying these days? Please let me know in the comments!