Set theory was one of my best events in Math League when I was in high school. You probably didn’t know this.
- When did you last read a physical issue of a magazine?
I subscribe to the reincarnation of CREEM magazine, but I admit I’ve allowed issues to pile up. Part of my job is writing for the physical magazine my employer publishes quarterly, and of course I also edit that before we go to print, and then read the hard copy, but I feel like this shouldn’t count. As a member of the National Puzzlers League, I receive the monthly newsletter, which contains news and a crazy number of word puzzles, but is that a newsletter or a magazine?
I also help edit the state university’s alumni magazine, and I write a crossword puzzle for it. I read it many times before it’s in print, and then usually when we get the hard copies. We put this to bed a few weeks ago and it’s not yet in print, so I can’t count it even if I can count it.
Does a literary journal count? I read a few pages from one the other night. It happens to be the issue in which I published a poem last year, but I was not reading my own work. I think this counts. So yeah. Bamboo Ridge issue #124, late last week.
2. If someone were going through your wardrobe, which item or items would give the person a good idea of your age?
I still have every one of my class shirts from intermediate and high school, and they all say some version of Class of ’87 on them. Dead giveaway. Also a counterfeit Members Only jacket and a tee that says, “Shall we play a game?”
3. What is your favorite song released in 2024?
This week marked the year’s halfway point, so I’ve been thinking about this in preparation to make a couple of lists. My choice three months ago (the quarter-year mark) was “Life’s a Fucking Miracle” by James. Yes, the James who had something of a hit album in 1993 with Laid. They put out a new album this year called Yummy, and it’s pretty dang terrific. This is probably still my number one, but some good runners up are “Houdini” and “Illusion” by Dua Lipa (pop), “Hot City” by Bonnie McKee (also pop but a different kind), “He Came Down” by T Bone Burnett (Americana), “Picked First” by Sasha Alex Sloan (psycho-folk singer-songwriter), something from the Taylor Swift album and something from the Billie Eilish album and maybe something from the Sheryl Crow album.
I just tried to embed the James video here, and it turns out because the video is age-restricted (there isn’t even anything in the video; it’s just the sung lyrics I suppose), I can’t embed it here. So I’m embedding the radio edit, which I just discovered exists. Please, as you listen, replace in your ears the word “shocking” with the word “fucking,” which makes it a much better song, or look up the song yourself on YouTube or in whatever streaming audio service you use. It’s just a fantastic song.
4. What non-food item did you last put in a zippered plastic bag?
When I’m reading a physical book, I usually carry it around in a zippered plastic bag. So this photo from yesterday morning answers the question. You can see the corner of the bag on the left.
5. You may know that in Japan there are cafes where you can play with bunnies, cats, hedgehogs, reptiles, owls, and many other kinds of animals. Assuming one hundred percent good faith, which would mean the animals’ safety and mental health are completely assured and the animals are rescues, making it unsafe for them to be released back into the wild, which animal cafe (whether it exists now or not) would you most like to spend time in?
We don’t have fireflies in Hawaii, and while I’ve spent a few evenings in places where they exist, I rather miss them. I’d like to sit in an open-air type space where fireflies just buzz all around, while I sip coffee and enjoy them, perhaps in the company of a bookish middle-aged woman with a thing for writers.