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Matt Shaw's avatar

oh what a great musical rec

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E. Sjule's avatar

Thank you, Matt!

I went so hard on this song my whole east coast trip.

I was in a deep S&G state in general, but this song owned me.

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Matt Shaw's avatar

an album with so much history for me, discovered it as a wandering in 19-year-old living in a postage stamp apartment in Rio de Janeiro — a season both dark and ripe with discovery

friends? not many.

friends? so many: hemingway, steinbeck, innes

maybe favorite from that alb:

"...and we sit and drink our coffee...and you read your Emily Dickinson and I my Robert Frost..."

—The Dangling Conversation

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E. Sjule's avatar

Dangling Conversation is my favorite too!!!!

It's so fucking good! "Lost in the dangling conversationnn, and the superficial sighsss... in the borders of our liiivesss."

This album has a special place for me too.

I listened to it a lot like 15 years ago when I was in the honeymoon phase of my first relationship.

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E. Sjule's avatar

I think i was actually like 19-20 years old at the time too!

Rio de Janeiro btw.

That sounds riveting, what were you doing there?

Also I read my first Hemingway recently-- "For Whom The Bell Tolls", such a great book.

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Matt Shaw's avatar

This thread is putting a giant smile on my face. Joy in veins!

Rio: trying to find myself. Didn't get into a certain school. Had relatives there. For $300 a month I could get a little apartment in a decent area. Read a ton of books, late night bike rides, watched afternoon theater movies, roamed moodily. Good times.

Oh, also in discovered Rio: James Thurber!!!!! Your spiritual great-grandfather. One of the New Yorker OGs.

My favorite EH is definitely his non-fiction A Moveable Feast. A great story of art and writing and Paris in the 20s.

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Nancy Whiteman's avatar

Yes I love NYC....but laughed out loud at the beginning of your post. Substack took a minute to loud your first picture so the caption you in the snow was simply a white box.

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E. Sjule's avatar

lol, I wish I had been so clever to post a white box! Hopefully my dopey face wasn't too disappointing once loaded. XD

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appleton king's avatar

holy shit this made my day 🤗 (admittedly low bar lately due to far much mainlining of "topical" news and general wanton lethargy 🙃) love your curiosity and honesty and joy expressed in these wonderful photos (that tree is gloomy but poignant) and expressive words soak it all in....btw i grew up with that album and now it seems like every other song on it is begging to morph into "homeward bound" 🤣

ok i should stop here

i will stop here 😉

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E. Sjule's avatar

HAHA, did you happen to see Paul Simon perform Homeward Bound with Sabrina Carpenter for SNL 50 last week?

I actually listened to Homeward Bound A TON on this trip-- for obvious reasons.

I suspect if i listen to the album enough times I'll start to hear what you're describing. I know many an album/artist where a bunch of their songs sound a bit too similar to their other works.

So glad to hear this made your day (despite the bar being low)!

Hey. I take what I can get!

I am currently delirious in Denver airport for an entirely too long layover back home.

I am so close to home and still feel so painfully far.

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appleton king's avatar

i did see them and it was touching ...what was amazing was the snl concert ive seen clips of on youtube omg cher must be shooting up the "substance" big time 🥰

im not even gonna mention jane fonda at SAG awards whom i adore for her politics too

be safe

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E. Sjule's avatar

HAHA, I've seen very few Oscar noms, but I did see the Substance, lol.

I suspect Jane Fonda is also on the substance?

They are both so badass, love them.

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appleton king's avatar

i want to see "im still here" the brazilian film of the others only saw "anora" plenty of skin but wayyyyyy too much shouting 🤪

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Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell's avatar

So glad you are at Nells again!!

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E. Sjule's avatar

I'm starting to think I will always return!

Or, I've always been there... like Jack Torrance in The Shining...

Maybe the next time I'm there I'll put a framed b&w photo of me in an old tuxedo up on the wall.

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Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell's avatar

Ok now you gotta do it

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Jennie's avatar

A hyperlinked mention of ME????? The love is deep and it's real.

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E. Sjule's avatar

I HYPERLINKED THE FUCK OUTTA YOU!

And I'd do it again too!

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Jeannine's avatar

I'm glad you're having fun! NYC scares the bejezus out of me, so I think you're brave!

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E. Sjule's avatar

Thank you for the compliment, Jeannine!

I accept anyone calling me brave.

I rarely feel it, but when I do, I feel very good about myself. ^___^

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Jeannine's avatar

Oh, you're most definitely brave, fear not. 😎

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Matt's avatar

Large comment alert! Ok first I live in NYC, in Brooklyn and I loved your post. I saw Hello Mary a couple weeks ago and it's HILARIOUS. Betty Gilpen is amazing (have you seen Mrs Davis....it's incredible and on peacock so literally nobody has seen it but I PROMISE you it's worth it). The show is hilarious. I got tickets in rush (which is an amazing deal if you don't mind waiting an hour or two in the morning for cheap orchestra seats) and the wonderful Bryantheba reports on frequently (https://x.com/Bryanthe_BA/status/1894891155474588029? thanks=timNL7qSR3A52V9STFUdUA&s=19). I stood with a bunch of teachers in line from the West Coast that were seeing like 15 shows on their winter vacation. Other recommendations of things to do in NYC:

The NY Orchid show at NY Botanical Garden is Mexican themed and AMAZING this year (and much bigger than you'd ever think it should be)

The Natural History museum is a lot of fun, especially the new insect area.

The most underrated park is the Brooklyn bridge park and I highly recommend it.

Lastly I'm going to see Molly Yeh talk with Julia Thurston tonight at the Kane Street synagogue which is hosted by Books Are Magic, the best bookstore in Brooklyn and then going to grab drinks at Clover Club which is frequently named in the best bars in the world (amaaaaazing cocktails). I highly recommend both activities.

Have an AMAZING time in NYC!!!!! I hope you love it!

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E. Sjule's avatar

I have not seen Mrs. Davis, but goddamn I wish I had peacock right about now!

I sadly subscribe to about a bajillion subscription services already (Substacks, patreons, Adobe, streaming services, etc.) so I'm too scared to start another, but shit.

Maybe I can lure a password from a friend!

I'm so jelly you live in Brooklyn, Matt! I'm so envious of the density of culture NYC has.

I wish I wasn't already in the Denver airport right now because I would have LOVED to have taken you up on these itinerary ideas for NYC!

I'm sure I'll return, so I'll be adding these to an NYC spreadsheet I have.

"Books Are Magic" is lure enough on that bookstore. Bookstores are one of my greatest joys. I made sure to visit The Strand, but that was all I was able to muster on this trip because I was so gd busy.

But, shit, I'll have tons to do the next time I'm in town!

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