THINGS THEY DON’T TELL YOU WHEN YOU MOVE TO A NEW COUNTRY
There are countless things you can’t even begin to prepare for when moving to a new country. Things you just have to surprisingly stumble on to, and then, adjust to accordingly.
For me, one such thing in Prague has been the cobblestone, everywhere. Cobblestone of all shapes and sizes stretching endlessly as far as the eye can see.
This may not seem like a big deal, or even something to consider, but keep in mind, as a recent expat, I’ve previously spent 42 years in America, stuck in the suburbs, and by comparison to European cities, modern American cities, surrounded by flat asphalt and smooth concrete. When my precious, pampered feet actually touched ground, usually while walking between my air-conditioned car and some massively packed grocery store chain or going to and from the soul-crushing dregs of an American day job, it was on uninterrupted, flat surfaces.
I also, almost exclusively, wear Converse Chuck Taylor All Star shoes, a sucker for their timeless, minimal, classic look and style so upon arriving in Prague with my thinly constructed rubber and canvas covered feet literally hitting the ground I have felt every single cobbled stone I’ve stepped on. Now being car-less and having a demanding little dog means I’m out on the streets quite often and the constant cobbled contact has left a pain in my right foot.
Now, I COULD do something about it, buy some more cushioned brand of sneaker or shoe, but I don’t know if you’ve noticed that 98% of all shoes in that realm are ugly as hell and I’d rather suffer in pain than wear any bulbous, brightly colored New Balance, Sketcher, or Nike styled shoe. Form over fucking function.
However, winter is upon us and with it may come a solution: my black Doc Martin fashion boots. Try and get me through a solid two inches of rubber soles, cobblestone!
ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE’S TOP 500 ALBUMS
OF ALL TIME
Last week I made mention of beginning my journey through Rolling Stone Magazine’s top 500 albums off all time list. The journey continues:
496: Shakira - “Dónde Están los Ladrones?” (1998)
I guess I was surprised to hear how rock-forward this album is, almost completely absent of the fiery, dance styles I was more familiar with from her, and damn if this isn’t a crazy, catchy album. So far it’s the album I’ve enjoyed the most from the list but whenever I hear Shakira I can’t help but think of her collaboration with Glen Danzig.*
*Collaboration may be a spoof.
495: Boyz II Men - “II” (1994)
If you were alive in the ‘90s I don’t know how you would have escaped Boyz II Men. I haven’t really considered them since but boy howdy, so many of these songs came rushing back to me.
I have a distinct memory of riding the middle school bus, sitting behind two girls who were reading the lyrics from the CD booklet to this album like they were getting away with something, equally scandalized and giddy. Typical angsty teenage me thought they were ridiculous but after listening to this album in 2023 and realizing just how dripping with horniness this album is, perhaps those girls were right.
Somehow, I thought this was the album with “End of the Road,” which is a banger. Alas, it is not, but there is a beautiful acapella version of “Yesterday.”
494: The Ronettes - “Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes” (1964)
I knew something like this was coming, and what I mean by that is “oldies” music that my parents would play on the car radio tuned to the “oldies” station while driving me around in the ‘80s and ‘90s when “oldies” was a tangible, quantifiable element and not this loose construct that when the same rubric for oldies is applied to music from said ‘80s and ‘90s, sends Gen X-ers and Millennials into hysterics.
That being said, it’s hard to deny the staying power of these songs. There are a handful on this album that are a part of the zeitgeist and you know them by heart whether or not you know it’s a Ronettes song.
THINGS I’M WORKING ON
Part of the reason I took on the Rolling Stone list was to get an influx of new creative energy in my life as I’ve been feeling the dreaded artist fatigue and existential crisis again about my work and what it means so some new input from different sources was called for.
I’ve begun a sketchbook practice again, inspired by Adam Ming’s Sketchbook Streak idea, that being, commit to at least 10 minutes a day in your sketchbook to just work on that muscle, without the pressure of making something finished, or even good. So far I’ve been on 5 day streak. I’ll share them when I get a better streak going.
I’ve been sitting on a bunch of new stories and I finally started to flesh out my story of how I first discovered Punk Rock. It’s entirely silly but personally deeply impactful.
THINGS I’M LISTENING TO
High Spirits - “Safe on the Other Side”
LYRICS OF THE WEEK
She had a weakness for writers
And I, I was never that good at the words anyways
Lucero - “Nights Like These”