Graduation, Sport Of The Day, Twitter, and More
Friday, May 26, 2023
Happy Friday everyone!
Here are 10 things I found interesting from the last week or so.
Two years ago, I remember having a conversation with my Dad about going to NYU’s graduate school for journalism. I knew I loved to read, write, and speak with people, but I didn't know the first thing about journalism—I barely read the news back then. Initially, I said no. I was filled with fear, doubt, and guilt. Frankly, I didn't think I was worth it. A few months passed, however, and then I spoke with my sister. She was the one who really put things into perspective for me, saying (paraphrasing), "If you're on the fence, just go for it. I don't wanna see you down and out years from now because you passed up on an opportunity like this." It was the type of Good Will Hunting pep talk I needed then. Fast forward to last week and I'm sitting amongst my fellow classmates donning our purple gowns in Yankee Stadium, celebrating the end of our Master's programs. Sometimes all you need is a little push at the right time. Congrats again to NYU’s AJO Class of 2023!
Probably the best Yankee seats I’m ever going to get, lol. Last week was the second time being in NYC, and let me tell you: I felt an actual gravitational pull from the city this time around (Is there a name for this feeling?). Outside of graduation festivities at Cooper Square, Yankee Stadium, and Beacon Theater, I was lucky enough to check out other parts of the city too. My favorite part? Visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty exhibition was on display. Decades of his work filled the halls, video clips of live drawings filled the walls, and at the end, there in the small room filled with smartphones, I found an interesting quote by the German fashion designer worth sharing, "Everything inspires me, there is no limit. I vampirise everything."
I also picked up copies of Paradise Now by William Middleton and Kaiser Karl: The Life of Karl Lagerfeld by Raphaelle Bacque. Excited to dive into these!
Another highlight of NYC was attending my first Broadway musical: SIX on Broadway. Written by Tony Award-winning duo Toby Marlow and Lucy Ross, the show is based on the six wives of Henry VII starring Hailee Kaleem Wright (CATHERINE OF ARAGON), Leandra Ellis-Gaston (ANNE BOLEYN), Bella Coppola (JANE SEYMOUR), Nasia Thomas (ANNA OF CLEVES), Zoe Jensen (KATHERINE HOWARD), and Taylor Iman Jones (CATHERINE PARR). According to Broadway News, the show recouped its 5 million dollar investment and has amassed over 600 performances and counting. Whether you're a seasoned Broadway enthusiast or a newcomer like myself, it's worth checking out!
After NYC, I returned to San Francisco and visited the Legion of Honor Museum with my dad. We checked out Paperworks: 15 Years of Acquisitions exhibit and went to the gift shop. I couldn't help myself and picked up another book on this trip, Lost Masterpieces: Stolen, Damaged, Mislaid, Destroyed - The World's Most Elusive Works of Art by Michael Collins.
Pops observing Monet Another book I came across this week that I flipped through briefly was Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. He talks about the benefits of staying open and how closing yourself off does not protect you, it actually imprisons you. He calls this "the sport of the day”:
“Do not let anything that happens in life be important enough that you are willing to close your heart over it. When your heart starts to close just say, “No. I’m not going to close. I’m going to relax. I’m going to let this situation take place and be there with it.” Honor and respect the situation, and deal with it. By all means deal with it. Do the best you can. But deal with it with openness. Deal with it with excitement and enthusiasm. No matter what it is, just let it be the sport of the day. In time, you will forget how to close. No matter what anyone does, no matter what situation takes place, you won’t even feel the tendency to close. You will just embrace life with all your heart and soul.”
Outside of books, there were plenty of movies while flying from Vietnam to Tokyo to San Francisco to New York and back to San Francisco. She Said. Whiplash. Parasite. 2001: A Space Odyssey. Subtle Art of Not Giving A #@%!. But back on land, I watched AIR starring Ben Affleck as Phil Knight, Matt Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, and Viola Davis as Michael Jordan’s mother, Deloris. Two quick takeaways:
A great quote: "Poetry makes the world bearable, but engineering got us to the moon."
The image of Michael Jordan’s agent David Falk played by Chriss Messina (Ringer’s Foul-Mouth MVP) sitting at a restaurant eating dinner alone after he sold his company for $100 million. Let that sink in.
Ham and Cheese Deli in the Richmond District (on the corner of California and 17th). Good food, good service, and free arcade games while you wait. When I went to pick my food from the counter one of the staff members goes, “Oh, #16? You’re lucky! That’s Joe Montana’s number.” Still lots of love for Joe out in SF.
This week has been marked by two of my favorite activities: watching playoff basketball at prime time beginning to end followed by long walks at sunset along Land’s End Trail. Basketball and walks—can’t get enough of them.
Best walk ever. The idea of escapism has been on my mind consistently since the end of 2020 / beginning of 2021. Whenever I see it pop up, I try to make note of it. Here’s The School of Life on How To Be Free and Jame’s Baldwin escape to Paris.
“It was exile he was after - that very particular state in which one is free not to belong anywhere in particular, to escape all tribes in order to be unobserved, anonymous and detached.”
BIG SHOUTOUT to my professors Julia Dahl and Clover Hope who encouraged me to start a Substack and to different creators I follow such as Austin Kleon, Billy Oppenheimer, Vizi Andrei, Zack Progrob and others for showing me a format that I can take from and make my own. Thank you.
One extra because this is the first newsletter. I finally made a Twitter @grrttmcln!
Enjoy the weekend and see you next Friday.
—Garrett