You Just Survive in Part

7 Things that Got Me Thinking (and Feeling) this Week

Toni Morrison at the Connecticut Forum, in conversation with Frank McCourt and moderator Juan Williams (2001)

Here are 7 things that got me thinking (and feeling) this week…

1. Writer Toni Morrison was once asked: “How do you survive in a world where we’re all victims of something?” Toni’s response: “Sometimes you don’t survive whole. You just survive in part. But the grandeur of life, is that attempt. It’s not about the solution. It’s about being fearless as one can and behaving as beautifully as one can under impossible circumstances.”
   
   

2. I’ve been finding myself falling asleep to commercials from the 1980s’ and 90’s via YouTube. While trying to figure out why this brand of nostalgia was putting me at rest, I came across this wonderful video explainer from “8 Byte Philosophy.” Their answer: “Nostalgia invokes a yearning for the past…. When the world is tumultuous, the past provides us with the certainty of something that will never change.” Makes so much sense now!!!! Also, though nostalgia often undergirds nationalist bombast, in this essay, Elizabeth Svobada claims that nostalgia for the past can help propel us into the future.
   
   

3. I remember reading Percival Everett’s “Erasure” when it first appeared. It was my first time reading Black satire, and boy did I enjoy it. So I’m beyond excited to see that the book has a film adaptation, “American Fiction,” starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, and Sterling K. Brown. It hits theaters in December. Fun Fact: Percival was a philosophy major at USC; drawn to philosophy of language. He has admitted in interviews that he often returns back to Wittgenstein’s “Philosophical Investigations.”
   
   

4. I’ve been playing vocalist and pianist Blossom Dearie’s self-titled album a lot recently. A friend put me onto her music last year, and it was probably one of my best discoveries of 2022. Her voice is magnificent!!! Songs on the album were recorded between 1955-56. My favorite is “More Than You Know”and “Tout Doucement.” Here’s Blossom in a 1956 video appearance in Paris. I’m sure it will hook you.
   
   

5. If you missed me on book tour, you can still view my conversations about forgiveness. My conversation with author Christine Platt at Politics and Prose and author Dante Stewart at Family Action Network are now available.
   
   

6. I’m sad that one of my favorite shows, Billions, is over. The season finale was last week. The SBF/FTX trial has also wrapped up. In other words, I need more financial crime stories in my life. I welcome any and all recommendations in the comments section. In the meantime, I’ll be watching Coffeezilla discover scams on his YouTube channel. I’ll also be reading and thinking more about the psychology of scammers. While narcissism and other antisocial tendencies provides a partial answer, psychologists say it’s complicated.
   
   

7. There’s a thing called Font Psychology. It’s the study of how different typefaces impact human emotions and perception. I noticed that Zoom platform uses comic sans in its logo. Comic sans!!! No wonder zoom brings out another side of us. Speaking of comic sans, here’s a wonderful animated video of what happens when comic sans goes to battle with Times News Roman, sponsored by the wonderful improv folks at Game Changer. Enjoy the laughter!!!!!

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