holiday forever

There’s a line in Little, Big about how every holiday season feels like a continuation of the last. I read the book many years ago and at this point, I can’t say whether it actually resonated with me, or it was such a vivid image that I started to experience holidays by these terms. I imagine it like slipping into a portal where the previous 51 weeks shake from memory and you return to the warmth and conflicts that you had stepped away from exactly a year ago.

At least, I think there is a line about this. I grabbed a copy from a bookstore shelf a few Christmases ago, looking for it so I could quote the exact words—remembering vaguely that it happens somewhere in the first few chapters—but I couldn’t find it. I’m going to have to reread the book at some point.

A book I think everyone should read is This Machine by Aaron Thorpe. And also buy because it is a really beautifully made book. He’s writing for and from the 22nd century—it’s been so long since I’ve read genre fiction that’s genuinely pointing future-wards, that’s genuinely surprising and smart. If you like JG Ballard and Philip K Dick— if you like good books, in general—you should read this and be on the lookout for more of his short stories. (Here’s a great one).

Something else I very much enjoyed recently was the Umar Rashid show at Blum. Just look at this—look how much fun he is having (while also being a genius!!)

I had some other notes and things to share, but at this point, all I want to do is sneak into the holiday portal and forget what came before (just for a little bit).

Have a wonderful new year.

And thanks for reading.