“Babe, were you ever the kid they made say fuck? I was the kid they made say fuck.”

“Do you see those? Do you see those?” she asked as my partner, and a mother, a librarian and a poet. But she also asked as her 6-yo self, with wonderment for the trees and wanting you to see it too.

Listening to Harlem River Blues and reading @jonbern.bsky.social excellent bio of the man and, man, i miss JT Earle

Read @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social on the latest bit of horseshit racism within the game I love and reasons why MLB will/won’t do anything

Holly’s been reading me Catcher in the Rye and it’s my first time (I know) and last night we got to Phoebe’s description of A Christmas Pageant for Americans and I’m not sure I’ve ever laughed harder at a book

(Because she’s Holden and Phoebe Caulfield all at once)

Everyone In Ben Lerner's Transcription Is Stressing Me Out: A Memoir

really and truly feel like a nebraskan (starting to follow nebraska news sources on social media)

in this one, he's the pastor's son. always cast with the grain, according to type. but she likes him in this role. likes watching his character change, frame by frame, as he transverses the space between following the rules and finding the burning heart of living. spoiler alert: it's vast.

they spent their Sundays a little higher than usual, him recreating pasta dishes in the kitchen and her puzzling over … something. Anything. A Wysocki jigsaw image. A fantastic digital pattern. The meaning of a sentence.

The Wallflowers’ 1996 song “Three Marlenas” as a religious text

“I believe that any experience, whatever its nature, has the inalienable right to be chronicled. There is no such thing as a lesser truth.” (Annie Ernaux, Happening)

“If Steve Harvey is in the first minute of a documentary, you know it’s gonna be quality” is a real thing I just said to my partner

“Do you want to die together?” “Like Bonnie and Thelma and Louise and Clyde?”

the love of my life just pointed out the car window to a lake and then said “made ya look” like a prank, see

When you need her to guess Walker, Texas Ranger but she guesses Yosemite Sam

this whole thread, but also this: "I'm interested in music journalism that deepens what we can hear."

me to the two 12-yos: "Do you guys know who the Spice Girls are?" them: "no. wait ... Ice Spice?!"

Death of media is a bummer because instead of reviews and interesting discussions we just have the same twelve books in different order in listicles about what's popular. I miss learning about what's good!

poet friend just asked how i was doing. i texted back (among other things): "often anxious, but regularly loved well"

this has been the basis of my financial philosophy for some time now

no one needs the opinion of another 45-yo white dude, but i just came across that music criticism survey and wanted to shout out just a few (a few!) of my favorite *living* writers who have taught me about the soul of the craft (next post):

my favorite albums of june 2026, alphabetical by artist: deer tick, coin-o-matic feeble little horse, bitknot futurebirds, far out country i olivia rodrigo, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love vince staples, cry baby

rarely do i feel more conceited than when i go to type a word that starts with "a" and immediately type two of them.

etel adnan is one of the all-timers and if I'm manning this garage sale all day, i'm reading her all day

But one test of his kickoff event was whether a citizen who is not a committed Trump admirer would feel welcome. His celebration of self, his touting of controversial policies ... suggest the answer is no. www.cnn.com/2026/06/25/p...

"Nothing's fair and nobody knows anything. That's just the way it is." (Percival Everett, Suder)

i'm not really a "gorillaz guy" but i do like damon albarn and i do like del the funky homosapien so, yeah, "clint eastwood" still slaps

my fave storyteller strikes muthafuckin' again

23/6/26 - nocturn

bad to the bone played us home while she drove us back from movie night with the kids and we both were every one of our ages at once, each enchanted by the other

I am the poet laureate of this drive

I don’t know shit really about being a dad except that tenderness matters and a curious spirit will carry your relationships a long way

"well, you look like dime-store Colin Farrell," he said to himself in the mirror, like a compliment

oh this is a good one to read when you’re hi

sometimes it was just living in the same house as her

Amy Winehouse out here doing more for Roger Moore than Roger Moore

I’m about 60 pages into Paige Lewis’ novel and I think this is gonna be a polarizing fucking book but i also think im absolutely here for its messy earnestness

I’m curating Hollys playlist from another room and I just found a way to go Jimmy Eat World —> Mandy Moore —> Otis Redding like a goddamn wizard

I want to live like a Waxahatchee song

remember that time I watched you float on your back and I thought maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to watch you die (some distant day) if it looked like that, if it looked like drifting into what’s better

my schedule is gonna change soon but, for today, I’m grateful not to work on Fridays so I can be at a small-town Nebraska pool with my love and two of our kids

my 10 favorite albums of the year (so far): aarikdanielsen.com/blog/my-favo...

not gonna forget it

new olivia rodrigo record sla-a-a-a-a-ps

“There’s a lot of lepers in vacation Bible school” out of context (sorta) @williamfleitch.bsky.social on the latest @griersonleitch.bsky.social pod

about to finish reading a novel I really, really wanted to enjoy—but couldn't get there (loved the author's debut). and it made me think: a lot of people assume anyone who's done the work of a critic or arts journalist is looking to slag on whatever comes over the transom. i can't speak for others

I Bought Moonshine At Hy-Vee Today and the Cashier Commented: A Memoir

like mj lenderman, i have a funny face unlike mj lenderman, it doesn't make me money

my 10 favorite albums of the year (so far), w/love for the likes of Big Long Sun, Gun Outfit, Mildred, Mitski, Kevin Morby, Vince Staples and then some and then some aarikdanielsen.com/blog/my-favo...