30 Things I Love Right Now: Dog-Days

(1) Teaching (2) Writing (3) Editing (4) Submitting my work for publication (again [and again (and again)…]) (5) Freddie Mercury (6) How S— loves Freddie Mercury too; in fact… (7) How S— and his discovery/love of Freddie Mercury has caused me to love Freddie Mercury; in other words… (8) How listening to “Bicycle Race” or “Somebody to Love” on repeat for literally an hour or more leads one to fully appreciate the musical (and lyrical) genius that is Freddie Mercury (and, of course, the extraordinary rock-n-roll band he so ably and energetically fronted) (9) Which is to say: the process of rediscovery, or; in other words… (10) Discovering how I have ignored the greatness of at least two of the greatest and most popular rock-n-roll bands of all time – namely Queen and The Rolling Stones – just because I thought I knew who they were via a kind of inchoate cultural osmosis. Like, of course, yeah, who doesn’t like “We Will Rock You” or “Paint It Black”? However: it turns out these two particular bands were (are?), for all intents and purposes, incapable of making a bad song. This is, in no small part, a reflection of their profoundly charismatic lead singers and their equally profound and charismatic lead guitarists. But it also has to do with singular expressions of ethos and aesthetic and an ample touch of many kinds of genius. (11) All the Comfort Sin Can Provide by Grant Faulkner (12) Black Under by Ashanti Anderson (13) Rotura by Jose Angel Araguz (14) Fat; namely… (15) Pepitas (16) Roasted almonds (17) Seared salmon (18) Butter (19) Olive oil (20) Cheese (21) Avocados (22) Getting the seeds in the ground (radishes, turnips) (23) Cirrus clouds (24) Hybridity (25) Confidence; which is to say… (26) Seratonin (27) Composting (28) A reason (and the means) to return to Cascadia in the not-too-distant future (29) My new jeans and chinos (30) My new t-shirts.