bye, social – one month+ later

Been a month since I left social media and I don't miss it at all. I take that back: I miss some of the digital people, certainly, and their work – but I don't miss the rest of it, that perpetual feeling of repeating myself (that was the biggest one, especially over the last year), of fragmenting myself, of all the other assorted fuckeries that came along in the 15 years I was “present” on any one of a variety of networks.

No, I'm happy here (and with the newsletter), with doing my own things, with exploring other options for life (especially once The Emptying is complete, which should be today), and with carving out my own little existence and identity here in this new whatever it is. And so I go, on and on.

DAS PHANTOM DER OPER images(!)

A reddit user found images (via the Internet Archive’s collection of German film journal Lichtbild-Bühne) from this 1916 grail of lost films – one from which no images (even promotional) were known to exist. As if I didn't want to see this film found enough…

My previous resurfacing of my initial write-up featuring early promotional texts and a description of the plot (note: add tag).

the emptying: endrun, day five

House empty, all in the outbuilding at the inlawn; pet-odor neutralizing powder + vacuuming round one million. Day off tomorrow, then final bits and key drop-off to the lawyer on Tuesday. Still very weird having the place empty and yes I did cram all the vacuums in Huey’ passenger seat because it was raining on the way home and those are good vacuum cleaners.

“You think you got the horses for that?”

RIP Tom Wilkinson, one of the greatest actors of all time. Easily one of his best scenes:

the emptying: endrun, day four

After more fun with a reciprocating saw, the house stands empty. Sitting in the emptiness was tougher than I thought: I miss both of my grandparents terribly; today was the first time I let myself feel it since he died.

THE ENCHANTERS (James Ellroy, 2023)

Haven't read the first Otash book, WIDESPREAD PANIC (heard I'm not missing much) but I far prefer THE ENCHANTERS to his current LA Quartet (or is it Quintet? the "also by" here says Quintet now): the characters (many fever dream versions of actual people) the early-60s milleux, the smaller, less epic scope. It's Ellroy as if he appeared in Black Mask magazine – or at least his interpretation of it. That being said, I can't tell you what his fictional postulation of Marilyn Monroe's death amounts to (now that I think of it, the narrative reminds me quite a bit of THE BLACK DAHLIA – still, along with AMERICAN TABLOID, my favorite Ellroy novel) but, like the plot itself, I'm not certain that it matters: these are fascinating characters in a depraved, fascinating world. Definitely recommended for those who, like me, were disappointed by both PERFIDIA and THIS STORM: while Ellroy may be missing a step there, here he proves there's still an angry, fuck-you-all spring to it. More please.