We're All Doing Our Best

One of my New Year’s resolutions involved not constantly consuming news, but instead deliberate and thoughtful consumption of media to improve my quality of life and not give in to the doom cycle.

Well….

None of my to-do list items include scrolling the feed but I am nonetheless finding it difficult to ignore Events.
— Katie Mack (@astrokatie.com) 2026-01-08T20:51:22.948Z

But every day is an opportunity to be better. So while I haven't quite mastered my perfect balance of engaging with art and staying informed, I've still read, watched, and listened to some things so far this year. Also, I was wrong to say that these will be shorter after the first post. These will just be the length they are.

What I Read

Not the most auspicious start to the year, but I gave up on my very first book. It took a while for me to give it up; I’m a completionist by nature. Plus I sometimes find value in reading something bad, so I like to stick with something even if I'm struggling.

But we only have so much time on this earth, so I’m going to try giving up on books that are just not doing it for me. In this instance, it was Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon.

The book is a crime thriller that takes place in late 60s LA. Intrigued? I know I was, but the writing was so jarring and hard to get through for me. I tried reading some every day for a week straight before I threw in the towel.

This was more of a “not for me” rather than an objectively bad book, so I will just supply my pettiest, most specific complaint. One of my pet peeves is period pieces that reference the future in a super on-the-nose way, perfectly predicting what is to come. Imagine a man in a historical drama teaching his daughters, and this kind of dialogue happens:

Boorish Misogynist: Why would you bother teaching women anything?

Visionary Good Guy: I believe women to be just as capable as men. In fact, I imagine a world where men and women have equal access to education.

Boorish Misogynist: Preposterous! Things shall always be as they are, you fool!

Anyway, this is a direct quote from Inherent Vice where a real estate agent is talking to a detective (and yes, every character talks like this):

“Someday,” she prophesied, “there will be computers for this, all you’ll have to do’s type in what you’re looking for, or even better just talk it in--like HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey?--and it’ll be right back at you with more information than you’d ever want to know, any lot in the L.A. Basin, all the way back to the Spanish land grants, water rights, encumbrances, mortgage histories, whatever you want, trust me, it’s coming.”

If the book was better, I could maybe overlook this, but this will now be the only thing to stick in my memory.

I did finish another book though, and I enjoyed it! Jon Krakauer is most famous for his book Into the Wild, which I totally get the hype around. I also enjoyed Under the Banner of Heaven, and recommend starting with those two. This week, I finished one of his first, Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster.

This is a harrowing story of the insane physical and psychological toll that any climb of Everest entails, the over commercialization of trekking up Everest, and the book wrestles with the absurdity of the whole endeavor. He accomplishes all of that before getting to the horrifying disaster that lost lives, one that has its own Wikipedia entry - The 1996 Mount Everest disaster.

For someone who has an insanely low bar for discomfort, there is still something so compelling about what a human body can withstand. Maybe, just maybe, I can go an entire day without complaining about my acute lower back pain.

What Have I Been Listening To

For music, I will be randomly selecting from my list of suggested albums, unless there is a thematically compelling reason to pick something specific. This is important because otherwise I won’t ever willingly choose to listen to the Eagles (looking at you, Samantha!).

So this week, Boyz II Men II came up. I know the one song off the album (even though there are two number one hits and three other songs were on the Billboard Hot 100), but I love some early 90s R&B and beautiful harmonies, what a great start!

This was recommended by my cousin Patrick. Imagine my surprise when I learned that he does not, in fact, like the album! From Patrick:

So the thing to understand about my musical history is that it's deeply idiosyncratic. Maybe everyone's is? But anyway, the songs I grew up singing and listening to around the house were a) 60s folk songs that my dad played on the guitar, b) songs from musicals, Disney and otherwise, and c) Catholic church songs. So most of the really influential music movements of the 80s and early 90s simply missed me: I had no meaningful experience of Nirvana or Pearl Jam and less than no knowledge of 90s rap.

Boyz II Men II It was one of like three albums for which I possessed an actual tape—one of the others, I remember, was TLC's Crazy/Sexy/Cool. I knew vaguely that cool people listened to music, and pressed my parents to let me get a boom box, but I of course had no idea what to listen to once I had one: I can't remember exactly why I bought this one; probably it was just displayed at some store? I think my awareness that Boyz II Men existed is basically a product of their collaboration with Mariah Carey on One Sweet Day. I remember being vaguely disappointed by it at the time; I've basically always loved a capella music and I think I had the sense (though I lacked the self-awareness to know this at the time) that this was a capella music it was acceptable to like. But it turned out that the things that made it acceptable also made it unappealing to me (which to be, was not something I admitted to anyone: I would never admit that I'd made a mistake). And listening to it now, some of the songs just sound like noise: I still like Water Runs Dry, but the upbeat songs are more jarring than anything.

Having now listened to the album several times, I can safely say: Patrick, I disagree!

This album is iconic. The Men deliver all the way through, and while some of the songs are somewhat samey, it makes for a good time. A few highlights for me:

Vibin’ - Is there a word for a song like ononmatopoeia? This song isn’t just about Vibin’, but the song is the essence of Vibin’.

U Know - My prime example of samey/somewhat forgettable, but great hook that gets stuck in my head.

All Around the World - Probably the laziest song on the album, basically “We are Boyz II Men, we are on tour, it’s a good time, let me list a bunch of places (Milwaukee shoutout!)”

Khalil (Interlude) - Really beautiful short song that was a tribute to their road manager who passed away. Love every song where the singing talents are on display.

50 Candles - One candle is romantic, but do you know what would be even more romantic?

Yesterday - The Beatles write good songs, the Men are good singers. Great combo.

Finally, I must talk about the only song I knew going in - I’ll Make Love to You. Honestly, I thought of it more as a joke song. The overt yet kind of wholesome sexual nature made it a punchline in other TV and movies, similar to a Let’s Get It On or Sexual Healing.

However, listening to it and judging it on its merits, I love this song. Is it a little silly? Yes. The lyric “I've made plans to be within you” makes me giggle.

But I love the cheesy R&B elements with the raw power of the Men’s vocals. I love the solos, the slow build, the drama of it all, all with a very healthy through-line of consent. I understand its dominance on the charts and I respect it.

Anyway, here’s a video of the Men singing Water Runs Dry Acappella:

What I’m Watching

So far, I have not had a two hour block of child free time to watch a film, so it’s been a family watch for all of them. Here’s what I started the year with, alongside my daughter Elaine’s review:

The Mitchells vs. the Machines: This is an underrated movie that is more relevant today than ever (enslavement by AI defeated by family togetherness). I love the humor, the animation style, and I did tear up at the appropriate emotional beats.

One thing I’d be curious about is a Gen Zer’s opinion. Personally, I thought the representation of online culture felt really millennial to me, a very lolcat kind of vibe.

Elaine’s Review: I liked it. I really like the song at the end.

ET: The Extra Terrestrial: If you look up “what is the best family film of all time,” this inevitably is on the top of the list. It’s pretty good, what can I say? Some random observations:

Fun looking into 80s culture with my daughter, explaining Speak & Spells and really hands off parenting.
Excellent puppetry. I’m truly impressed by the mechanics to make ET look alive.
The kid actors really nail it.
Evading the might of the federal government with sweet dirt bike moves was a fun sequence.
The mom just trying to put away groceries and is so distracted she doesn’t see the alien in her kitchen is very relatable to me.

Elaine’s review: The alien was cute and not cute at the same time.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More: I have never heard of this, but it’s a Netflix production, directed by Wes Anderson, of four Roald Dahl stories. If you’re not a fan of Wes Anderson’s whole thing, this movie is not for you as it takes it into overdrive. I mean, look at these stills:

The stylizing is Andersonian to the max, with the whole thing staged like a play. The framing device is Ralph Fiennes as Dahl narrating (and playing other characters), and several other Oscar winners are here (Ben Kingsley, nice to see you). It’s charming, funny, brilliantly performed, and really nails the Roald Dahl unsettling sensibility well.

Elaine’s review: It freaked me out. I don’t really have anything else to say.

I could learn from her brevity. See you next week!