The Rant
This week, something unprecedented happened in the Aramburu household. We went to the Sundance Film Festival. I’ve spent my life being vaguely aware that one of the premier film festivals in the world was going on in my backyard, but I always catch wind of it a few days after the stars pack up and leave.
My reaction is always the same: “Next year. I’ll go next year.” And then I look at the ticket prices, shudder, and put it out of my mind for a full calendar year and one week. And the cycle continues.
But this year, we did it. We booked tickets to two screenings. We did not make it into one of them because they oversold the tickets and did NOT give us a refund (still mad about this.) But we did not let this deter us. On Saturday night, we drove up to Park City, missed a few exits on the way (then I left my phone at home and that was a saga), and eventually found ourselves (somewhat miraculously) sitting in the Egyptian Theater, watching the award-winning short films of the year (I have listed a few of my favorites below.)
It was a glorious evening. I get the hype. Main Street in Park City durning Sundance made me feel like a tourist in my own state, which is always lovely and disconcerting. It’s good to remember, every once in awhile, that I’m not the center of the universe. I’m not even the center of my state. Go figure.
But then, tragedy struck. Before the screening, we selected a very mid burger establishment for dinner. We paid $25 each for burgers that were both gross and cold. I will not name the establishment out of respect for small business owners everywhere, but c’mon guys. You had one job.
Taylor did not order a burger, which was his first mistake. He ordered a chicken sandwich. His second mistake was eating it.
The next 24 hours consisted of Taylor laying on the couch with a bout of food poisoning. I don’t remember a time in our marriage where this has happened to him before. This doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened, it just means that I don’t remember it. I was blessed with an uncharacteristic bout of patience (thanks in no small part to my recently-prescribed anti-anxiety medication) and was able to take care of him and our kiddo on my own that day. Go, me!
You know what they say - doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity (or stupidity?) Our opportunity to prove this maxim right came just three short days after Taylor’s chicken sandwich run-in. We went to Chick fil A on Wednesday night, mostly as a reason to get out of the house. I usually go for the Cobb Salad, but had a bout of inspiration (pregnancy hunger) and got the deluxe chicken sandwich.
You know what happens next.
That night, I tossed and turned for 4 hours, then gave in and went into the bathroom, where I promptly threw up while playing Wordle in an attempt to distract myself (still got it in 5.) It happened four more times, and then I quietly cried and cleaned it up before going back to bed. I did not re-emerge from said bed until around 24 hours later. On Thursday, I drank one bottle of Sprite, ate one piece of toast and three bites of oatmeal. I watched a LOT of TikTok. Taylor had a very characteristic bout of patience and took great care of me (and our kiddo). Go, him!
The chicken sandwiches are out to get us. Stay safe out there, folks.
What I’ve Read/Listened To/Watched This Week That I Liked
This book by Eleanor Catton: “Birnam Wood” - You know how sometimes you read something and think “No matter how hard I try, I will never be as smart as this person”? Writing an in-depth psychological thriller about a guerilla agricultural activist vs a tech millionaire turned illegal mine boss is the epitome of smart, in my mind. I almost feel too dumb to read it, but not quite.
These books by J.K. Rowling: “Harry Potter” 1-3 - I’ve read these books so many times it’s hard to keep count. Sometimes you need comfort foods, and other times you need comfort books. I love diving into the Wizarding World when my own world doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, especially when Jim Dale is narrating.
This miniseries on Netflix: “American Nightmare” - WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE PUT TAPE ON HER EYES AND THEN ALSO SWIM GOGGLES?! What do you mean (me, softly sobbing into the couch pillow.) The idea that the FBI watched a Ben Affleck movie based on a Gillian Flynn novel and then superimposed it into real life makes you really question things, you know?
This TikTok about Jason and Travis Kelce: "Bond of Brothers” - I’ll admit it, I’ve rolled my eyes a few times at the Taylor + Travis romance (Alivia, I’m so sorry, ilysm.) But if I were Taylor Swift and I met Travis Kelce and he cried about his big brother while wearing a Balmain Paris sweatshirt? I would also change lyrics for him and kiss him on the field after his pre-Superbowl win.
These BookToks by Kierra Lewis: “Goblet of fire update” - Kierra is experiencing something as an adult that I would consider giving my left hand for: reading and watching the Harry Potter series for the first time in her life. Her updates are SO endearing. “SCABBERS!? THE FUCKING RAT?!” makes me giggle every time. Can you imagine experiencing the twists and turns of that series for the first time in the year of our Lord 2024? I salute her and her tears.
These Sundance short films: “Bug Diner”, “Say Hi After You Die”, & “Bob’s Funeral” - A waitress ant and a mole with a hot ass, a dead friend turning into a port-a-potty (excuse me, portal potty) and an elegiac tribute to your dying dad and his large penis. All this and more awaits you in Sundance, the above-mentioned premier film-festival in the world.
What I’ve Read/Listened To/Watched This Week That I Did Not Like
This NBA game: The Utah Jazz vs the Philadelphia 76ers - First of all, what is Shaq’s deal? Why does he hate our city so much? Why does he wear stupid little sunglasses on the TNT broadcast and proceed to shit on our beloved institutions? Secondly, Jordan Clarkson is the most inconsistent, lovable, frustrating player. I love you, man, but if nobody has compared you to Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez yet, allow me to be the first. Hit your free-throws! Especially down the stretch!
This extended-cut “Office” episode: “Gay Witch Hunt” - I’ve seen this episode a million times. I turned it on during my chicken-sandwich induced sickness as a way to pass the time. Turns out, do not love. Some jokes really do expire with time and experience.
This tweet from the governor of Utah: “Can’t call me a racist because I’m tweeting about Black History Month” (my own title) - Governor Cox, you showed us your true colors during this legislative session. You’re not fooling anybody. You can’t talk out both sides of your mouth and expect anybody to buy it, plus, laws trump tweets. We all see you, man. I, for one, am not impressed.
The Big Recommendation
The thing I’ve been thinking about this week, regardless if it is something I consumed recently or not.
This book by Tana French: “The Searcher” - I picked this book up on a whim at a shop in Vermont. I didn’t expect it to be one of my favorite books of 2023, but life is full of surprises. A hardened Chicago cop moves to a small Irish village after a devastating divorce, hoping for some peace and quiet. It doesn’t quite go as planned. The passage I think about the most mirrors another of my favorite reads of 2023, “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver. I’ll write more about that book later, but both talk about the devastation felt by young men who can see, touch and yearn for a different life that will never be their own:
“The way the world’s after changing, it’s not made right for them, anymore. When I was a young lad, we knew what we could want and how to get it, and we knew we’d have something to show for it at the end of the day. A crop, or a flock, or a house, or a family. There’s great strength in that. Now there’s too many things you’re told to want, there’s no way to get them all, and once you’re done trying, what have you got to show for it at the end? You’ve made a buncha phone calls selling electricity plans, maybe, or had a buncha meetings about nothing; you’ve got your hole offa some bitta fluff you met on the internet, got yourself some likes on the aul’ YouTube. Nothing you can put your hands on. The women do be grand anyway; they’re adaptable. But the young men don’t know what to be doing with themselves at all. …[They’re] hanging themselves, or they’re getting drunk and driving into ditches, or they’re overdosing on the aul’ heroin, or they’re packing their bags. I don’t want to see this place a wasteland, every farm looking the way yours did before you came along: falling to wrack and ruin, waiting for some Yank to take a fancy to it and make it into a hobby.”
When does saying somebody can have everything turn into a curse? When is it ok to say that the small life is enough, and maybe not as small as we think it is?
Love you. Drink some coffee for me, or read a book. Or both - they go really great together.
Love, Sam
The amount of things you read in a week always blows my mind. Also your writing. Also the fact that you and Tay BOTH got food poisoning from chicken sandwiches. Rip.
i’m so glad you get the taylor+travis hype now