Just A Peck 0070 // Election, Glasses, Theater
Welcome to the latest issue of Just A Peck. I’m glad you’re here!
JOURNAL
This week, we voted. It was the second-highest turnout rate in a midterm year since 1914. (Only the 2018 midterms had a higher participation rate.) A groundswell of voters sick of corruption and war resulted in a Democratic landslide, crushing the efforts of candidates bankrolled with obscene mountains of billionaire cash, campaign messages of hateful rhetoric, extreme gerrymandering, and voter suppression. Both the House and Senate, along with multiple governorships and state offices, were flipped. It’s weird to feel a tiny glimmer of hope after so many years of darkness.
On Sunday, Jody and I went to see Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play at UW-Superior along with some of the cast from my 2023 production. The UWS production moved locations between acts, starting in the black box theater, moving to the scene shop for Act Two, and then ending in the Manion for Act Three.
I picked up a new pair of glasses on Tuesday. My vision is still pretty good. I use cheaters for reading, and I have a pair of computer glasses that I use for work, but other than that, this pair of glasses (for distance correction) is the first real prescription I’ve ever had. They aren’t required, but there’s a noticeable difference when — for example — watching theater.
On Friday, we drove down to Spring Green with our awesome friends, Jason and Louisa, to see the APT shoulder show, Witch. A killer cast: Colleen Madden, Nate Burger, Casey Hoekstra, Triney Sandoval, Samantha Newcomb, and Trevyn Wong.
We drove back on Saturday, stopping at the Guthrie to catch a matinee of Kunene and the King.
WHAT I WATCHED THIS WEEK
WHAT I READ THIS WEEK
Finished Plays:
- Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library, Bader
- Antlia Pneumatica, Washburn
In Progress:
- How Plays Work, Edgar
- Moby-Dick, Melville
Purchased:
- The Sentence, Erdrich
- Life and Art, Russo
MEMORIES
20 years ago — Alex’s LEGO League team took home both the Champion’s Award and 1st Place at Regionals!
QUICK LINKS
- Nineties cable TV, from the Internet Archive
- Isometric pixel-art maps of London, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Rio de Janeiro
- The future in old computer magazine ads
- Ink Spill: New Yorker cartoonists
- Mundane Halloween costumes
- Gulliver's Travels at 300
- 2026 Drone Photo Award winners
- A film made in Excel
- The Match Archive
WHAT I'M EXCITED ABOUT
Urinetown opens this week at Zeitgeist with a great cast and a killer creative team (including Kaylee as the stage manager). It’s going to be pee-tastic! Get those tickets!
Next week, I’m heading to New York to visit Spencer and catch a few shows. Hooray!
MY FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Everybody might prefer, in the abstract, a world of dinner parties, neighborhood friendships, and spontaneous gatherings. But on any given Wednesday at 7:45pm., it is easier to look at a screen than to host a party; easier to listen to a podcast while doing yoga than to plan a gathering. This is not so much an individual failure as a coordination failure. Modernity has shifted leisure from activities that require coordination with other people toward activities that can be consumed without the permission or participation of others. Compared to TikTok, a dinner party is a terrible leisure technology. It requires matching schedules, cleaning the house, buying food, accommodating children and allergies, tolerating awkwardness, and taking the risk that the evening is mediocre. By contrast, what does television ask of us? Nothing. TikTok? Even less. We keep creating opportunities for downtime that eliminate the need for other people to be present. Not all progress is progress.”
That’s it for this week. Stay safe, friends. Thanks for reading!