cool is a construct.

a quick note about a podcast I was on + lists, links, recs! <3

a miracle, around the corner from my apartment.

Dear ones, 

A short note this week. I am still swimming in the early waters of fresh grief, still trying to practice community care for the ones who are deeper in it still. Still trying to work, and manage (extraordinarily expensive) chronic health issues, and cope with the horrors of the world. (Btw, here’s a good place to support North Carolina hurricane relief efforts & get some beautiful prints in the process.)

A fun thing—after a number of weeks of mostly pure heartache and strain—was this podcast I was featured on. It’s a public radio show called Inner States, and they talked to me about my early days in Midwest punk scenes. This part of my life plays a big part of my memoir, which means it was a big part of my life. Punk shaped me more than many things, because punk is what helped me make sense of my class upbringing, and gave me language for my burgeoning politics around questions of war and imperialism. Most importantly, it gave me community. It was community built around a shared love of art, and for most of us, thankfully, around a shared affinity for radical politics. 

The host of the podcast introduces me at length as someone who he finds incredibly “cool.” I feel a little silly about this, but at the same time, I believe the stuff I’m obsessed with — bands, liberatory thought, movies — are all fuckin’ cool, so yeah…It makes sense. I fell in love with punk/emo/hardcore music before I knew it was cool, then I was insecure in the scene, then, eventually, I was extremely comfortable in the scene. So I guess at that point, when I stopped thinking about it—when I simply loved the music I loved, and obsessed over the books I obsessed over, and went to the protests and basement shows and wore the clothes that felt right—I guess, sure, I became cool. But as I wrote about recently, I really mostly feel like a fan of cool shit. Does having cool taste make you cool? I guess when you stop caring about the answer to that question, you have your answer. 

a little embarrassing, but cute.

But sometimes I definitely don’t have cool taste! (You’ll see that below.) 

Long story short: cool is a construct and I think if I earn the title at all it’s because I was lucky to find a semblance of community celebrating weird art that hit just right.

Onward to the links. A mix of cool & uncool, but all, to me, worthwhile. <3

More soon! xo.

love & solidarity,

raechel 

Hello! Did you just hit the paywall & have sometimes considered becoming a paid subscriber? Maybe today is the day! Your support means so much and goes a long way to make my writing sustainable. Thanks for being here either way. <3