Journal: Apr 2026
Spring things, Feeling DTF, Billy and Courtney Sitting In a Tree, The Purchases of Peaches, When the Party's Over, It's Not That Big, Creative Reading, and More...
Greetings, Earthlings,
Spring is in the air and doing that assholish thing it loves to do, where it suddenly gives you two days of summer-ish weather, then, like Lucy pulling the football from Charlie Brown, laughs in your face and makes you put on a coat and brace yourself against the wind.
Still, the flowers are starting to bloom in Central Park. It is my opinion that three things must happen in NYC to make it officially spring, however: the cherry blossoms bloom in Central Park, the Hare Krishnas appear at the entrance to Central Park, and the big, hairy dude with the karaoke machine who sings standards shows up across the street from Central Park. Only one of these has happened, so I must be patient…
👀 Watch
As usual, I’m behind the times and just completed DTF St. Louis, and this show hit me in a very personal way despite never having set foot in St. Louis. For those who have seen it, you’ll understand that as a middle-aged male with a dadbod who is also a bisexual dad, this had some particular resonance. The show is weird and wonderful and funny and terribly sad. It’s unique and addictive once you get into it, and I highly recommend it (HBO in the USA, Crave in Canada).
Speaking of addiction and compulsive watching (and again being behind the times), I just discovered the Ameoba Records YouTube Channel, which features an irresistible segment called “What’s In My Bag,” featuring various musicians (and some non-musicans also for some reason?) shopping at the record store and then telling you what they bought and why. Music nerd heaven, obviously. Here’s one from delightful Canadian weirdo Peaches as a starter for the uninitiated.
Also, Billy Corgan has started a chat show in which he interviews various musicians, thus far mostly of the Gen-X variety.
The interviews are kind of all over the place — some are really interesting, and some are kind of annoying. When Billy announced that he had completed such an interview with Courtney Love, the Gen-X internet lost its damn mind, obviously.
For those not in the know, Courtney and Billy were once romantically involved (pre-Kurt), and Billy had a hand in several of Hole’s albums.
The interview is totally manic, with each of them sharing half-finished thoughts and dropping references left and right. Courtney is Courtney — often annoying, totally exhausting, and a textbook case of Borderline Personality Disorder (I’m not a doctor, but I don’t let that stop me from diagnosing people — how hard can it be, really?)
On seeing the interview posted, before relenting and watching it out of generational obligation, my one and only comment on the post was “Did they kiss?”, which Billy himself gave a like, which was kind of hilarious.
Anyhoo, here it is. You were warned.
🎧 Listen
I’m a lifelong music nerd. So I guess it makes sense that when Substack introduced “Notes,” my first inclination was to start sharing a song every day with a brief description (more to come on this). Here are a few of those:
📖 Read
I’m currently reading Questlove’s book about creativity, creatively titled Creative Quest (yes, that’s a little sarcasm). Title aside, I’m enjoying it. Much of what he suggests is well-worn advice creative people will have heard before, but he puts his own spin on it and shares some interesting and funny stories about famous musicians (mostly in the Rap genre), which are very enjoyable.
In terms of actual, practical advice for creative people, I would recommend music producer and beard enthusiast Rick Rubin’s book on the subject, “The Creative Act: A Way of Being,” as a better resource.
🕰 ICYMI
In case you missed it, here’s one of my recent posts:
Ssometimes a dog is not just a dog. Especially in NYC.
Thanks for reading.
Your pal,
Christopher