All New And Same As Ever
I started a new job this month. It's with the company I was with before the pandemic and the resulting layoffs. Feels good to be back, kind of like I never left, but the scope of my new work is going to be vastly different than it was. All exciting stuff, but it still feels like 3 years barely happened in between.
UCB's suddenly a part of New York again, too. Feels good to have it back, but weird when there's so many faces I won't see there anymore (whenever I step back in whatever way I may) because 3 whole years have passed and people have moved away.
Time is funny. Nostalgia's a kick. The mixtapes keep coming.
Like the mixtapes? Help me spread the love by throwing a few bucks my way via BuyMeACoffee. Thanks to everyone who has already supported me there. This really helps me not rack up a stupid amount of debt while making this passion project for you all.
And hey, if you like it, why not share the mix or this newsletter with a friend?
Jumping the Lake
Created for Sundays and Kennedy Commons.
Time Escaping.
March feels like the most no-man's-land month to me. It's often the month I feel like getting away–for warmer weather, from social hibernation, toward sunny memories. My mom would often check me for wishing life away in weak moments when I vocalized my need for some period of time to end, so focused on the future, but I feel like I spend way more time vacationing in the past.
There's whole-ass apps out there built to keep you present, but what are we if not a collection of memories? If the beautiful parts of your past made you a better person, is it not worth spending a little time rediscovering those parts of yourself?
I have such deep love in my heart for my college friends. I don't see all of them as often as I wish I could, but anytime I do, it feels just as good as it used to at 2 AM looking at "The Internet" (a name we gave to a particularly soothing parking garage) with Buckeye Donuts in hand. I treasure those Sunday mornings at Kennedy Commons talking about how our academic advisors had no idea what they were doing. I can't believe it, but I want to play that damn RISK game again.
My friends and I loved music. We all loved it differently. Some of us became obsessed with single records or artists and dove into them for months. Some of us devoured anything new and exciting. But occasionally there were songs or bands or albums that captivated all of us, sometimes even for only an evening or moment in my memory.
I think about music like mile-markers in my life, which is a huge reason why I love this mixtape project. I can pull a tape off my shelf and be transported back to the time it was made, the friend with whom I made it. There's a hundred songs from college that I'll forever associate with my friends and memories back then. These songs aren't them, but they feel the same to me, like echoes of those memories–everyone studying silently with a low soundtrack and someone looking up and asking "what song is this?"
And once again, I'm just burning up some cds for my friends. 16 years ago that feels like yesterday.
As much as things change, they stay the same. Sit with me while we all quietly try to unpack the various mysteries of the universe. Time escapes, but so can you.
Love you all. Hope you enjoy!
Join Me: Roy Ayers / Yaya Bey / dreamcastmoe @Elsewhere, Saturday March 4th, 6:30 PM
Roy Ayers is 82. He's a jazz/funk/soul legend. That's kind of all I need to know to be here. He's been on my shortlist to explore, and I can't think of a better way to kickstart the deep dive.
Also, Yaya Bey seems to be making some really exciting music. Also, I don't think I've been to Elsewhere yet? Dumb not to!
RIYL: jazz funk legends, r&b, reggae
Check out Roy Ayer's "Love Will Bring Us Back Together".
Some Other Things From College That Brady Loves
(that you might love too!)
The Wexner Center for the Arts - This place is probably 50% responsible for every good concert I saw in college and 100% responsible for every film or art exhibit I saw that I had never heard of in my entire life but loved. If you're ever in Columbus, I'd check it out.
Kafe Kerouac - Have some good coffee and read a good book and maybe catch a good comedy or music show.
Adriatico's - Look, if you had all the roommates in on a Friday night, and you've got a killer movie queued up that one of you for some reason has never seen before even though it's super important that you watch it, and you don't order a large pepperoni pizza from Adriatico's, you're screwing up in a big way.
Orange Jubilee - You are allowed to make mistakes in college. Let them be stupid. Let them be fun. Make them often.