It wasn’t long ago that, while watching something on Hulu (“The OC”, “Seinfeld”, or ER), that I was introduced to the fact that one of my favorite movies had been adapted into a Series on Hulu. This sort of thing is rarely a good thing, but I was intrigued enough to check it out. It’s an interesting tweak to the original material, which is a book by the same title by Nick Hornby, whose books have inspired movies sub par to the books; “Fever Pitch”, About a Boy” In the movie version of “High Fidelity”, there’s a recurring theme of top 5 lists. The main Character Barry, portrayed by John Cusack says, “What really matters is what you like, not what you’re like. I think that’s pretty true, and in light of that, let me tell you about some things that I’ve been liking, which might give more insight into what I’m like these last few years.
This sequestration/quarantine time may be as good a time as any to use that concept as a prompt to fill in a media diet like this one given to me recently after rattling through the three most commonly asked questions I’ve been asked outside of medical-based questions
What are you listening to?
These days this question could be music, podcasts, radio, or all of the aboveI used to be known somewhat for my music blogging. It trailed off around 2009 when I became a Twitter power-user, but lately as it’s such a common question, I’ve thought maybe I should get back to it, if for no other reason than to try to persuade you, the reader to widen your musical spectrum, and/or to get you to adopt my favorites to be your favorites
Lately I’ve been using two methods to broaden my perspective
Deep dives into genres that I’ve either avoided or lack a broad knowledge of. So far I’ve explored hip-hop, country, pop music, and punk-rock. Each involved finding the roots of the genre and tracing the development to modern incantations.
Deep dives into artists that I don’t have much depth in my understanding of their catalog. As I’ve built out my library of a given artist’s portfolio, I create a smart playlist for all of their songs, shuffle them up and press play. I took a snapshot of some recent artist playlists I’ve used the described technique to get to know their catalog with more depth. I’
ve also challenged myself to use as few characters possible to name the playlist . i.e. Reznor would include all Nine Inch Nails, but also all his non-NiN work including his Oscar winning music from “The Social Network”
What are you watching?
What are you reading?
Disclosure; my sight has been significantly damaged with my brain injury, so reading has mostly been through audiobooks, which , while perhaps may be seen as lazy. But , look . . Before the injury, I was reading frequently on Kindle, so I’ve been away from paper books for years. Audiobooks can: Every year for the last decade I’ve read Gatsby at least once. With the right narrator, it’s an incredible experience to have. As You may notice, I like memoirs, biographies and historicals With the right narrator, it’s an incredible experience to have.
I used to read The Great Gatsby every year. One of my favorites, there’s a great audio version narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal.
The Brothers K by David James Duncan. My favorite book.favorite
So, that said, recent “reads” with recommended “narrators” As available on Audible
So Here's the Thing...: Notes on Growing Up, Getting Older, and Trusting Your Gut
Written and read by Alyssa Mastromonaco
Gabby
Written by Rep.Gabby Giffords & Mark Kelly (part memoir/ part biography)
Read by Mark Kelly.
Gabby has been an inspiration as a fellow brain injury survivor who continues her journey to return to a fulfilling life after surviving a notorious TBI by gunshot
Becoming - written and read by Michelle Obama
My Life Written and read by Bill Clinton
1776 written and read by David McCullough
Talking to Strangers
Written and read by Malcolm Gladwell
Eyes to the Wind: A memoir Written by Ady Barkan Read by Bradley Whitford!
