New York, I Love You
Reading, sweating, & getting scammed
Good morning.
I spent Wednesday to Saturday in Beacon, NY with my family. The best parts were the blueberries, the Dia Beacon, and being able to sit outside in the backyard.
The ADHOC categories of the week are Avoiding Brain-rot, Depop Scammers, Humidity, Outgrowing NYC, and Craning my neck in the bookstore.
This is my 20th letter! Can you believe it?
A: Avoiding Brain-rot
For the past month or so, I’ve gotten home from work around 9 or 10pm. By the time I shower and change, it’s 10:30. I’ve lost momentum on the book I started in May. I can’t watch a movie, because I don’t want to stay up past midnight. I don’t want to start a serious new TV show because I don’t have the brainpower for it. Most nights, I watch a YouTube vlog or episode of Sex and the City before scrolling on my phone for 20-minutes and going to sleep.
I know going on your phone before bed is bad for you. I know I should be reading instead, avoiding the blue light, radiation waves, etc. But my body and my brain are so exhausted by the end of the day that I understand why people in corporate jobs find it difficult to maintain hobbies and an exercise routine and a social life. I can’t even watch a 40-minute episode of television.
When I find myself getting sucked into my algorithms and submitting to brain rot, I think the gentlest reset is to start reading again. It can be light. I don’t have to finish everything. But it’s calming to have a story play out in my imagination instead of a thirty-second chopped up video on my phone.
What I’m reading this week:
Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan. Author of Crazy Rich Asians.
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.
Short stories in The New Yorker by Haruki Murakami, Sally Rooney, and E.L. Doctorow.
The New Yorker staff on what they’re reading this summer. I really trust Jia Tolentino so I want to read Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry next. They also keep a running list of the best weekly reads.
The Cut on what books people are bringing to the beach. I’m interested in All Fours by Miranda July and You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi.
Other fun NY Mag articles profiling an Olympic climber, Din Tai Fung opening in midtown, and the Chanel successor.
D: Depop Scammers
I recently ordered a pair of Wales Bonner x Adidas sambas. I am a pretty seasoned user of sneaker resale sites like GOAT and StockX, but I found a much more discounted listing of the shoes I wanted on Depop (like 90% less…I am such a fool).
The morning I was notified that the package was delivered by USPS, I clicked on the seller’s account, but their profile was gone, and I immediately knew. When I got home and opened it, there was no box, just a drawstring bag. Something was off about the shoes. A little too light. The tongues wouldn’t stay down. Definitely not made of leather.
After a Twitter DM, customer service form, and email back-and-forth with Depop employees, I sent the shoes back and was promised a refund once they delivered. The seller is probably going to receive the shoes, make a new account, and sell them to another silly person. I’m trying not to be bitter about it, but I am hesitant to shop on Depop ever again. And I’m lucky—the scam could have been a lot worse.
Lesson: if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
H: Humidity
It is almost at that point in the summer when I feel incapable of doing anything because of the weather. I slept for twelve hours on Saturday and walked to the Upper West Side farmers’ market on Sunday morning hoping that the heat wouldn’t get bad until midday. It wasn’t that hot, but it was so violently humid that I started to feel like I was suffocating. There were hordes of people running along the six-mile bike loop. I know running is very trendy right now, but I haven’t run since May and I don’t plan on it anytime soon. I think the reason I could run 10 miles without stopping last summer is because I was in California where all the paths were at sea level and there was zero humidity and it was consistently 70 degrees and breezy. Now all I want to do is sit in my air-conditioned room and switch between laptop and book, book and laptop.
O: Outgrowing NYC
There are two consistent sentiments I see in my New York online bubble.
Suburbia is too boring —> I need to move to NYC.
The city is too hot/dirty/stressful/crowded/loud —> I need to get out of NYC.
And it’s often the same kinds of people behind both statements (those who aren’t from New York).
There are times when I don’t like the city, like the afternoon I went shopping on Orchard Street and almost started crying because the long-limbed, weirdly dressed salespeople looked at me the wrong way, or when I get followed on the Subway, or when it’s so hot I can’t breathe (see section above). But I think the reasons behind 1) and 2) are the same. New York is so densely packed with people and buildings and things to do that you will never get bored, but you might not ever feel at rest. I don’t mind it, but I don’t really know an alternative. I’ve spent 80% of my life here.
Here’s a list of non-boring things that I will miss if I ever leave (non-exhaustive):
The lunch line of finance guys at the midtown Sweetgreens even though there are hundreds of nearby options with no wait (you have free will!)
Running into someone you haven’t seen in months/years on the bus, or the train, or on the sidewalk and chatting for as long as your commutes overlap
Walking through Central Park and people watching
All the Mister Softee ice cream trucks, even though they now charge $5 for a cone and ask you to pay them through Venmo
MoMa
Giggling when I see celebrities
Watching a movie in the 84th street AMC with those plush red reclining seats and getting a gigantic Diet Coke
All the good Thai restaurants on the Upper East Side
C: Craning my neck in the bookstore
I have to turn my head sideways to read all of the titles on the shelves in a bookstore. Is this a universal experience? I don’t even know what I’m scanning for. At the bookstore in Beacon, I tried to find Lonesome Dove, as recommended by Jia Tolentino in the New Yorker (see link in section A). I found the row of books by Larry McMurtry and thumbed through the titles, but it wasn’t there. I know for certain I would have purchased it if it was. I didn’t even bother to read the synopses of the other ones. It had to be Lonesome Dove. I left empty handed, feeling disappointed about a book I knew nothing about.
As always, thank you for reading!
You made a fool of death with your beauty is a draw-you-in quick read. All Fours is truly a modern marvel and deserves its hype. I think you’ll enjoy both!
The neck pain after going to the bookstore <