Hey friends and other human beings! This week, I am back with another edition of Five Things Friday. This is a list of five things that have been buzzing around in my head this week — be they podcasts, books, news articles, hobbies, games, whatever. This week, I talk about Spotify Unwrapped, Silicon Valley and the lies of George Santos.
Without further ado, here are five things for this Friday:
1. Your Spotify is unwrapped!
For users of the streaming platform, the long anticipated “Spotify Unwrapped” experience dropped this year. It tallies users’ most listened to content and packages it into a fun, made-for-social-media presentation that can be then shared across platforms. What was on your Spotify Unwrapped this year?
I’m only feeling slightly embarrassed by how my list shook out. It was the year of Taylor Swift. For me, it was the year I came to terms with just how much of a creative tour-de-force she is. Yes, she’s sparkly and yes, her songs are loaded with teen pop star drama energy. But she is also relentless, a clever songwriter and a ball of creative energy that she just keeps unleashing.
It’s also no surprise she showed up on my list as I listen primarily while I work and I like to include lots of boppy, bouncy pop songs among the low-key acoustic and folk/country crooners that I enjoy the most. It helps me keep my energy up through the day.
Last year, my FOMO kicked in hard when everyone began sharing their Spotify Unwrapped lists. I hadn’t listened to new music in years, really, and my artist selection was pretty limited. So I set out to change that.
I wanted to listen to new artists and broaden my horizons. I got over not liking artists like Taylor Swift because they were “girly” (cringe) and just embraced listening to music that made me feel something.
I also wanted to listen to full albums — in their entirety! Streaming has made consuming single songs so easy. But musicians create albums the same way an artist curates a gallery or a writer composes a book. They are trying to tell a full story with their albums, or do something interest and unique as they move from track to track.
For instance, I loved Tyler Childers “Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?” — a gospel/hymn themed country triple album. It included eight songs recorded/mixed in three different styles. It was sheer brilliance and I never settled on which versions I liked the most.
The bottom line is I wanted to put more music in my life and I did. I like to think it has made my day-to-day more beautiful, more emotional and overall more meaningful. Here’s the rest of my top songs if you’re curious:
2. Silicon Valley
I am nothing if not late to the game on pop culture, television shows and anything else important in the zeitgeist. I recently finished Silicon Valley and it is perhaps in my top 5 funniest shows of all time.
The show follows Richard Hendricks, a Silicon Valley engineer at tech giant Hooli who stumbles upon a complete game-changer of an idea with his pet project called Pied Piper. Though I have no idea of how true it is, the glimpse into what happens when computer programmers suddenly get flushed with cash and have to build a company from the ground up just makes for comedic genius. I loved the show, 10/10.
3. Best thing I read this week: George Santos Lost His Job. The Lies, Charges and Questions Remaining.
By Michael Gold, Grace Ashford, Nicholas Fandos and Ed Shanahan
The saying goes, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” I don’t know which ones Rep. George Santos has been telling, but they certainly should make their own category. Revelations from a recent report revealed some of his more egregious offenses, such as using campaign finances for his personal expenses and claiming his grandparents survived the Holocaust.
What takes Soros to a whole other level is the lies he told about incredibly needless things, such as claiming he went to college on a volleyball scholarship and that he attended a prestigious prep school in 9th grade.
I’m highlighting this story because I believe this shows some of the importance of journalism. The best journalists seek the truth. And when politicians try to distort the truth, or when the public forgets it, or simply can’t remember it through the deluge of lies, journalists remember.
4. Song of the week: Breathe by Walker Burroughs
This is now the second week I’ve highlighted someone I know personally. Though he doesn’t remember, I held Walker Burroughs when he was a bouncy and mischievous child (getting old is weird.)
Flash forward 20 or so years he’s appearing on American Idol (not making it to the finals, boo) and then three or four years later, making incredible music like this.
It’s an expansive ballad that speaks to the endeavor to embrace beauty, to pause and take the world in as you go through it. I really appreciate that it doesn’t fit the typical verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge songwriting structure, and just flows throughout. And that voice is just transcendent on this song.
5. Quote of the week
Gethering crackle and flourish when real thought goes into them, when (often invisible) structure is baked into them and when a host has the curiosity, willingness and generosity of spirit to try. -Priya Parker, The Art of Gathering
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