You Can’t Skip The Weird Part
The only way is through.
Last week, my daughters started a new school year at a new school. They are going into 6th and 8th grades, respectively. This is such a weird stage of life that an entire genre of movies focuses on it. They are also the new kids, but not just any new kids. Because the school they attend struck a deal with another school that closed, there are a lot of new kids this year. But my kids are the only kids in their classes who didn’t go to that school that closed. So they’re only new kids who didn’t enter the year with a pre-existing cohort. Also weird.
The first few days were predictably awkward—adjusting to new people, new spaces, new routines—and featured plenty of ups and downs. As I thought about what advice to give them, I wanted to avoid empty reassurances (“It’s all going to be fine.”) What I told them instead is the title of this essay: “You can’t skip the weird part.”
It’s advice I also need to remind myself of.
With new and challenging things, there is always going to be a strange beginning. It would be weird if it wasn’t weird. It isn’t like a YouTube video, where you can just scrub along the progress bar to get to the good part. In life, you have to sit through the whole thing, cringey bits and all.
But knowing the weird part is an intrinsic part of The Thing, and not some add-on concocted by the fates to make your particular life harder, can be reassuring. You can’t do a road trip from New York to California along I-70 without driving through Kansas (sorry, Kansans). But on the other side of the Sunflower State is the Rockies, and from there to the Pacific Ocean is where things get good.
The key is to keep driving forward and not abandon the trip in Kansas. Because while we can’t skip the weird parts, we don’t need to linger in them either.
The Journalist And The Billionaire
While it definitely falls under the category of navel-gazing, journalism about journalists is a subject I am eternally fond of. And while Walter Isaacson is certainly more well known these days for his biographies, including his recent one—and the reason for this New York magazine piece—on Elon Musk, I still think of him as the top editor at Time magazine when I started working at Time Inc. (So if I really wanted to inflate my ego, I guess I could refer to him as a “former colleague.”) This story isn’t meaty, but it’s still filled with the kinds of anecdotes and snipe-y quotes that are truly delectable (Michael Lewis went to the same school as Isaacson and his remembrances are not to be missed.) —Justin
Mid Air — Romy
You’ve almost certainly heard Romy’s voice before. Either from her time in the XX (one of my eight favorite bands) or from the Fred again… track she’s featured on. She just released her debut album and I’ve had it on repeat all week. It’s pop, but not in the “built by/for the algorithm” way and it’s also dance, but in the most approachable way. If you, like me, have been listening to a lot of Kylie Minogue, this is going to hit just right. —Andrew
Front General Store Incense
I generally try to avoid DUMBO at all costs on account of far too many cobblestone photoshoots and the unbearable train noise. I do, however, make two major exceptions: 1. Brooklyn Flea and 2. Front General Store (recently expanded to include Hudson Wilder and VISO Project). These days, a visit to Front means restocking on Tea Ceremony and Green Fig incense. Forget the scent of hippies or the Union Square weed dealer, these $1 per burn sticks are guaranteed serenity in your home, even if you live in DUMBO, right under the train. —Andrew