Rage Comas R' Us

Hello, So You've Decided to Become Isolated & Weird Newsletter readers…quite the week. How are you? Are you surviving this circus? I think I’ve seen and heard some of the wildest things on and off the screen in a while…and it’s not even Friday.

Anyways…all that received and read through the first newsletter…thank you! I was nervous about sending the thing out, but leaving it in my drafts would have made it even worse. To be transparent and tight now, my goal is to be consistent, engaging, and stick to this process, regardless of what’s happening in my head, body, soul, etc. It feels good to work to make something meaningful, even if it’s only connecting with a select few right now. What’s a number anyway?

It reminds me of this quote I saw on X the other day from Dan Koe (@thedankoe):

If you're lost, the answer is education.

If you're educated, the answer is execution.

If you're executing, the answer is persistence.

If you're persisting, the answer is experimentation.

In this newsletter, we’ll cover:

• Intro to my essay/rant on the upcoming Timothée Chalamet/Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown" that almost sent me into a rage coma
• The flash fiction piece “Today, I’m Toad”
• A few articles that caught my eye to share

An excerpt from “Please, No…A Complete Unknown”

Navigating the snake-filled labyrinth that is the American news and media today feels more like a full-time job than simply staying informed. It takes a lot of energy - mentally, physically, and spiritually - to swap one's eyes and mind from near civil war-inducing assassinations of a former President to presidential pick Kamala Harris cackling about coconuts and context to RFK Jr. admitting to burying a six-month-old female bear cub underneath an old bicycle in New York's Central Park with some friends.

How does one wrap one's chromosomes around this reality that appears to be only getting strangers every day?

I don't know, and anybody who claims they do should double-check that they're not AI, but the reprieve is most certainly needed. And seeing I'm on the wrong side of thirty, where any glass of liquid to massage my frontal lobe almost always leaves me in a state of trash, movies, and music are always a perfect way to remedy the chaos for a few hours.

One day, needing a much-needed reprieve, I shamefully ventured onto TikTok to see what was trending or hot. After a few minutes of content creators trying to sell me Neuro Gum, I came upon the trailer for the upcoming biopic of Bob Dylan, "A Complete Unknown," directed by James Mangold and starring—you guessed it—actor Timothée Chalamet.

Before even finishing a frame, I heard that ever-familiar slow-building, a faux-dramatic crescendo of nameless synth in my ear; this forced and imposed gravitas that tells the viewer that something big is about to happen.

No, I remember muttering to myself, not like this…not like this, a nod to the character Switch from "The Matrix," who was betrayed by Cypher, once a trusted ally, for the illusion of comfort. Being a Bob Dylan fan from the days of Scorcese's seminal documentary “No Direction Home" to Todd Haynes's unique take on Dylan’s life in “I’m Not There," I sensed whatever I was about to watch, whatever shallow, creatively bankrupt “movie” I was about to get a glimpse of, was going to seriously damage my already struggling soul…

Do you feel like reading the rest of “Please, No…A Complete Unknown?” and more Sunday reading and fun? Click the button below and sub!

Today, I’m Toad

One day, I came across a video on the social media platform that will not be named (TikTok) in a very long line at the Safeway of a very energetic woman dressed in a cheap Toad outfit (Super Mario Brothers). The woman in the video didn’t play the same tricks to get you hooked. She stared into the camera, confident in her gaze and calling out someone who thought she was the “most annoying human”, and proclaimed,

“Today, I’m 31 years old and I can do whatever I want. Today, I’m Toad, again.”

They proceeded to shriek launch into a drum solo and segue in Shakira’s song, “Whenever, Wherever.” I probably watched the video over 100 times, hypnotized by two things: the sheer imagination and will to connect Shakira, the Colombian singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, and philanthropist, with the imaginary character Toad, a minor, humanoid character with a mushroom cap on his head and a fitting blue vest that was wholly committed to being a loyal attendant to Princess Peach, the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, and often an assistant to Mario.

How did this person connect these two entities in space and time and pop culture in their mind? I asked myself. More importantly, why? But then I recalled their words: I’m 31 and can do whatever I want. Today, I’m Toad.

Something at that moment, suspended between reality and the digital world on my phone, revealed humanity's growing need to be whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. This need completely contradicted thousands of years of societal expectations, which required individuals to conform to a single role to support the community. For all I knew, this person was a dog walker, a freelance chatbot creator, caretaker, NASA astronaut, mother, sister, niece, or weekend priest who did this on the weekend to let off some steam. Whatever they “were,” there was no denying the power in her versatility and polymath ways, leading me to wonder after I finished her Toad drum solo for the 101st time: if we become more and more entrenched in the digital world, if this fluidity of identity continues, could we go so far to make “the self” as we know it now obsolete?

Some Things of Interest I’m Reading This Week

The Choice this Election is between Corporate and Oligarchic Power
by

Growing Up: Navigating Generative AI’s Early Years – AI Adoption Report
by Wharton and GBK Collective

The Premier League, Explained to a Clueless American by Michael Sebastian and Jack Holmes

If you liked what you saw and felt what you felt and want to check out Sunday’s newsletter, subscribe below for full access.

So You've Decided to Become Isolated & Weird Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.