We're Henry Hilling it once again, friends
On keeping it 'Superfine' despite AI, posting ennui, word counts + deadlines
Quick + Dirty. That’s the way it’s gonna be today. I’m out here on four hours of sleep and Henry Hilling* it hard.
In the last week, I went to NYC for a day-and a-quarter with my niece, Tish, to see Death Becomes Her on Broadway (a hoot!) and hit The Met Fifth Avenue to take in some of the outstanding exhibits I’ve had on my must-see list for months (The New Art: American Photography, 1839–1910; Lorna Simpson Source Notes; Sargent & Paris; and Superfine: Tailoring Black Style).
All of it was so very good, but the “Superfine” exhibit was magnificent. Truly. I’ve been talking about this exhibit for so long, and even wrote about in an earlier issue when all eyes were on The Met Gala 2025. Again, if you can find your way to NYC before the end of October of this year, go see this exhibit!
On the heels of the New York quick trip, I was off again to Toronto to join the whole family as we celebrated my dad’s 80th birthday. We have been planning this event for months, and it turned out so well. Just glorious. Food, fun, love, laughter, old friends gathered, good times remembered, new memories treasured—all of it—beautiful.
Now, getting to Toronto was its own wild ride. Long, crazy story short, every snag that could happen, we got caught up in it and our planes, trains and automobiles (litchrally!) trip lasted 17 hours. Whole thing has me on some “never again” type shit. Next time we head home to Canada, we’re driving. Air travel ain’t what it used to be, and that’s all I’ll say about that!
*Henry Hilling (verb) is what I call it when I have too many things to do at once and a big chunk of it involves driving here and there over the span of a couple of hours. It’s the ultimate multi-task, mad juggle and you feel like you’re either melting from the inside or in the middle of an active heart attack. (This is all minus the coke, the guns + the Mafia business, of course.)
Let’s keep it pushin’, people, but keep an eye for the helicopter above. Here’s what I’ve Read, Watched + Heard this last week:
READ:
Honestly? I’m reading my own words! Still working on books edits for WOULD I LIE TO YOU?. We have 16 days! So far, I’ve cut 7K words and have another 6K to trim. Let’s goooo! But I also read…
This piece in The New Yorker, “Are You Experiencing Posting Ennui?” hit a nail on the head for me re: how strange (not in a cool way) it feels to be on social media in these g-d Unprecedented Times. I used to regularly post on TikTok about the English language, word usage, etymology, etc. But that was in middle of the pandemic/semi-post-pandemmy times. These days, with so much horrible going on, I simply don’t have the energy to post about regular-degular stuff. How are you balancing it—if balance is even the right word?
“‘The contrast between global crisis and personal update is so stark, it creates a kind of emotional whiplash,’” Ali Moran, the founder of a communications agency, told me. Moran continued, ‘Silence has become its own kind of statement, but so has posting something unrelated. It feels like there’s no right move.’” —Kyle Chayka for The New Yorker
I’ve been talking about AI on here quite a bit because I’m basically freaked out by it. But this story, “A ’60s-flavored band blew up on Spotify. They’re AI,” in The Washington Post ramps up the “what the hell”-ness even further.
Continuing along the uncanny valley, there was also this story reported in tons of places about the Instagram fashion influencer posting content at Wimbledon last week. But this, uh, “influencer” is AI-generated.
The Emmy nominations are out. I haven’t had a spare moment to dig into the list yet—or any of the surprises and snubs. But I did see that many of my fave shows + actors (The Pitt, Severance, Slow Horses, Abbott Elementary, Hacks, The Bear) are in the running, so I’m pleased. Might talk more about certain categories later.
WATCHED:
Again, all I’ve been watching this week is my MacBook screen. More specifically watching my giant Word Document as I make these edits. (Yoh, 16 days!)
Other than my book, I have turned to oldie-goldies series Veep, which I started re-watching a few days ago. What are you all binging, re-watching, getting caught up on to start the new upcoming season?
HEARD:
You know what’s coming, right? Wrong! I haven’t been listening to anything related to my book edits. I used to create playlists for my novels and would always have one song that would stay on repeat as I work my way toward The End. Not this time. yet another example of my approach being different with WOULD I LIE TO YOU?.
But while in Toronto, I did turn my ear on to SWAG, the new Justin Bieber album (leave me be! I like the Biebs.). Two songs in particular have entered the “on loop” circuit—“DAISIES” and “YUKON”—because of two artists behind the tracks: Mk.gee (big fan of this guy!) and Dijon, who both have songwriter and producer credits on the tunes. Give a listen and let me know what you think!