I’ve been meaning to commit to a weekly Substack, as I believe I’ve stated in each of my previous sporadic posts. I have so much to say and yet, I get so overwhelmed with all of my creative projects I’m working on that I avoid it. But of course I blocked off today to organize my taxes so it’s absolutely the perfect time to write a lil ‘stack to connect with all my fellow buddies out there in the ether (and not do my assigned task).
Things and People I’ve been interested in lately:
Alice Coltrane — specifically the album, Journey in Satchidananda. I’ve been doing some touring with Marc Maron which has been so fun and such a lovely, memorable life experience for me. I remember when I first interviewed Marc in 2013 when I pitched an article about him at my W Magazine internship before I started comedy. Life is so interesting when it comes full circle in bizarre ways. Marc does these multi-city runs where he personally drives between all the cities. I’ve been doing the road for years but never once in a road trip style like this. Makes me feel like a true artist and allows you to be way more in the moment than the taking a million flights slog. While I have a pretty good grasp on art and literature from so much school, I don’t know very much about music. Orange County, baby — a gorgeous sports mecca, but nevertheless, a cultural wasteland.
Because I first went on the road with Marc two days after my autism diagnosis (surprise! more on that later), Marc wanted to (very kindly) be conscious of any sound sensitivities of mine and ended up putting on Alice Coltrane. He said it’s music that “feels good on the brain”. He was right!!!! I love it!!! I had never heard music like this before. It’s spiritual bebop jazz mixed with Eastern and experimental sonic influences from the 70’s. I like to lay down on my floor and put this album on now with my headphones and be transported away. The other day I got a Thai massage (my favorite) where these tiny ladies step on you and beat the shit out of you until you forget your name. I put on Alice Coltrane in my earbuds during the massage and saw God. Amazing. Marc’s also showed me a lot of other cool music I like lately like Bill Evans, Spiritualized, and the Velvet Underground.
Walton Goggins — anyone who’s followed me online over the years knows I mostly spend my time tweeting about this man. Well, I deleted my Twitter so now I guess I just post “Threads” about him. I believe I first learned of Gog on Justified and have been a super fan ever since. He might be my favorite actor of all time (even though you know I love Melissa McCarthy). Anyway, he’s exploded as of late with Righteous Gemstones, Fallout, and now White Lotus. This man is concurrently on all the heavy hitter cultural touchstone shows, what a legend. Sidenote: Patrick Schwarzenegger’s character, Saxon Ratliff, is so scary on White Lotus. Real date rapist vibe kinda similar to how Jesse Solomon is coming off on Summer House this season. But I digress, I only turned on Fallout because Johnny’s in it and then was delighted to learn Walty was on there as a demon ghoul whose face got burned off by gamma radiation. I locked in so fast. Johnny is good friends with Walton now and you bet your ass I enjoy his anecdotes about him as a third party bystander. I am just thrilled to be living in the Gogaissance!!!!! Everyone has a crush on him now, which is fine. I’m happy to share and don’t want to be one of those “I loved him first way before anyone else” hipster people.
The Tiktok Chiropractor — as many of you know, I’ve been on chiropractor Tiktok for about two years now. I’ve been silently watching and fascinated by how satisfying these videos are to me. I can’t look away. Often times the videos feature violent cracking of C list celebrities and retired professional athletes. And lots of scantily clad Instagram girls with beautiful fake bazungas. I’ve never been sure how I feel about personally going to a chiropractor because people say it can result in serious injuries and I also wonder about how effective it actually is. But alas, a week ago I decided to make an appointment with this guy whose videos I’ve been watching for a very long time.
I am not sure what exactly prompted the sudden turn from chiropractic voyeur to active participant. I guess it was probably one of his TMJ videos, as I am a longtime sufferer. And let me just tell you, it was an extreme experience. He did this thing where he inflates a balloon up your nostrils and it was one of the most painful things I’ve ever felt in my life. My whole face cracked like the 1994 Northridge earthquake. I didn’t even know your face could crack? I was so shocked I cried a ton. Thank god I asked him not to film, can you imagine? He said emotional trauma release is very common and I probably have a buildup of stored trauma from getting hit in the face so much in volleyball. But holy shit it hurt. That being said, I think post treatment was the first time I’ve ever fully breathed out of my nose. I think my nose has been wired shut for many years. My jaw has also been feeling a lot better!!! Kooky. I guess I will be going back. Stay tuned.
And skincare I’ve been into lately — I’ve come to learn that along with psychology, skincare is one of my lifelong autistic special interests. I love it, I always have. I can’t get enough. I love researching skincare, buying it, and using it. It makes me so happy. It’s on my to-do list to become a Tiktok skincare influencer, so I need to get to that soon. Anyways, I’m too tired at the end of this post to go into depth about these products so I’m just gonna list them really fast and be on my way. The brands I’m most excited about right now (along with some Korean skincare) are Prequel, Byoma, and Naturium. They are all high performance technology drugstore brands that are launching god tier stuff. I’ve decided to remove myself from all high end skincare lines because it’s simply unnecessary to pay those insane prices with what they are putting out in the drugstore now.
Recent products I’ve been very impressed by:
Naturium Multi-Peptide Serum: this shit is so plumping and luxurious I stg
Byoma Milky Toner: milky toners are a trendy superfluous skincare step in the zeitgeist right now thanks to the very popular Rhode Glazing Milk but I love how nourishing this one feels on the skin. Is it necessary? Probably not, but it makes me happy and the price is unbeatable.
Byoma Phyto-mucin: this new launch is so hydrating and makes your skin extra glassy
Prequel Vitamin C Serum: this is a super affordable dupe for the medical grade, million dollar SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic product that everyone raves about. It has a very similar ingredient list and high bioavailability due to its airtight packaging.
Anua Heartleaf Silky Moisture Sunscreen: since I’ve been way more committed to my retinol journey these days and love to walk outside, I am always in search of the perfect sunscreen. This one is really good from the Korean brand, Anua. It has panthenol in it so it’s super silky and moisturizing. I am very picky about sunscreen because my skin is so sensitive and most of them don’t feel good on the skin and disincentivise me to wear it. This one feels nice.
Okay that’s all I have for you today. I hope you have a great week. May god bless you and yours. Also, please come see me in Tulsa, Oklahoma this coming Friday, March 21st and 22nd. Please. And in San Francisco (4/2), Sacramento (4/3), and Dallas (4/5) the first week of April. Please.
Love,
TBD
(the big dog woof)
That Coltrane album was my high school go to and I’m in my late 40’s 😎. I started listening to it again out of the blue a few months ago - I’m glad it’s in the ether!
I love reading the Big Dog. I wouldn’t be the first person to see the parallels between pro wrestling and standup comedy and your writing about driving with Marc Maron reminds me of the old stories of wrestlers driving loops together like you and Maron did.