If I may complain about this cushy position I\u2019ve created for myself (which does not pay), it\u2019s hard to think of a topic every week. Every goddamn week I\u2019m supposed to have original thoughts? Next you\u2019re going to tell me I have to figure out what to eat for dinner every day for the rest of my life until I die. Sounds exhausting. <\/p>
The problem is this blog needs a cheat code. Something to fall back on when the ideas are thin. If New York media sees traffic flailing, they run a \u201cThis 30-Year-Old Paid Off Her Student Debts By Skipping Coffee\u201d piece and bury the \u201cthe author\u2019s parents let them live at home rent-free until they were 29\u201d part at the end, then let the hate-clicks flow. NBA writers have a number of calendar gimmicks built in\u2014quarter-season mark, trade deadline predictions\/reactions, awards season debates\u2014so much so that your schedule is basically the same every year. <\/p>
It\u2019s content that writes itself, and this blog doesn\u2019t have that. With this goal in mind (the goal of rewarding laziness), may I present the first installment of Ekphrasis. In this column, and more to come, I will type prompts into Wikimedia Commons. Things I like. Then I\u2019ll write a paragraph based on an image. Not the first image, not the most representative image, just an image that\u2019s striking. Easy enough. Now, what things do I like? <\/p>
Tacos<\/strong><\/p> Oh boy do I love tacos. Barbacoa is great, one of the better things to do with beef or lamb, but this is a close cousin to my favorite taco: the lengua taco. Oh boy oh boy do I love some cow tongue. Got a great chew. A flavor that\u2019s not too overpowering so it can let a good salsa or tortilla shine, too. Cilantro, onions, salsa verde? Give it to me. At least two, and preferably while I am walking down a city street.<\/p> The Sea<\/strong><\/p> It\u2019s interesting to me that one of the main creation myths in the Bible has God pulling the waters back. Dividing water from land. Gen 1:2 says \u201cNow the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters,\u201d which, gee, wonder why cosmic horror exists. The earth was \u201cformless,\u201d but there was also \u201cdarkness over the surface of the deep,\u201d and God was also also<\/em> \u201chovering over the waters.\u201d How many voids we talking here, Genesis? Gen 1:6 goes on: \u201clet there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.\u201d That\u2019s not even land<\/em>, that\u2019s God creating the sky<\/em>. Anyway, sometimes I wonder what the first person to see the sea thought and felt. Here\u2019s water that is impossible to cross. Here beyond is the void. Man. Shoutout to Polynesian navigators, man. You know they got to Antarctica first<\/a>? <\/p> Basketball<\/strong><\/p> \u201cBasketball courts around the world\u201d is such a wonderful genre of photo. Leigh Ellis does it<\/a> a lot, obviously<\/a>. Worldwide Wob does it some<\/a>, and I found this awesome collection from Alexis Morgan<\/a> looking for Wob\u2019s. Maybe it\u2019s because I spent so many hours shooting in my driveway after school, maybe it\u2019s my love of the sport, but an outdoor basketball court always feels like such an inviting space. Here is a place carved out purely for fun, for athletic expression. Except for courts without rims or otherwise neglected, that\u2019s purely depressing. Shades of Lori Lightfoot taking the rims off the courts during the summer of 2020. But a halfway-playable court? Oh yeah, that\u2019s the stuff. Need an urbs in horto<\/a><\/em> equivalent for a court carved into a city. <\/p> Guitars<\/strong><\/p> I was looking for one of two things when I typed this in: either a really cool shot of a Fender Jazzmaster being played by someone cool<\/a>, or a cool painting. Cool painting wins! Guitars look short in the 1600s. Unsettling body\/neck length ratio. I wonder what it\u2019s tuned to. I was embarrassingly old when I learned mariachi instruments aren\u2019t typically tuned the same way as guitars<\/a>. Always figured if need be, I could moonlight for a mariachi band, read some charts, you know. Not the case! Shoutout to the overturned hourglass and the lovely flowers in this painting. <\/p> Books<\/strong><\/p> This column could only end on book porn. When I said \u201cbasketball courts are paradise\u201d earlier? Every library everywhere all at once cried out \u201cyou moron, how could you do this to us?\u201d Paradise comes in many forms. Let\u2019s go read a book.<\/p> Sorry you got an email, <\/p> Chris<\/p>![\"File:Barbacoa](\"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/8eb9d05e-3d6f-46d6-b2c2-7ed3479459dc_800x600.jpeg\")
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<\/figure>![\"File:Tom\u00e1s](\"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/ed4786e3-d779-44bc-9fe5-d36d2eaa0bd9_780x599.jpeg\")
<\/figure>![\"File:13-11-02-olb-by-RalfR-03.jpg\"\/](\"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/80dc779a-b7b5-4767-a092-401853cfae9a_800x531.jpeg\")
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