Helloooooo. I’m going to do this revolutionary thing where I write about whatever I want. I love sports, and I like writing about them. But, I don’t like being pigeonholed. It was a self-pigeonholing, indeed, but I think I did something prescient in August(?) when I named my Substack what I did. Ethan Writes About… anything he wants.
I have actually been writing more than ever before in the past month or so and keeping it to myself. Selfish! If 1/5th of it is worth sharing, then I’ll have done something worthwhile. Besides, my notes app only has so much storage, I’ve got to offload somewhere else. Lucky you!
It’s equal parts exhausting and daunting to think about … what will I call it? How often will I post? When will I post? What will the format be? Who will read it? Does anyone care? Do I even care…? I’m going to take advice from a couple modern-day poets. I was cheekily inspired by Vince Staples’ little foreword on Earl Sweatshirt’s “Burgundy”. It’s NSFW and obviously incredibly regressive, but it gets the job done. Another inspiring foreword is from Lil’ Wayne on Drake’s “Star67” where he’s lamenting rappers that need x, y, and z to be comfortable enough to go into the studio and record. “I ain’t going to the studio until I got a situation, a subject, I need a beat, I need a producer. Who gon’ be on the hook. Man, what is you doing?” Nah, uff that. Just get in the studio. That song also one of my favorite opening lines to a song. As for me? I’ve got new life and a renewed spirit, and I can’t wait to let it go.
I’m not going to worry about what I write about anymore. It will indubitably be about what I’ve been consuming and thinking about recently. I like to draw parallels from different parts of culture and media and life that come to me naturally. It’s usually the typical stuff: music, YouTube videos, TV, movies, essays, articles, books. Don’t you worry, I’ll definitely continue writing about sports. I just don’t care to do the sort of recap-y, take-haver type of immediate sports writing that is in vogue these days. I’m just going to let it go. Format/vision be damned! Please let me know what you think. Ok, here goes something.
Youtube is my Tik Tok
I also think that Substack is my Twitter and Pinterest is my Instagram, but these feel less one-to-one to me. The New York Times is my… newspaper? I came to this realization about Youtube/Tik Tok when I caught myself watching several of these short clips from The Simpsons on Youtube. Like this one, this one, and this one. (I think that’s the first time I’ve seen something from the “modern” version of The Simpsons. It looks odd). The jokes are hit or miss for me, but the writing is clearly genius throughout. That last clip is a video of Homer waking up 15 years ago, before he becomes the Homer that we know today, exclaiming “TGI Monday! Time to build my future with the power… of work!”. Immaculate. It’s nice seeing some of these The Simpsons clips. It’s a show that many of my favorite comedians and writers talk about venerably, so I love seeing glimpses into the genius of the show. I’m not sure I’ll ever sit down and watch an episode or season of the show, but I’ll happily have a taste of the cream that rises to the top of my YouTube algorithm.
A Tik Tok-coded Youtube channel that has grabbed me recently is Starlinc. I’m assuming he posts shorter clips of these videos to Tik Tok, but I don’t know and will never know because I’m #NotOnThere. The 15ish minute videos are mostly fluff from these larger-than-life, typically SoHo people that will take any chance they can get to talk about themselves and what they’re wearing (I’m putting it nicely!). I think it’s good to occasionally check in on these types of people and cultures, just to feel things out and make sure they’re still doing their thing. Occasionally you’ll get these older, sartorially-inclined folks with something worthwhile to say. This guy, who doesn’t completely escape my previous charges, said about his jacket “you have to be old and rich like me to have it”. Got it, understood, heard, etc. In a very Tik Tok-ian style, the guy filming sometimes asks these people “if you could give one piece of advice to a younger version of yourself, what would that be?”. The aforementioned old and rich guy gave a Shia LaBeouf-style “DO IT” answer, but also added “if you have a fantasy, act on it. If you have a plan, start after breakfast…. Ideas a dozen, everybody has good ideas. Make and finish them and bring them to success. That’s the hard work”.
I’ve also become obsessed with this guy who posts short and sweet cooking videos. This channel is surely coming from Tik Tok because of the verticality and narration of it all. I think he’s the cook at a sorority at the University of Nevada-Reno, which warms my heart in and of itself for some reason, despite my long held disdain for Greek life. As he’s building a white lasagna for “pasta night at the sorority house”, he says “there’s no rules here, guys. If you forget to put some parmesan or you forget the chicken, it doesn’t matter. Just put it on the next layer… it’s all going to just build up and be perfect. Any way you look at it”. Metaphor for life alert! I sincerely hope those girls treat him with the respect and love that he deserves. I’ll say what he says at the end of all of his videos: What a treat.
I’ve got a lot more to say, but I want to get this one out there while I’ve got the nerve. As far as I know, there’s no limit to how many Substacks one can post… Stay tuned. This is the part where you subscribe for free and get in on my early good graces before I have to make this a paid thing. You’ve been warned.
Alright, thanks for reading. Peace.
- Ethan
Ethan- I love the freedom in the voice of this piece. Freedom to write whatever we want is one life’s greatest gifts.