Friday Mailbag - 12/3/20
Welcome to the Friday Mailbag. Kind of a quiet week. Eerily quiet. I took some comfort in writing and reading and just plain hanging out this week. I hope you’ve found some comfort in your life, too. It’s December. I like December. Good month.
20 in 20 EPISODE EIGHT is LIVE!
If 20 in 20 sounds particularly vibrant this week, it’s because I used a fancy new microphone given to me by two loyal 20 in 20 listeners, Nick and Jessica. Thank you, guys! You can listen to episode 8 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Buzzsprout.
The first installment of Hardcore Style came out this week. I’m psyched on this series, and I’m glad the first story found an audience. Some people didn’t like it. That’s okay. If you have yet to read it, click here.
And here’s a playlist by N.E.H. contributor, Diego:
AND NOW TO THE MAILBAG…
N.E.H. consultant, Diego (same guy who made the playlist), asks:
What is your LEAST favorite Christmas song?
I won’t beat around the bush. Almost all Christmas music is bad. “Santa Baby,” “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer,” “Silver Bells…” A couple years ago, people pretended to be offended by the lyrics in “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” The most offensive thing about that song, though, is the grueling, repetitive melody. And does anybody actually like Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You?” The second I hear those sickly bells and Mariah’s quivering lip, I’m out.
That being said, my least favorite Christmas song is Bruce Springsteen’s version of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town” from 1975. It’s a live recording from a show he did at C.W. Post College. It was released in 1982 and has held us hostage ever since.
For the record, I’m a Springsteen fan. Born To Run? Love it! Nebraska? A minor masterpiece! “Streets of Philadelphia?” Who doesn’t like that song? But “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town” is not good. It’s bad if bad drank a tallboy of Monster Energy and got the whole band to do the same. The oversinging, the ad-libbing, the cackling, the oddly plodding tempo at the beginning…
It’s become popular to crown Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” the worst Christmas song of all time, but I like that song, and besides, the crown already belongs to The Boss.
N.E.H. reader andcontributor, Nick, asks:
What’s your preferred method(s) for dealing with seasonal depression?
Great question. My number one method is remembering to take my sertraline every morning.
One non-pharmaceutical method that works for me is writing. A good writing session goes a long way. This newsletter has helped me cope with the pandemic, and I think it’ll be of use during the winter. I hope so, anyway. Share your tips in the comments!
Got a question? Feel free to comment on this post or e-mail me at newexperimentalhours@gmail.com. Thanks!
Have an awesome weekend, everybody. Thanks for tuning in. Coming up: the best clothing of 2020!