Winter Blues

playlists, single's inferno, owls are haunting

playlists as a mood board

Being 40 is about being “vaguely into” whatever. I’m vaguely into making playlists right now. I do it when I think of it. I do it sort of as a way to capture time, something go back to and say, Oh yeah that’s what I was on then. This only works if you switch up your listening habits.

Luckily, one thing I can’t handle is only listening to one genre of music. I must consume music across many platforms: NTS Radio, The Lot Radio, Rinse.fm, Soundcloud mixes, Mixmag mixes, and yes, the occasional Spotify playlist gets me (the constantly refreshing “daylist” playlist, included, as mistagged as it is). I don’t want to listen to just the things I already know, or the artists Spotify force feeds me (enough with the Doja Cat!). There’s WAY, WAY more music out there is what I want to remind all of us. Music helps us keep thinking outside the box, whatever it is. The brain and the soul will thank you for it.

Anyway, I’ve always made playlists and have almost 100 in my library. They’re mostly thrown together of whatever is gonna get people hyped. But now that I’m heavy into DJ and radio mixes, (and because I’m essentially making playlists for myself to listen to later) I just save tracks to one dump of a playlist. These tracks will eventually be parsed out to specifically themed playlists, either as I make up themes or as I find a need for one (like when I suddenly needed songs perfect for the sunset hour). It’s similar to making a mood board or a collage, snipping out that piece of the page from the magazine you know you’ll use later.

Single’s Inferno, Season 3 (Netflix)

I don’t watch reality dating shows, but this Korean dating show is too far out for me not to get hooked: “the dating show drops a group of beautiful people onto a bare-bones deserted island called "Inferno" where they have the chance to pair up and escape. The matched couples will spend the evening in the "Paradise" (a luxury hotel date) while the rest are left to dine on root vegetables and canned chicken breast before spending the night in what looks like shipping containers.” (Marie Claire). That barely scratches the surface, their whole dating culture is sooo different and the physical challenges are stuff like mud wrestling.

*Spoiler*: Early on you find out there are 2 infernos! Yes! The pacing is a lot more exciting. There have been two islands of contestants so the couples in paradise are swapped and dropped onto the others’ islands. Very funny and a lot of their personalities seem more relaxed or friendly than previous casts. Just so you know, though, other stuff remains as entertaining as ever: as part of a challenge to win a dinner of lobster, the men had to hold the women around the necks, ankle-deep in the ocean and do as many squats as they could. The earliest tapped out at 40 squats, others continued on, and the winner kept going to around 75!!!! So many levels of WTF!!! I can’t wait to see what else they get up to. I’m only on episode 5.

Single’s Inferno, Netflix

the night owl

In the middle of the night an owl was calling out into the still of some hour. I’m convinced the owl’s spirit was carried through the air, by way of its repeated throaty calls, right into my bedroom. Its presence feels so grand despite how far away it might be. It’s unsettling when everything is so still and the nighttime air is so dry. It commands attention. I imagined it perched high in the pine tree near the frozen pond across the street. Quiet again, then a second round of a low, cooing sound, and a brief shriek. Is it a warning? What should I know?