Monday Morning quarterback
The best stuff from the week of August 13th (the psychology of a terrorist)
Derek Fisher became the head coach at my high school last week.
The best part is his step sons, who are also Matt Barnes’s real sons, are going to my rival high school. If you don’t understand why that’s important, Matt Barnes put Derek Fisher in a chokehold a few years ago.
TikTok: How to Parent
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Putting this video in the newsletter, so I can remember to watch it over when I have kids.
Essay: Warning Notes from the Underground
Literary critic James Wood discusses the connection between Dostoevsky’s novella, Notes from the Underground, and modern-day terrosim.
We all see a piece of ourselves in, “The Narrator”, the main character of the novella. And, it’s a piece we rather forget. A piece rooted in cowardice and fear. Living in the underground is will lead you to misery, and a lot of people I know live in it every single day. The novella is great and Wood’s article is also an interesting read that will tell you more about terroist psychology than any media network or psuedo psychologist on Twitter.
Side note: This article also applies to our mass shooting epidemic.
Media: 13th
The part of the film that struck me the hardest were the pictures and videos of real American slaves. The history books don’t show the colorized pictures of human beings in chains. People that look like my friends. Chained up. Whipped. Dehumanized. It sounds unfathomable, but it was the reality only 150 years ago, and, if you watch the movie, you’ll realize slavey still exists today.
Quote
He’s not a coward, he’s the epitome of all the cowardice in the world walking on two legs. He has the heart of a chicken.
Dimitri Karamazov, The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Dimitri is questioned by the investigating lawyer and the prosecutor of their town about the murder of his father. They ask whether if one of his father’s servants, Smerdyakov, could have killed his father.
He said, he had been suspecting it, but there is no way, since he’s not just a coward, but a combination of all the cowardice in the world.
There’s no deep meaning to this quote, but I like it becasue he contradicts himself with such passion.
"He’s not a coward.”
Okay, I believe you.
But then, I lied to you just now, because, he’s such a coward, that there is no bigger coward in all the world.
Experience:
I want this section to be a human moment from my week.
A friend from college invited me to my first Brooklyn block party. I didn’t really know what to expect. I hadn’t seen the friend since COVID (he was always more of an acquaintance than a friend) and I didn’t know anyone else there.
But I canceled my other plans to go to the blockparty, because A.) You should always go to the first thing someone invites you too and B.) I needed to experince a Brooklyn block party.
When I got out of the subway stop and started walking toward the party I saw a guy walking in the same direction and complimented him on his hat. We started chatting and I found out we were going to the same party.
Once I met him, I knew the vibes we’re going to be good.
Was I the only white person there?
Sure.
Did it matter? Of course not.
I had a lot of fun, met new people, and ended up staying for 6+ hours.
At one point another melanin-short brother walked up to me and smiled. wtf does this clown want, I thought. I’m not going to shake your hand in solidarity. Okay, we’re white. Whoopty whoop. I’m just tryna have a good time. I don’t need to be your friend because we look alike.
After, a while we ended up running into each other and talking. It was exactly what I expected. A boring conversation with all the subtleties expected from a WASPY gentlemen. At one point, I got sick of talking to him, so I asked if he wanted a beer and got up to “get one”.
Except I never got one. I know, I know, I know, not a classy move from your humble narrator, but a move to end my misery nonetheless.