HEAD LIKE A HOLE
Left-handed discrimination in Major League Baseball and John Kacere
I’D RATHER DIE THAN GIVE YOU CONTROL
Life is constantly changing — it's what makes the human condition so special. I’ll be visiting New York City in October, please hit me with your recs on anything from drinking to doing drugs.
I LOSE MY USELESS HEAD FOR A MOMENT
As I sat in an unnamed Phoenix bar, smoking and drinking the night away, I couldn't help but notice that younger people are smoking again—not vapes, but actual cigarettes. Could we be headed toward a vape-less world? One can only dream. Not only are vapes an absolute eyesore, but I’ve never seen a good-looking person smoke one. You are the company you keep.
PRACTICE DISCIPLINE AND YOU START TO BECOME DISCIPLINED
Major League Baseball has been discriminating against left-handed players for over 100 years. Only a handful of players have ever caught behind the dish left-handed, and the last player to do so was Benny Distefano, who only did it for six innings in 1989. One quirky aspect of baseball is its antiquated rules and ideas, which, while somewhat refreshing in a world dominated by analytics, still persist. It should be noted, however, that baseball is rapidly moving toward analytic domination. Why does Major League Baseball seem to have it out for left-handedness when some of the best hitters and pitchers are left-handed?
There is no perfect answer to this question; some points hold weight while others do not. Throwing across your body while playing middle infield is not ideal, and throwing a runner out at second is more difficult if your ball trails left. However, back picks to third are almost guaranteed, and plays between the middle of the plate and the mound to first are better suited for left-handers. While these baseball arguments rage on, we can apply similar logic to our personal struggles. We each have a left-handed catcher in our minds that relentlessly dominates our routines and our ideas of comfortability. If only we embraced change, could things actually start to change? All this to say, don’t be afraid to try new things, and especially don’t be afraid to fail. I use this space to share thoughts on what I should be practicing in my own life. There is only one way out, and that's through.
I EXIST IN ONE THOUSAND AGONIES
John Kacere was an American abstract expressionist painter who was a pioneer of photorealism. Some have crowned him as the first photorealist painter, but he rejected this claim. I was first introduced to his work through a review of Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, where the reviewer compared the opening scene to a moving Kacere painting.
Kacere’s paintings are nearly three times larger than human scale, and he described his work as a celebration of the female form by strategically cropping out everything except the midsection. I find him fascinating and monumental not only for the sensual nature of the subject matter or the sheer size of the work but also for the extreme shift in painting style he underwent over the course of his career. While artists naturally shift into abstract expressionism later in their careers, Kacere did the opposite.
This is a celebration of blazing your own path—something I could apply to my own life.
YOUR MIND IS A HEALING PLACE
This section is going to be filed away as an IOU for a later letter. I wanted to include my thoughts on Jackson Pollock being a fed but I’ll save them for next week.
NOT FORVER JUST NOT RIGHT NOW
The announcement of the Oasis reunion is something I was genuinely shocked by, but not many words to be said – money is potentially tight for both brothers as their solo careers haven't amounted to much. Would I still pay a few hundred dollars to go see them? Yes, without hesitation. I’ve been listening to What’s The Story Morning Glory all day and it’s probably the better album of the first two. Not sure if that’s a hot take or not.
THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY AND THAT IS YOUR WAY
-Carl Jung, the red book
LIVE FORVER
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