I CAN FEEL THE WHEEL BUT I CAN’T STEER
Ending my week at my new job. It was employee appreciation week and they cooked breakfast on Monday; the entire floor smelt like bacon for the remainder of the week, combined with the smell of Lysol and shitty coffee to create a particularly disgusting aroma.
Returning to the usual quirks of office work in the American tradition has been interesting. Working in an office again feels strange after a few years of working from home and six months in a coffee shop, especially because it is the same office I worked in for two years before that.
In my spare time, I wandered around the building feeling like a ghost haunting the labyrinth of greige carpeted halls, taking note of the desks of former colleagues now occupied by unfamiliar faces, passing the tables where I would occasionally eat lunch. Despite my attempts to inspire a sense of nostalgia, I was more consumed by the ambivalence I feel about my return. Being laid off and returning to the same employer feels a bit like willfully strolling back into the slaughterhouse.
THE MORE POWERFUL THE WORK THE MORE POWERFUL THE WORKER... LABOR PRODUCES MARVELS IT PRODUCES PALACES IT PRODUCES BEAUTY
Christian Rodriguez is a Phoenix native on a mission to reintroduce quality and craftsmanship into everyday essentials.
The internet has forever altered the way designers and brands interact with their consumers resulting in an emphasis on high output: more drops, more marketing, and more peeks behind the scenes to retain engagement. Rodriguez is taking a new approach, only providing links to completed work and revealing very few details regarding the process, drawing an iron curtain between the artisan and customer. With a clear vision for the future, Rodriguez is setting his own standard; anyone with sense best take note.
What motivated you to delve into the world of handmade goods?
Quality speaks loudest in any product, so it was important to me that I produce something that is of high quality. Putting out a product that is handmade has kept me adherent to that standard. I released the beanies with the intent that they’d be used for years, which you can only get with something you take your time with and put real effort into. I find confidence in knowing that I’m producing well-made items. Quality over quantity, always.
How did you land on knitting?
I’ve always enjoyed clothing and fashion. I learned how to knit back in the 6th grade. So why not get two birds stoned at once? My schedule is all over the place right now with different commitments so I’m not stressed about putting out drop after drop, just taking my time with production and releasing something when I really feel it’s ready.
Did you set out to design things you’d wear?
Definitely – this started out as a hobby for me and then friends expressed admiration. When people showed interest in what I was making I figured why not use this to create something others could enjoy too?
That being said, do you think you would branch out and design something you wouldn’t wear?
I would never design something I wouldn’t wear. That wouldn’t feel genuine, ya feel me?
ABUSE OF POWER COMES AS NO SURPRISE
A train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio is currently emitting massive amounts of carcinogenic compounds into the air. To make matters worse, Transportation giant Norfolk Southern, whose railway subsidiary operates over 19,000 route miles, seems to be operating hand in hand with the local government: last week reporter Evan Lambert was pushed to the ground, forcibly handcuffed, and arrested for ‘trespassing’ while reporting at a press conference, charges that have since been dropped. The company has a strong lobbying presence and has been doling out preparedness grants to emergency response and non-profit organizations in the areas that they operate, building dependency and increasing local departments' willingness to "play ball" with the company in suppressing information.
This past Wednesday, James Justice, a representative of the US Environmental Protection Agency, said in a briefing that "all the readings we've been recording in the community have been at normal concentrations, normal backgrounds, which you find in almost any community..." And while authorities have assured those who were evacuated that any immediate danger has passed, many residents of East Palestine are worried about both the short and long-term consequences of exposure to carcinogenic chemicals, concerns which are bolstered by reports of pets falling ill or dying. In a video recorded by a local resident, a shoe is thrown into a nearby creek, the water rippling and dancing with a distinctly slick film.
I won't have enough time to address the few other incidents involving hazardous materials and transportation that have happened since or the plastics manufacturers that are on fire, but I would like to say that I think something very sinister is happening.
I’m no expert on the matter but it seems as though there could be a through line between the railroad strike that loomed at the beginning of the year and the series of events that led to the fateful derailment. What I do know is that the residents of East Palestine are being actively poisoned and the United States government is failing to provide a response proportionate to the acute nature of the disaster. We know the resources exist; plenty of them have been paraded out and shipped abroad with typical performative American smugness – gift-wrapped with a bow from the self-appointed moral arbiter of the international community.
PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT
In June of 1959, Mark Rothko took a break from the Seagram murals and traveled to Europe with his family. Upon his return to the United States, he went to dine at the newly completed Four Seasons. Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles (1959) hung on the wall as a stand-in for Rothko’s soon-to-be-completed commission. For a man who once proclaimed it was “criminal to spend more than $5 on a meal,” it comes as no surprise he found the experience off-putting. Later that night he called Irving Sandler and informed them that he would be returning every cent of the commission and reclaiming his paintings.
Anybody who will eat that kind of food for those kinds of prices will never look at a painting of mine.
WHETHER YOU’RE CLOSE OR NEAR I DON’T WANT YOU HERE
The situation with the Suns is looking dire. I’m not Shams nor Woj and wouldn’t call myself a basketball enthusiast, but I do watch and indulge in the spectacle. I don't think sacrificing skilled (and beloved) role players for a superstar will right the sinking ship that is the Phoenix Suns at this point but I do believe it could have helped had it taken place at the beginning of the season.
I'm still waiting for the sheriff, Slim Zangrif, to send out a new issue of his newsletter before I conjure up any more uninformed opinions.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUMAN RIGHTS
In a just world, an H.R. documentary would already be in the works; in the meantime, a collection of a few thousand words on H.R. and Bad Brains is necessary not only to tell his story but to commit to writing the importance of the men to which we are so indebted and upon whose shoulders we stand.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUEY P. NEWTON
THE TRUE REVOLUTIONARY IS GUIDED BY GREAT FEELINGS OF LOVE
Bad Brains, ROIR Tape
BLPKosher, Inferno
Get With This, Chaos Becomes Life
Lana Del Rey, A&W
LUCKI, Flawless Like Me
Onionizm, Life Runs Like A Faucet
Pixies, Doolittle
RX Papi, Foreign Exchange
Sentence, Dominion On Evil
How Long Gone, Episodes 455 & 456 ft. The Goo Goo Dolls
Joe Budden, Episode 601 “Press Pay To Play”
A Unified Theory of the Trad Health Food Influencer gq
How A Book About America’s History Fortold China’s Future newyorker
FREE TRON
THERE IS A PLACE IN HELL FOR ME AND MY FRIENDS
That’s it for this week – you can anticipate this once a week with a similar format and varying genres of content. Please subscribe and share.
If you ever want to discuss anything featured in these dispatches, please email me hello@tylerhasagun.com