Because I’ve been working multiple stressful jobs for the past year, I suddenly hit a wall last week. Luckily, I already planned to take a week break from my day job. Since Steve and I didn’t have the energy to organize a trip to Paris, we ended up staying at home. Which was precisely what I needed. I should have used that time to finish off some writing and to paint Jonah’s old bedroom. Instead, I mostly loafed around. 

Bed rotting, so popular with the Gen Zers, is sometimes necessary. I’m not going to judge them, because I needed that time to sit in bed and play Sudoku for hours on end. After five days of that, I’m nearly back to normal. 

Speaking of five, it’s FIVE FOR FRIDAY — the end-of-the-week newsletter dedicated to the random and the weird. 

Kirk and Kimmel

With my lingering burnout, I have been unable to finish a coherent newsletter about Charlie Kirk. I took a couple of runs at the topic, but I never published them. I do think that any commentary on Kirk’s assassination will benefit from a few months of serious thought, so I don’t feel too bad about missing the boat. 

Heart of Darkness:

I’ve been bummed out about Charlie Kirk’s assassination all week. I was clearly not a fan of this conservative stuntman, but he wasn’t a bad guy. In fact, I admired his interest in debating ideas with anybody who came up to the mike. He certainly didn’t deserve a bullet to the neck. 

I guess what’s making me feel more sad is my basic neurosis. I’m worried that this assassination is going to push the country to a place beyond politics. I’m concerned about nihilism. 

Based on what I’ve read so far, Tyler didn’t have a straightforward political slant. He was brought up a Republican, but he had a transgender furry partner. Rather, Tyler was an entirely modern entity — extremely online, four-year college dropout, and probably living in the same toxic goo of despair as so many other young men. 

Hot Takes:

Almost everyone has a hot take on Charlie Kirk’s assassin, Tyler Robinson, and on the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel. I’m going to do my hot takes in ten seconds:

Tyler Robinson was like too many young men today — sad, confused, extremely online, and a recent dropout from a four-year college. Don’t look for politics. It’s not there. He’s a pathetic young man. 

Free speech is a good thing, and cancellations sucks regardless of who is doing it. 

Here’s one extra: Stop it, people!

Read more at Apt. 11D, the newsletter