Five shows in Atlanta this week!
Plus: Gallows Joy and Golomphouss
Est. Read Time: 5 minutes. Read Time brought to you once again by the Ashburton Energy + Hair Logistics Group, in association with the Bradley Hills Bureau of Corrections + Housing.
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SHOWS
Laughing Skull Comedy Festival in Atlanta, GA - Five shows Thurs. 10/17-Sun. 10/20:
LCSF at Argosy - Friday 10/18 at 7pm (tix $25)
Don’t Tell Atlanta in Highland Park - Friday 10/18 at 9pm (tix $25)
LCSF at NaanStop - Saturday 10/19 at 8pm (tix $25)
Best of Atlanta Showcase - Saturday 10/19 at 10:30pm (tix $45/$50)
Comedy Clubhouse at Laughing Skull - Sunday 10/20 at 7:30pm (tix $20)
***on the off chance you’re a member of Ansley Country Club, I’ll be doing a show there Thursday as well. Reply for deets!***)
And New Orleans, I’ll be coming to Hell Yes Fest 11/11 to 11/18! See ya there!
Steeeernal Journalists!
Boy oh boy, am I sorry I missed last week. This is creatively the busiest time of my life, which is very cool but also very hectic. I have still only missed three weeks total since going weekly, which comes out to about 51 weeks of Sternal Journal per year which is not too bad. But still. I promise I’m getting the hang of things again and we should be back to our regularly-scheduled programming.
Anyway, let’s just get straight back into it with a little mini double-decker SternJourn. These are two ideas I’ve noodled on recently which have nothing to do with each other, but hopefully will resonate with you in one way or another.
Gallows Joy
For a variety of reasons, one of which is related to feeling creatively busy recently and many of which are not, I have been feeling good lately.
This is not to say that everything in my life is figured out by any means or that I am lacking for things to stress or feel not great about. But I’ve just felt recently like my emotional baseline is way higher than it used to be.
Perhaps I’ll have more on why that is as I live in it a bit more (or if it goes away, I’m sure I’ll have some great perspective), but for now, I’m just enjoying it and not stressing the origins too much.
But what it has got me thinking about is that, even at my emotionally lowest, I’m (I think) a pretty “happy” guy who at least tries to find the joy in most moments, even when I’m overwhelmed or feeling terrible about something.
I have coined this general vibe “gallows joy.” It’s like the already-known gallows humor (making jokes in a time when things are really bad or dark), but it’s not just wisecracking. It’s saying to oneself, “Well, this shit sucks but I’m going to at least enjoy the enjoyable parts.”
I think I got very good at gallows joy and I think it made my life better, but I’m also wondering if there’s a limit to the positive affects of consistently indulging in happiness through a time that is otherwise pretty shitty.
Because to be clear, it’s not about pretending to be happy. It’s about actually being happy while things also suck. You hate the city you live in? You should still try to enjoy that coffee shop near your place. Don’t like going into your office? You might as well really appreciate that one coffee creamer they always have stocked.
So it’s not like you’re bottling up your discomfort so much as trying to enjoy where you’re at, no matter where you’re at. Which is good. But now that I’m, at least presently, feeling much better than I was when I engaged in the GJ, I’m like, “Why the hell was I just laughing through all that? Joy Joy is so much better than Gallows Joy.”
Hopefully, the answer is that I had to and I’m stronger and blablabla. But I have no idea and I am still thinking about it. Does any of this make sense???
Golomphouss
This is just a word I made up for when I feel like shit because I ate more than I wanted to or moved less than I wanted to. “Golomphouss.” It is kind of named for the orchestral BOM-bah-dah-BOM-bom that I imagine following me around any time I feel this way.
That’s all on golomphouss.
Okay, wow. Self-indulgent quasi-journaling and a new made-up word??? The Sternal Journal is frickin’ back!
But not until we close out with…
Recommendations!
Saturday Night. Movie. I really liked this movie, which documents the 90 minutes leading up to the first ever broadcast of Saturday Night Live. The cast is great, the tone is fun, it’s got that tss-ts-tuh-tss snappy snare-y tempo kind of like Birdman. I wouldn’t say it was heavy with emotional arcs, and from what I read, it’s not the most accurate movie in the world, but it’s a helluva joy to watch, and it’s kind of inspiring?
Sushi Glory Hole. Song. Run, do not walk, to listen to this new Lonely Island song if you haven’t already. The music video visuals are good, but in my opinion, they kinda step on the joke! I love this song and I hope you do too.
Meditations for Mortals. Book. I’m about a quarter of the way through this book by Oliver Burkeman, the author of anti self help book, Four Thousand Weeks. I really liked FTW and I’d say this book has a lot of the same ideas, but is even more accessible.
Oliver Burkeman on Modern Wisdom. Podcast Episode. But if you can’t bring yourself to read a book or just wanna dip your toe in, I enjoyed this conversation with Burkeman, which touches directly and indirectly on many of the ideas from the book. Unrelated, I had seen clips of this Modern Wisdom Guy’s podcasts all over tiktok, and lol I have just learned that he first hit the scene on the original season of Love Island. My god, reality television is really running things right now.
Anyway, that’s all for this week! Here is a picture of David Blaine and Adrien Brody I found in my sister’s Interview Magazine (it was published five years before she was born).
It has nothing to do with anything from this SternJourn, but I hope their joy was not gallows.
Until next week!
Much Love!
Julian!
Normally, I use this area to say that you can upgrade to paid if you’re rich. I hugely appreciate those of you who have, but nobody should ever feel pressured to! (Although huge thanks to my recent new paid subscribers! You have made it slightly easier to do this!) AAAAALSO though, if you’re the type to hit a like or leave a comment and you just haven’t thought of doing it on the SternJourn yet, come on in! Lemme know if you love or hate the recs! All engagement unfortunately is good engagement. But if you do not have time, get outta here and don’t worry about it! I’ll see ya next week!