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SHOWS
Thursday, December 14th: Hai Comedy in Denver
THIS SATURDAY December 16th: Julian Stern Keeps Trying in DENVER
***IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE IN DENVER, PLEASE FORWARD***
Wednesday, December 20th 7pm: Julian Stern Keeps Trying in NEW YORK (Free!)
Wednesday, December 20th 9:30pm: Also hopping on a show at Tiny Cupboard!
Sunday, January 7th 9:30PM: The Hollywood Comedy
Saturday, January 13th 7:30pm: Undiscovered Genius at The Hollywood Improv
Hello Sternal Journalists!
I’m very excited this week to be able to guest-stack (is that what we call it? I don’t know) from the wonderful Substack of Mallory Kassoy, #MalCrushMonday.
Unlike the Sternal Journal, which is unbound by genre or niche or format and therefore can be hit-or-miss, #MalCrushMonday has a strict and elegant format.
Every week, Mal (or the occasional guest writer) shares something they are crushing (doing well at), something that is crushing them (being brought down by), and something they are crushing on (you know—flirty-wirty-lovey-doveying).
What I love most about this format is that in a quick and organized jolt, it reminds me that we are all doing well, we are all struggling, and we are all finding things to love throughout.
So for this week’s Sternal Journal, I thought I’d give a little sneak peak at the “What I’m Crushing” portion. Enjoy!
What I’m Crushing
Marginal gains, baby!!!! I’m a runner and I have been for over 20 years.
(I know that running and working out in general can be eye-rolly at best or traumatic at worst, so let me just say before I go on that my relationship with running is much more mental and dare-I-say spiritual than physical at this point, and I think the thing I’m going to talk about regarding it can be applied to any thing you love or once loved or would like to one day love).
Though I’ve never doubted my identity as a runner, I’ve definitely lost steam over the past year or two in terms of my consistency with it. I told myself as things started to drop off that this was okay and I shouldn’t be hard on myself (which is good), but what I also did was I kept comparing my current relationship with running to my relationship with running when I was physically in the best possible shape and running a marathon or half marathon pretty regularly.
Which is BAD!
It’s bad not only because obviously comparison is the thief of joy bla-bla-bla-etc., but also because by comparing my current running self to my old running self, I was stopping myself from running even when I could!
I kept telling myself, “Next week, we’re gonna get back to baseline,” but I was trying to get back to a baseline that I was no longer comfortable with. And so I did two things:
1. I told myself, “whatever you ran this week is your new baseline. No negotiation.”
2. I instituted a thing I call “short ass runs.” They are exactly what they sound like. Runs that are much shorter than even my typically shortest runs.
This made it possible for me to stop chasing something I was currently incapable of achieving and also, by letting myself run way less on individual runs, it actually made me run more because I was able to fit runs into much smaller windows of free time.
Now, after nearly a year of trying to get back to my old routine, I’ve finally given myself the grace and space to instead create a new routine. And wouldn’t you know it, I’m finally seeing growth in this habit I love.
Whatever you’re trying to get back to, I hope that this week, you spend some time letting yourself realize you might already be there.
Wow, so uplifting! Don’t you want to find out what is absolutely crushing the very same guy who wrote this? And then what is bringing him a bit of joy throughout? Well, in order to do that, you’ll have to Subscribe to check out and/or subscribe to #MalCrushMonday!
But now…
Recommendations!
Stepped Into the Building. Music Video. Okay, I’ll spoil that this is one of the things I was crushing on, but NOT the only one! I am obsessed with these septuagenarian UK Drill rappers Pete & Bas. I am obsessed with this song because they do a very cool thing where the hook is actually eight and a half bars (and/or it starts a half bar early) meaning they can start the hook while they’re still in the previous verse. They probably didn’t invent this as a device, but it’s very cool and produces a kind of lyrical vertigo effect. RECOMMEND!
Sam and Vinny Save The World. Podcast. I was recently on this new podcast (episode two!) where comedians Sam Mamaghani and Vinnie Falcone try to tackle very difficult to solve world problems and have some fun along the way. They had me on to talk about my experience volunteering with homelessness organizations. I hate how my hair looks and I think I said a few factually incorrect things, but this is probably the most substantial all-in-one-place record of anyone asking me to explain everything I understand about the housing crisis in LA.
May December. Film. I feel like I am the last person to see this Netflix movie, but I enjoyed it. I absolutely love that it was nominated as a comedy for the Golden Globes. More awards shows should put pretty dramatic movies with laugh out loud moments in comedy categories. Comedies can hold their own and I think dramas are just scared. Also, I think this movie is all about social media and coastal elitism without directly being about either (or at least the former).
What Now? With Trevor Noah: Sam Altman. Podcast Episode. We all know I’m obsessed with AI, but I was especially obsessed with the drama of OpenAI’s CEO being ousted and brought back within 48 hours so I had to listen to this interview with him basically a week after it all went down. I think it’s an interesting listen from a “don’t define yourself by your work” perspective and a “quick refresher on how close things we think are very futuristic could be occurring.”
Alrighty, that’s all this week! If you’re in Denver, come to my show!
For making it this far, here is a picture I made my friend Chris take of me when I ran into him on mile 7 of my 10 mile run (longest run in a while!). You never know what fun friend shenanigans or opportunities for narcissism will occur when you’re getting back into something you love!
Alrighty, great to chat to ya!
Much love!
Julian
P.S. I spend anywhere between two and twelve hours a week on the Sternal Journal. If you enjoy receiving it (and are RICH) consider becoming a paying subscriber. For just a few bucks a month, you can provide me with a bit more time to come up with fun topics, poems, and interviews; and you with probably fewer typos.