Est. Read Time: 3 minutes + 9 minute watch. Read Time brought to you once again by the Ashburton Energy + Hair Logistics Group, in association with the Bradley Hills Bureau of Corrections.
New to the SternJourn? Check out the best of 2021, 2020, or whichever random classic this is.
UPCOMING SHOWS:
Thursday 4/21 9PM — Shut Up and Laugh (Hollywood) This will be a fun line-up, which is something people say all the time but are rarely being truthful!
Ohhh shit, oh shit, only one show coming up! Book me on more shows!
Greeeeting, Sternal Journalists!
I hope very much that the weekend of Passover, Easter, or the blissful absence of both holiday engagements and social pressure—whichever of the three you celebrate—has been meaningful and rejuvenating.
I also hope you’ve done your taxes. I haven’t, so I’m channeling my educator ancestors to do what all great educators do when there’s nothing planned: showing a video!
Yup, I went ahead and gave in to the YouTube Big-Bright-Dumb-Font aesthetic to see if it moves the needle at all, but more importantly, I’ve uploaded this 8 minute set from a recent wonderful show at Next Up’s Block Party, hosted by the young kings ShaCorey Young and Alemayu Kassa.
The last full set I shared here was a very polished, tight, and intentional bit I had been working on for months. This is much looser (hence the pull quote “Loose-ish and goose-ish”) but just as—if not more—fun.
One of the downsides of doing stand-up is that, while the internet and social media allows more and more sharing of it online, there’s always a disconnect between what it feels like on a screen versus seeing it live. But when I watch this set, a mix of polished stuff, new stuff, and brand-new riffs, I feel like (and/or hope) that the disconnect is as minimized as it gets!
So get connected and enjoy it if you want to! Now onto…
Recommendations
“Retirement the Margaritaville Way.” Article. This New Yorker deep dive on Jimmy Buffett’s self-themed chain of Florida retirement communities was warm and hilarious.
“College admission season wraps up with a rejection party, a paper shredder and joy.” Article. This LA Times article about a college counselor hosting a party for rejected students brightened my day.
Tim Urban: Elon Musk, Neuralink, AI, Aliens, and the Future of Humanity. Podcast Episode. I’m generally skeptical and weary of any podcast from the post-JRE wave of multi-hour interview podcasts, but a friend shared this episode of the Lex Fridman podcast where he interviewed Tim Urban, the creator of the prolific and always-fascinating Wait But Why blog. Fridman is an AI researcher who has some connection to MIT (though I didn’t look into it too hard) and they have a lot of interesting sub-conversations about the future of tech. I tried not to get radicalized, but at some point after a rowdy Passover seder this weekend, I did find myself drunk and ranting to Kristen about the importance of humanity being a multi-planetary species.
Wildflowers. Album. I listened to this Tom Petty album after listening to another Lex Fridman interview with Rick Rubin (who produced the album). Great stuff.
Okay! Gotta go do my taxes! Much love to all!
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.