Holding Space For Pitbull: REID #217
and the Italian truck
SHORT:
I saw the Wicked movie.
It’s truly moving that “nobody in all of Oz can bring [Elphaba] down”.
If my 7th grade math teacher was there, it mightta been a different story1.
MEDIUM:
Now that the Wicked movie is finally out, it’s time for a cultural shift: retire your Elphaba riffs2 and embrace the real showdown of the season: The “A ComplEETE UnknOWn!” challenge!
Yes, I’m talking about the final line from the trailer for the Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan biopic.
I’ve been doing the challenge around the apartment this whole week and nobody seems to enjoy it. Nevertheless, I persist… like a Roomba that keeps slamming into the same chair leg over and over again (kinda sounds like that too3).
Bonus points if you pair it with a fun setup:
What’s in a hot dog? A ComplEETE UnknOWn!
Why does my cat only puke on tha carpet? A ComplEETE UnknOWn!
Did we really land on the moon? A ComplEETE UnknOWn!
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A ComplEETE UnknOWnNNN4!
I hope you played the recording after every single one of those for the full effect.
LONG:
This week we went out with some old friends (heterosexual). Many of them fall into the category I created called: women who seem like they wake up every morning and say ‘yes’.
On the Uber-ride home, I told Jess that I envied them for being WWSLTWUEMASY. Jess was like, I don’t think they actually do that. And I was like, whether they actually do doesn’t matter. They SEEM like they do. And that’s what I envy.
I am a non-binary person who seems like I wake up every afternoon and say “oh jesus christ here we go again”. And NBPWSLIWUEAASOJCHWGA doesn’t have the same ring to it AT ALL.
Comment below with who you are and who you envy.
What else…?
Jess bought Max a cat toy that’s essentially an automatic fish, its tail flailing uncontrollably like it’s auditioning for Finding Nemo: The Musical.
The idea was that Max would be more stimulated during the day while we’re both working. But Max, being Max, doesn’t care. Instead, the fish just flails pathetically next to me as I try to work from home.
Just now, Jess turned it on again while I’m attempting to write this, and Max walked away, visibly unimpressed. So now it’s just me, alone, next to this mechanical fish, its flopping tail punctuating my every thought like an extremely specific form of torture.
On the rare occasion I go into the office for my new job, it’s just been me and the IT guys in there. The other day, one stood up and shouted, “it’s Friday, you know what that means!” [I did not]. He looked at me, dead serious, and said: “Italian truck’s outside”. I peered out the window and, sure enough, there was a red truck. He went down and got half a chicken parm sandwich on ciabatta. Looked incredible.
And so, in a REID newsletter first, Snack Of The Week goes to his half a chicken parm — a snack I didn’t even eat myself5 but witnessed and gotta tip my hat to.
Do these little updates still do stuff for ppl? Will I ever say something interesting again? A ComplEETE UnknOWn!
C U Next Tuesday
Thank you for subscribing to this newsletter. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s not [it’s a lot like when people slip on ice].If this is your first time reading, pls check out the archives.
Sincerely,
Reid Pope
Bonus Jonas:
Also no Norbert Leo Butz cameo in wicked… terrible day for Butz heads… :(
All of them pale in comparison to my cishet brother’s nightly shower rendition of defying gravity when he was 10 anyway
All love to Mr. Bob Dylan and Timothee’s rendition
Jess added: Why can’t u ever remember to take out the trash/unload the dishwasher? A ComplEETE UnknOWn!
Feared accompanying him down was too intimate for our new acquaintanceship