What's IN/OUT this week

This week I searched “can dogs get weird around the full moon?” and then stopped short of actually reading the results. What was I going to do about it either way? Put crystals on her collar? Smudge her little bed? Screw it: Welcome to the coven, Dottie. 

IN: Discovering a beloved college DJ lives right here in town. I coughed up a deeply lodged memory hairball the other day, about a Thursday night dance party called Hot Knees circa 2008-ish. I found a digitized copy of my college newspaper (mummify me already) and started searching for the founding DJs. WELL. Turns out at least one of the two DJs is still spinning right here in Chicago. The Reader just published a profile on them last month — a Hot Knees mention was dropped! — so expect to see me at one of Glenna’s shows soon. I, like Dottie, am a witch. OUT: College cringe. These many (MANY) years later, I no longer look back and wince. I texted my friend Jackie when my Hot Knees memories washed over me, and we had a good cackle about baseball tees and what constituted “midwest hot” in ‘06.

IN: The Pudding. If you love interactive, digital storytelling, please spend some time with this publication. Their happy map is a great one to start with. OUT: Too much great online content. I don’t want it to go away! But I do want to be off of my devices in my down time. Changing all my away statuses to TMTC (Too Much To Consume).

IN: Being right, but on a smaller platform. In a Letter of Recommendation in the Times, the writer described growing tired of the isolation of headphones and embracing the aural chaos around him. Hmmm… does that sound familiar? From NYT: “But even ambiently, these sounds pull me from my inwardness to glimpse, however briefly, the broader range of experiences existing all around me, willingly or not.” From me: “[M]y argument for removing your headphones actually has nothing to do with safety; it has everything to do with releasing control and letting the world in.” You heard it here first. OUT: Other wearable technology. Some hero designed an app that alerts you if someone is wearing smart glasses nearby. “I consider it to be a tiny part of resistance against surveillance tech,” the creator says. The whole “We keep us safe” mantra is becoming a too-regular part of everyday life. I want to grocery shop without fear that squeezing grapefruit could become someone else’s content.

IN: My friend Tom’s viral tweet (below). The angle is killing me. OUT: McDonald’s CEO. This man clearly doesn’t like his company’s “product.” Too bad Tom didn’t get a chance to interview Grimace about the PR nightmare.

Tell me what you hated this week!