For most of us, life is not like a sitcom. We don’t meet up with our friends every single day at Central Perk or MacLaren’s or Cheers, but we do have our spots that we prefer over all others. We may not go there all the time, but we feel most comfortable there. It is where we are in our element, where we invite everyone to join us. It is our home field, as it were.
Mine was Memphis Taproom.
So I was quite dismayed a few weeks ago when I read the news that it would be closing its doors for good.
Ancient Rome was a crowded place. There were all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds and social statuses jostling in the streets. It would have been difficult to make your way through the mass of humanity.
Of the numerous casualties of the digital revolution, one of the most disheartening is the demise of the magazine.
As both my personal and professional lives became not just busier, but also more complex, my writing output — and my readership and reach — has declined.
However, I do feel like almost everything I do publish these days is worthy of being clicked on and read. I couldn’t always honestly say that. Still, some things are better than others so I’ve collected the best things I wrote this year — a tradition that dates all the way back to 2015. It’s like my own personal literary version of Spotify Wrapped.
So please take a look below and, if something strikes you as interesting, please give it a click.
Three is more than two.
That simple mathematical fact, which had been largely overlooked for decades, has completely changed the National Basketball Association. Today’s game is nothing but guys shooting from deep. There’s no more to it than that.
Right?
Maybe not.
The 2023 NBA Draft is shaping up to be one of the rare instances in which there are multiple prizes.
In fact, experts are saying that this draft class may even have four or five players that could help transform a franchise. However, there is an absolute consensus that Victor Wenbanyama and Scoot Henderson should go first and second in the draft, respectively.
While Wenbanyama appears to be a generational talent and is the most hyped prospect since LeBron James, Henderson would be the top pick in almost any other year, so whatever team ends up in the second spot will have a hell of a consolation prize.
Still, that team should be wary. Rarely do the top two picks end up being the two best players in that class.
In fact, it has not happened more than five times since 1960. Five times in sixty years.
I have been thinking about it for years.
I used to be a Twitter superuser, tweeting multiple times per day, interacting with both close friends and complete strangers, using it as a place to get both information and laughs, and everything in between.
In recent years, though, it stopped being fun. There are a multitude of reasons for that. The vitriol. The anger. The constant arguing over race, politics, and culture. The bad began outweighing the good.
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”
– Jim Rohn
Why don’t most New Year’s resolutions succeed?
Cross another off the concert bucket list.
“N—as rhymes be aight but they need hooks”
— Jadakiss
Rappers and hip-hop artists of a certain type value lyricism (“bars”) over pretty much everything else.
As a purist, I appreciate that, but I think it ignores a vital yet rare skill that only some MCs possess, even those that can fill notebooks: the ability to write and deliver a great chorus.
MC’s that can craft an intricate hook hold a higher spot in my personal rankings and the LOX have some of the best rap choruses in hip-hop history.
The Passion of Christopher Pierznik 