Pour Me A Story, Vol. 37
feat. Alyson Lewis and the Most Midwest Dad Moment of My Life
greetings pals, and welcome to the long-awaited 37th edition of Pour Me A Story.
thanks for joining me and not unsubscribing after I absolutely missed my self-imposed deadline last week due to some absolute employment-related chaos, and also I watched a cool movie.
anyway there are many words to get to below (some of them are even good! not the ones I wrote though) so let’s get to it.
Dads Are Burnin’
two weekends ago, on an oppressively hot Sunday afternoon, I saw a tweet from one of my good Philly Twitter pals that reminded me of something I hadn’t thought of for easily a decade.
in case you aren’t familiar, Midnight Oil is one of the greatest Australian rock bands in history and their Apple Music Essentials playlist is wall-to-wall hits. it’s almost unfair to other bands.
as I said, I genuinely had not listened to the Oils or thought about them for years, long since before I left Australia for these gun-riddled shores. I had to make a run to the grocery store to pick up a propane tank for the grill, a three-minute drive at the absolute max, and I asked Siri to throw on Beds Are Burning for me. within mere seconds I had the windows down and was shouting lyrics into the Cincinnati humidity, drumming on the steering wheel all the while.
unfortunately my grilling plans were foiled (more on that later) but “blasting the Oils on a hot summer afternoon on my way to the hardware store looking for propane with which to cook dinner later” is definitely the daddest I may ever have felt.
Anyway, We Have Company
speaking of Ohio, this week we have a bonafide Buckeye State native joining us. Alyson Lewis hails from Cleveland and is a terrific writer and observer of life in general. in fact, it was Aly who both inspired and encouraged me to give this newsletter thing a shot, and indirectly makes me feel better about myself when I don’t put out an edition every week. we corresponded by email a little earlier this week.
AC: we’ve been Internet friends for a while and I can’t pinpoint exactly when or where we crossed paths but now we’re practically neighbors since we both live in Ohio. are you a born and bred Ohioan or did you move here from somewhere else? think you’ll ever get the urge to relocate?
AL: I don't remember when or where we crossed paths either! But yes, I am a born and bred Ohioan!! I'm from/live in Cleveland, OH specifically. I had a few years where I wanted to live somewhere "different," and I took my talents to the faraway lands of Columbus, lmao. I honestly don't envision myself wanting to move somewhere else. While I like traveling to other places, living in a busy city is really not for me. If for some reason I *did* move, it would be to somewhere warmer...but I don't really see that happening.
AC: a belated and repeated congrats on the resurrection of MEL Magazine, which is just so goddamn good and you know I’m a huge fan and reply guy. were you wary about talk of finding another buyer when it shut down earlier this year? I know I was pretty cynical knowing how the media operates in this country.
AL: Thank you! I actually wasn't cynical about it at all. I could see the way media was before I took the job. What’s funny is that I was telling my friends "Even if I lost my job tomorrow, which I know is possible, I would be grateful to have worked there." Then like a week later, we went on hiatus. It felt weird to be flung out into the world again for that brief moment, but I trusted Josh to do his best to find a better home for MEL. He repeatedly said he wouldn't settle for an owner that wasn't the right fit for all of us.
AC: still on MEL, I feel like the brand account voice on Twitter is very “you” for those that know you obviously. did they just like throw you the keys and say “you do you?”
AL: Yeah, they did, which is hilarious. They put a lot of trust in me to just do whatever, and it works really well. This is the only job I've ever had where I could just completely be myself.
AC: okay enough about work. HOW is your new roommate Wiggles doing?
AL: Wiggles is a perfect angel. He's actually my family's dog. We've had him for almost 12 years, and I've acted as his attorney that entire time. I'd call "court" to order in my mom's kitchen and demand more treats for him, encourage him to bark at squirrels, etc. Wigs and I are both very young in spirit, and it just made sense for him to come live with me. I'd die for my client.
AC: also I want you to know that you’re the chief motivator or inspiration or whatever for me doing this newsletter and I’m so grateful for it. when I was on the fence about doing it you were like “people don’t know what content they want to read til you make it for them” and that stuck with me so hard. and because I’ve always loved your newsletter that meant a lot. do you get struck by the lightning bolt of “I’m gonna write something about this for the newsletter” and just do it?
AL: I'm so glad you just went for it and started your newsletter. I don't know where I got that notion, that people don't know what they want until you give it to them, but it really is true. I think people are intimidated by the idea of "putting themselves out there," which is understandable, but I sort of look at things like this: I only get one life as Alyson Lewis. Why would I let a bunch of strangers punk me out? I know that people want their art to be perfect when they show it to the world, but...no art is perfect. Any artist of any medium will tell you that. But it shouldn't stop you from putting it out there. Anyway, my newsletter issues are not really planned when it comes to the writing session. I'm usually just in the house high and I start thinking about something for long enough that I'm like "OK I'll write about this."
AC: okay two more softballs and then it’s a wrap. firstly the special guest of the week gets to pick the song of the week, because I am bad at listening to anything remotely resembling “something I’ve heard 5 million times” and variety is good.
AL: I'm going to be rude, disregard the instructions, and recommend 1 track and 2 albums.
Track:
Peggy Gou and OHHYUK: Nabi
Albums:
Young Nudy: DR. EV4L
Yusef Lateef: Detroit (Latitude 42° 30′ Longitude 83°)
AC: secondly, here’s where you can plug something, anything, to your heart’s content. sky’s the limit!
AL: The only thing I'd like to promote is the sentiment that everyone should log off for a decent portion of their day and do something they enjoy.
AC: this is good advice and we should all take heed.
Worthy Consumables
as I said earlier, two Sundays ago I was like a bloodhound hunting down a propane tank so we could put dinner on the grill. when we moved in, we noticed there was a grill in the communal area on the back deck which seemed for all intents and purposes to be as much a shared amenity as the patio itself.
I had texted the landlord to see whether it worked and he said he didn’t know; some previous tenant had left it behind, so ultimately he was washing his hands of it. I gave it a rudimentary cleaning and, once I tracked down a gas bottle, I got it all hooked up…only to find it didn’t work and the rust seemed to be terminal.
this deflated me somewhat, given we’d been to the incredible Findlay Market in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood that morning and had picked up a wild combination of sausages and brats with the intention of cooking them outside over fire, as the lord intended. from hazy memory, we had buffalo chicken; chicken, mushroom and feta; pork mac & cheese and teriyaki pineapple pork brats.
as I relayed the tale of woe to my dad, he said that he had wanted to get us a housewarming gift anyway and generously offered to send me some money to put towards buying a grill, something I haven’t owned for myself since before I left Australia. and folks, grill ownership is just as good as I remember it.
we cooked on it three consecutive nights, and there’s no doubt it’s gonna get plenty of use in the coming weeks, months and years. oh and for the record: there’s no better-tasting beer than the one you drink out of a can while you’re cooking outdoors.
Parting Note
well I went and put Aly’s song choices up there in her section, so I’m throwing in a bonus joint because how could I resist dropping the Oils in here?
thanks as always for joining me pals, I hope you enjoyed. stay well, stay safe and we’ll see each other soon.
— adrian ✌🏻
my man said "gas bottle" lmao