Today in Tabs: Graduation Day

And with the official beginning of winter we say farewell to another Tabs Intern. To the family of Intern José: he was diligent and thoughtful, and he gave his all to the sacred cause of newslettering. Before he disappeared into the strangely warm fog that has settled over us in a thick blanket, ending any hope of seeing this year’s Christmas ghosts, he left the following note taped to the wall, hand-written but still in markdown for some reason:

My Tabs internship is over. What’s next? I don’t know. A thing that I learned during this internship is that I like writing and that I’m not terrible at it. Rusty’s ongoing coverage of journalism on the Internet, however, is terrifying to me. And who actually makes it in the music industry? Jenn Pelly’s smart and passionate article about G.L.O.S.S. and Downtown Boys makes me feel like I am indeed involved in something meaningful, whether it’s making music or writing criticism. The idea of “making it” doesn’t really matter as much as being close to something beautiful. This pursuit has been the one constant in my life—it led me to Seattle, where I’ve had the opportunity to make music and meet a lot of wonderful people.

I am greatly indebted to the DIY venues where I met my friends and learned how to be in a rock band. Seattle has fewer spaces now than it did before, but when the housing market goes “soft” maybe we can score some new territory. And by “we” I mean you—I’ve had my fill of running a venue. DIY shows are just better, and in the face of rapid gentrification that forces beloved venues to close, It’s easy to concentrate on what is lost. I’d rather try to figure out how we can keep going. Seattle has very good rock journalists and a total lack of interest in fricking with bands called Cuntz or Black Pussy. We’re not fragile; we’re not PC warriors. We’re just making spaces that are slightly better than the rest of this wasteland.1 And I think we’ll figure it out.

In related #communityarts news: KEXP has a new tricked out studio. Holy smokes! I hope they let Neighbors play there after I kinda made fun of them in one of my tabs. Cokemachineglow did a very thoughtful but conceptually intensive year end list where they also announced that they are done publishing. This is a true bummer for me. Despite having known about the site for a while, I didn’t really pay much attention until I read Christopher Alexander’s review of Art Angels. Emily Nussbaum, claiming to hate lists, compiled a list anyway, and said interesting things about the biased lens through which we evaluate “prestige TV.” The Atlantic thinks these were the best podcast episodes this year. I’m confused—why would you name your article “Beyond Serial” and then place an episode of Serial at ninth place?

I applied for the Today In Tabs internship not really expecting to get it. But the people2 have spoken! So thanks to my mom for raising me with an eye towards institutional validation and an allergy to all things tacky; my dad for not blinking when I said “I’m going to work a service job and try to make it as a musician”; my partner, Claire, for encouraging me to apply; and Rusty for being generally chill and teaching me the way of the tab. I’d also like to thank Carles for opening my eyes to the potential of the Internet as a site of creative cultural criticism. Did I say criticism? Sorry, I meant cynicism.

As much I’m going to enjoy sleeping past 7AM, I can already tell I’m going to miss this. I’m not sure what it is. The money? The power? The Soylent? Rusty said that y’all might be seeing more content from me in other outlets—I sure hope that turns out to be the case! Maybe I can write for you? Maybe you’re a music supervisor and producer type that needs a composer. If you’re in a band, I can record and mix you. Anyway, if you need me, you can find me in the basement, covered in Soylent, playing with Ableton.

Today’s Song: Bob Dylan, “Queen Jane Approximately“

~I don’t give a damn about my tab reputation~

Thanks José! We will miss you. Well, I won’t miss you, because none of you interns ever seems to actually go away, but they will miss you. Thanks to this month’s intern sponsors, odd bedfellows Soylent and Serious Eats. Look, one way or another you have to fuel your meat container. Why not make it delicious or easy? Or conceivably both? Food: it’s what’s for dinner and every other meal.

I’m excited to announce that next month’s intern will be artist and illustrator Meera Lee Patel, who is going to make a brave attempt at an unprecedented month of illustrated Intern tabs. It’s going to be quite something.

And that’s it for the year in Tabs! Thanks to literally everyone who helped, I hope you know who you are because I’m not going to name names here, except for Fast Company. This has been, by my count, Tabs issue #412. Here’s to fewer than 412 more!