It’s jarring to wake up one morning and realize the world has shifted on its axis. The collapsed, insular worldview of a college campus seemingly explodes overnight. The fairytale never gets its happy ending, the music stops, and the screen cuts to black.

Years from now, I wonder what I’ll say about what happened. If I’ll have more perspective and sympathy, if I’ll be even more bitter and vitriolic. That it was the kind of sweeping emotional turbulence that shakes up a generation and loses them to the current. That we never quite recovered because time heals all wounds except the ones it inflicted. That none of us woke up from the nightmare where the incongruities and uncertainties broke us.

Left us disoriented, wandering, directionless.

There are stories that begin on airplanes. A one-way flight to nowhere, or a round-trip back home. A metal vessel in the skies, floating and drifting and soaring. Think of the 12 km column of air and space that separates the thin carpet beneath your feet and the expanse of the Atlantic eager to catch you if you fall. The glimpse of icebergs and glaciers above the poles, endless blankets of white with jagged sawtooth edges. The way you feel claustrophobic in your seat, pressed up against strangers and food carts. Space that’s not yours, only borrowed. Shallower breathing that made your heart work faster and harder. Maybe you unbuckle your seatbelt and stand to stretch, eager for a breath of clean oxygen that has not been recycled twice over. Think of who you meet on that late night, early morning (time knows no bounds here) excursion for an extra bag of pretzels, hands outstretched for more. The way you reached to close that space, high up in the atmosphere.

why i’m worried about the future of tv.

normally, this week would be tv upfronts season—but since that’s no longer physically possible, i’m worried the tv industry won’t survive these times.

upfronts are the splashy events held by major tv networks three weeks into may to showcase their upcoming show programming and garner advertising interest. it’s one of the most exciting weeks of my year (it’s heaven for a tv nerd like me) because we get a sneak preview of all the new pilots and shows that we can anticipate in the fall. the bulk of ad spend for tv happens “up front,” so most of the tv advertising money moves during these upfronts events and dictates the health of the network for the coming year.

this year, we don’t have upfronts.

We love our milkshakes. It’s the drink that screams Americana, from the whipped cream and literal cherry on top.

What is patriotism, but nostalgia for the foods of our youth?”

Recently, I’ve been feeling very nostalgic. The extended time at home has stirred that yearning for the past, for younger years. It’s inspired by the craving for the foods I grew up on, the music that filled my afternoons, and the stories that shaped the way I see the world.

or: why riverdale could have been a much better show than it is

One of my favorite late night pasttimes is to watch YouTube compilations of Riverdale scenes. They are absolutely excoriating. I have spent so many hours thinking about how Riverdale could have been a better show. A much better show than whatever mess the writers are trying to pass off as melodrama with a cherry on top. To be frank, I haven’t seen an episode of Riverdale since the season 1 finale. I couldn’t get past the choppy pacing and chopped-up characters.

This show could have been incredible. It was sitting on a goldmine of potential, and its devoted teen audience has seen that storytelling potential waste away over the years. For however many more seasons the CW keeps renewing this show for, it won’t quite ever recover what the show could have been. Season 1, especially the pilot episode, felt ambient and precipitous. It felt like it was on the edge of something great and we were lucky enough to watch it unfold before us.