Let’s all touch grass together

You’ve got a whole life to lead!

September 01, 2026

Let’s talk about the death of the Club Scene. I know it’s preposterous to think about now, but we all used to be out in the club in our business casual outfits, our sky high (for some reason, as was the fashion at the time) stilettos, our unapologetic dancing, every goddamn day! Monday? Pregame at Meatless Mondays at the diner with booze and smoking inside. Tuesday? Ladies’ Night where all the women get in for free and/or DRANK for free for the first two hours. Wednesday? Hump day! Or Wine Wednesday! Thursday? Thirsty and involved getting a pitcher solely for yourself to drink as though that is normal consumption. Friday? It’s fucking Friday! Saturday? House party that moves around to the bars. Sunday? It’s the last day of the weekend, let’s go out! It’s exhausting to think about now, but we really did that shit. We pranced, we acted like idiots, we kissed strangers. Honestly I still wouldn’t trade those sloshed and sloppy nights for anything.

Nowadays though, you can’t get people into the club on a Friday night. We used to house party as often as we went to the clubs, but now it feels like we lived inside some kind of magic act. We took pictures of EVERYTHING, we named album titles on Facebook like we were trying to win some kind of prize, our lives were different in a non-replicable way. The computer and the internet stayed at home in the computer room (another thing that used to exist), and the clubs were a way to blow off steam or excitement or whatever you needed them for AND they were also a way to meet people. Meeting people in person now is a highly cultivated skill. Everyone is worried about being cringe, about different levels of privacy pirating, about looking silly. Don’t let that stop you! Some of the best relationships I’ve had have come from meeting out in the wild. You’re in the same place, surely you must have something to talk about.

The Club Scene has also slowly died out thanks in part to the rise of location based dating apps. This is a MUCH bigger topic than I’m prepared to cover in the last paragraph here, but they’ve basically erased dating culture. Why go out to a club when you can cherry pick your connections from the comfort of your pajamas? To that I say, you’ve just gotta dance sometimes. The government can’t stop you.

RIP, Queen.

As usj, we've included things coming in the upcoming month, and a look at what's happening on our Patreon (which you can join for ~as little as a dollar~) & Discord which is open to all!

Theydees and Themtlemen, to the feelings:

STELLA:

As I’m writing this I’m sitting by my cat Hermia who is in her final days. I’m so fucking sad. She has a rare form of leukemia and isn’t responding to chemo. She’s only ten. She’ll be the third cat I’ve had to say goodbye to in seven years and the second who was fairly young. It always sucks but she’s just literally maybe the sweetest cat ever created so it feels extra cruel. Kiss your cats and puppies extra for Hermia. 

All that to say I’m just kinda too sad to write a lot so my section might suck. 

Here are two articles I read and liked. One is about how we talk about media for kids and how our black and white thinking will not save them from the scary internet. One is about Elliot Page in the odyssey. I haven’t seen it - lol a three hour movie when I have to get a baby sitter? No. - but the article is very good. 

I’m also currently spending all my money on vinted. I got Clark’s entire fall and winter wardrobe second hand plus some Star Trek books and old muppet vinyls for me. Reduce, reuse, recycle but make it addicting. 

Bangers from my bookshelf: 

I read/reread all of Heartstopper. It’s just so sweet. I needed sweet. 

Reread Dennis Hopless’ Spider-woman. It holds up and hits waaaay harder now that I have a kid. 

Banger books from the library: 

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke is worth the hype though I’m glad I read Like, Follow, Subscribe by Foresta Latifi and watched a documentary about Ruby Franke first. 

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon was one of the most unique books I’ve read in a while. Not capital H horror but definitely check it out if you’re into mushroom fever.

ERIN:

We lost two overwhelming forces in performance this last month and boy oh boy am I sad about it. Tim Curry helped change my life with Clue and Rocky Horror Picture Show. He lived unabashedly and demonstrated right up through the end how you handle fame. Even harder for me personally was the loss of Dolly Parton. She was my very first concert I ever went to, at the Michigan State Fair, and I don’t remember anyone else performing though I’m told Little Richard opened for her. I think the lives of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry are examples for us all - live your life to the fullest you can and share that love with everyone around you. Live so the Muppets say a teary goodbye.

Okay, on to less sad things.

Alright well, maybe not, since I want to talk about prowrestling for a minute. We’ve been pretty removed from the post COVID wrestling scene, I’ve been to a few AAW shows and watched some of AEW online, and I’m feeling real bummed about it. There was a time ten years ago where wrestling and wrestling culture were inextricable parts of our lives. And the feeling must be going around because I’ve had a handful of people reach out to me this past month where we wound up talking about the wrestling days of yore and how much we all missed them. How it was the right place at the right time, and we all got to be inside of it, together. It was our own personal heist of time. I really want to love wrestling again but I also want wrestling to love me back again. We were all different people then and look at us all now. Still in love with the game even if it’s only just a little bit. (I was there for that video btw and man, I fucking miss it.)

I wrote this all before New Level debuted at All In and doesn’t that feel like a great sign from the universe.

Best books I read in August: 

Where Are the Snows by Kathleen Rooney a book of poetry that's really accessible and reads beautifully. Mortality and anti-capitalism, comedy and anger, it’s got something for you! I know I really liked a book when I take a ton of notes, which is what I did with this book. Here are some of my favorite lines:

  • “Death as phenomenon, death as a concept.” - Atmospheric Water Vapor Frozen Into Ice Crystals 

  • “time is a virus that infects us all” - Pedestrian Access

  • “Fake it till you make it is not exactly right. Harvest what helps and weed out the rest.” - A Quiet State After Some Period of Disturbance

  • “I haven’t got faith but I’ve got an aesthetic.” - A Talisman Attracts, An Amulet Repels

  • “Want to have your mind blown a little bit apart? Space is only an hour away if your car could drive straight up.” - The Physical Universe Beyond the Earth's Atmosphere

And i know I KNOW - the names are weird and it’s hard to get past them! Honestly though i say let them roll off your back and just read the body text. Maybe read the titles after reading the body text, maybe never read them! Poetry is accessible if you let it meet you where you are and work from there. Poetry is like music, you just have to find the right groove for you.

A Good Person by Kirsten King. An absolutely batshit ride from top to bottom. I cannot recommend it enough. I cringed my way through it and had to keep putting it down and literally walking away from it and it was worth it. Especially recommend if you liked My Year of Rest and Relaxation.

PRODUCER BOBBY:

Last newsletter was both yesterday and three months ago. Music festival was amazing (they have now started a record label and are releasing some local/native bands!), came back home to a lot of work stress and a partner with covid so immediately disappeared for another two weeks. So what do I do? Completely redo my office like a very sane person. But adjusting my surroundings isn’t something I have gotten to do often, and we resigned our lease for this place! 

My therapist has been encouraging me to make disposable art as part of IFS processes and it’s been GREAT. I’m not adept at visual (ok, any) art, but having something be messy and imperfect and unseen that visualizes a concept I’m currently wrestling with feels really good. Trust art, trust yourself. 

R E C S

Games:

Big Walk - A game for groups of people that we found out is better for us as a two-player date game! Discovery, fun puzzles, sound and colors. But it needs the RIGHT group... or just the right one other person.

ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies - Turns out, I like being an emotionally scarred spy with an inferiority complex a lot more than I did a cop. For some reason, I bounced off of Disco Elysium hard and still have never finished a playthrough. This kept me, though. Enough to want to start another, opposing strategy run almost immediately. Try not to save scum! It does a really good job of progressing a story through failure. 

Music: 

So I usually do a great job of giving bandcamp or direct purchase links here to support artists, but so much music I have an interest in has come out in the last month that I won’t do that this time. Support artists directly! Okheresalist:

Erykah Badu and The Alchemist - Before The World Blows: Hazy, layered, funky, out there as fuck.

Dinosaur Jr. - There Near: Solid old man grunge from Grandpa Mascis and co.

Dos Santos - Es Amor: Psychedelic cumbia from Chicago. Fantastic dance music to create your own home nightclub with because of what Erin wrote!

Mastodon - Marrow Deep: I have... so many thoughts and feelings about this record. It’s good, but not flawless (compared to their classic shit), and the rare album where intermittent synth spoils the vibe instead of enhancing it. It’s an interesting look at very loud very real very public grief. Would love to sit and yap about this with ANYONE who gets it. 

Russian Circles - Nine: One of the best albums by a band that doesn’t miss! Instrumental post rock that decided to get a little heavier and black metal-er (I barely knew ‘er) this go about! 

The Warning - Everything’s Falling: For fans of Evanessence, Lacuna Coil, Spiritbox, maybe even Chevelle. You get it and are already looking for it if this would be your thing. 

The Selecter - At The BBC: The Complete Recordings 1979-1981: More dance music for the dining room dance party. Classic ska from one of the tightest live bands. 

Rapsody - God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops: This will loosen your hips right up!

Open Mike Eagle and Kenny Segal - DOOMED!: Immersive, intelligent, honest, humorous breakup album from one of my favorite lyricists and very much “my style” beatmaker.

REZN - Cycles In The Infinite Dream: Psychedelic doom metal from Chicago. Every album evolves and grows sonically. See them live if you can. Not for a stage show, but for pure sound immersion. 

I haven’t gotten to the new Mike D, Chelsea Wolf, or Linda Lindas albums but what did I miss?!

(One of us had to post this)

This month’s Links 4 U:

  • Not Your Demographic is on the rise again. 2 kids later and we’re back at it

  • Follow our Instagram: @nydproductions you can get show announcements, hilarious clips, a truly unhinged array of reposts, and general revelry. (Upscroll? Erin is squatting her name)

  • Can you believe in 2026 it’s Tumblr!

  • Bluesky @nydproductions - a landscape of infinite potential

Exclusive to our Patreon (it's only a dollar!) and open for all Discord!

  • Join the book club in September! We missed an August date so we’re carrying on and over. Discord has all the (virtual, do not worry) meetup information!

  • Xtras on the Patreon include:

    • Unofficial Channels archive is there 4 u

    • All the show notes for every episode of X-treks

    • All of the Erin’s Not Your Demo After Darks are available

    • Upcoming projects theoretically go here….

And in the Discord, let’s hang out! We’ve got lots of cool little internet rooms.

  • Wrestling talk???? NEW LEVEL THOUGHTS?! The channel exists..

  • Seriously, the Spider-Man memes are top notch

  • Give us your raves and rants in the NYD channel  

  • Erin’s back reading through smut in Stella’s Link Lounge! She’s also documenting it on our Instagram highlights, where you can view the four (4!!) part reaction video from the Peggy/Stan venture. Someday my search criteria will come.

In a world of assholes, be a Dolly.