Best sentences I read this week: broadcast quality

“Adams does an enormous amount in terms of turning Amy into a real, fleshed out person, who, like Phoenix’s character, is a little beaten down by life, capable of great anger or sadness but still warm and alive.”

The 22 Oscar Nominations We’d Most Like To See Tomorrow (But Probably Won’t)

“Whether radios are abandoned as a matter of solidarity, convenience, or good karma, they pass from inmate to inmate, serving one sentence after another. The durable, analog SRF-39FPs have been changing hands in this manner for a decade and a half, which adds up to a lot of radios in circulation.”

The iPod of Prison

“She moves on before I can correct her. She said it wrong. She said it so wrong. I have never heard my name said so ugly before, like it’s a burden.”

The Names They Gave Me

” I sat relatively still in class, alternating note-taking and drawing doodles of hamburgers.”

The Adderall and ADHD Controversy Is Different When You’re a Woman

“It was approximately 8:55 am last Friday morning when a stranger asked for my name.”

What’s Your Starbucks Name?

“Mr. Kennel’s family could not fathom it either, he said: ‘It doesn’t fit their societal picture of success, generally. We’re doing well, so why aren’t we demonstrating that through our house?'”

Freedom in 704 Square Feet

Luggage tags

It happened suddenly and unexpectedly. One day everybody in our city had started calling it by a new nickname: YYC. Ten years ago nobody knew Calgary’s airport code except frequent flyers. Nobody knew we were YYC unless they happened to look at a luggage tag then Twitter changed everything.

I was sceptical at first. Twitter seemed like it was just a place to post what you were eating/drinking (Irish breakfast tea) and what music you were listening to (Simon & Garfunkel). There wasn’t a whole lot else going on.

Then Twitter grew up. The city got a Twitter famous mayor. When our buses were late or failed to appear we knew who to Tweet at. We got Crackmacs a Twitter account devoted to observations from a downtown apartment overlooking a notorious convenience store.

We also knew what hashtag to use (before we knew hashtags were even a thing): #yyc. That was our city, who we are, who we were to become. It would be fitting if the city were to erect a YYC statue spelling out loud and clear.

We were a community of people all in one place, and we had a new name for ourselves.