I’m All Lost In, #92: New Woody Guthrie songs; buildings > trees!; and beta blockers.

I’m All Lost In…

the 3 things I’m obsessing about THIS week

#92

1) New Woody Guthrie

I haven’t heard these new 1951 songs yet—they’re coming out on August 14th according to an exciting NYT article. But this seems like the space time continuum handing out some beautiful and historical comeuppance.

Given that Guthrie already pinned the tail on the donkey in the early 1940s with his anti-fascist folk song “Lindbergh,” a perfect exposé of the first America First movement, this new find isn’t entirely surprising.

Wait for it:

The 13 new songs, previously known only as written lyrics, underline the variety of Guthrie’s songwriting. One standout is “Backdoor Bum and the Big Landlord,” a parable about two characters trekking toward heaven. The bum has practical skills — building a fire, cooking a stew — while the landlord weighs himself down with gold, expecting to buy his way into salvation. In a Woody Guthrie song, that doesn’t happen.

(Guthrie’s landlord at Beach Haven was Fred Trump, the president’s father. Guthrie [also] wrote a song, “Old Man Trump,” denouncing him for segregation. )

2) Tall Buildings are Cool

Thanks to my pal Glenn for pointing me to this opinion piece.

File it under the most contrarian essay ever written.

Buildings > trees this article argues, positing that as our environmental crisis accelerates, the public needs to see tall buildings and their “shadows as a form of urban cooling.”

Outlining the stunted trajectory of urban planning that has stigmatized tall buildings, this piece pushes back against the conventional wisdom that open space dappled with trees is the only and best deterrent to climate change.

Although New York and other American cities badly need more shady spaces like this, it’s far too difficult to create them. Planning codes discourage new high-rises in many neighborhoods, and urban designers claim their thousand-foot shadows make the open spaces around them less inviting. But the opposite is true on extremely hot days: The monolithic shade of buildings can actually enhance parks, playgrounds and plazas by cooling them down. As extreme heat becomes more common, urban dwellers need to relinquish their bias against daytime darkness and embrace the shadows.

While the nervous author does too much editorial hiccupping and hemming and hawing to reiterate the favored urban planning tenet that trees are awesome and that new development is problematic, he nonetheless offers a startling rejoinder.

When the air temperature is about 95 degrees and the humidity is around 60 percent, a sunny park is dangerous for healthy older adults, according to an international team of heat experts.

The essay concludes with an anecdote about finding shade under a gigantic building.

In the long run, the public needs to get over its fear of more permanent shadows. ….

In fact, that exact dynamic is playing out right now near Lands End II, the building complex that created the oasis for my son and me — in the form of four new skyscrapers, ranging from 62 to 80 stories tall, that would loom over the older towers. It’s not hard to imagine how those glassy, mostly market-rate developments could spur higher costs that could displace long-term residents. Some have already sued, many times, to stop them. But on a sweltering summer afternoon, as I pass by empty basketball and handball courts and abandoned playground slides, I can also imagine how their sweeping shadows could be an improvement.

3) Beta Blocker Dust

These light green pills have made my list before [I’m All Lost In #36, June 21, 2024]. God bless beta blockers.

The scientific concept at play in these anti-anxiety meds (or the magic) is this: As opposed to the more common mood regulating SSRI medications that literally meddle with your brain chemistry, beta blockers (Propranolol is the brand I use) reverse the physical symptoms of anxiety such as a racing heart. By slowing down your pulmonary system, beta blockers trick your brain into thinking you’re not anxious. And Shazam, you’re not.

Thanks to a generous scrip, I’ve been popping Propranolol sporadically over the past two years whenever I feel an anxiety attack coming on. To my joy, it works every time: The basketball in my throat and the weight in my chest simply vanish. I wish I’d learned about this medication when I was younger; I’d always thought I was just stuck with the high-pitched feeling roiling my chest.

Propranolol is now making it’s second official appearance on my obsessions list because “sporadic” is no longer the word I’d use to describe my self-care regime; it’s been a week.

In addition to my daily attempt at crisis containment these days, my dosage has inadvertently increased for another reason as well: Ever since my friendly doctor first prescribed me beta blockers back in late 2023, I’ve been carrying a bottle in my backpack wherever I go. My supply has since been jostled around to the point that most of the cache has been reduced to green powder. Using teaspoons and liberal guesswork, I’ve ended up binging on the stuff like it’s cocaine, licking the dusty extra debris off my finger tips.