Reconstruction

OPENING MONOLOGUE

Hello there. It’s been a while, I know. This year has gotten away from me, and honestly, looking back, I don’t know where it all went. Did you take any of it? Could I have it back, by any chance?

As you can see, I’ve done some housekeeping. I moved the newsletter to Beehiiv to better accommodate what I’d like to achieve with this project moving forward. It’s cleaner and can do much more than the WordPress plugin I have been using.

I also decided to give the newsletter a proper title.

Anyway, you know the deal by now. Let’s just hope “the deal” manages to come out on more a regular schedule this time.

As always, thanks for reading. I missed you all.

Today's reading

• I’ll see you nerds tonight!

• Slow Annihilation

• The 10th Anniversary Edition of SMASHED is availab …

• “Yeah, if I'm free, yeah.”

• Hold on tight

I’ll see you nerds tonight!

Slow Annihilation

In September, we had these massive floods in southern Poland and the Czech Republic. It was devastating, with entire towns destroyed and people dead. From our view in Wrocław, we watched the water approach us in slow motion over the course of a week. By the time it was over, the Oder River — which runs through the city — rose six meters. 

Wrocław has experience with this sort of thing. In 1997 — six years before I arrived — the city had turned into a massive lake because of intense rainfall. Despite the numerous innovations and planning since then, our part of the city was still vulnerable to flooding. The water had to go somewhere.

Our community — along with the army and emergency services — came together in spectacular fashion and strategically set up walls of sandbags. On the homefront, we sandbagged our garage and other vulnerable areas around the house. And then all we could do was wait.

While Wrocław was spared, the water had reached about 300 meters from our home. The four-way intersection where my kids take the bus to school had transformed into a shoreline. The water leaned into the sandbags. I know you can’t assign a personality to water, but standing there at the edge, I could sense its disappointment.  

Eventually, the water receded. It wasn’t until things were quiet again — when the helicopters and drones stopped flying overhead, the sirens stopped blaring in the middle of the night, and the phone stopped vibrating with alerts — that I realized how anxious I had been. 

I'm in Las Vegas at my parents’ place two weeks later. I’m sitting in the living room waiting. My mother is in the back bedroom vomiting. She’s nauseous all of the time. And then there’s the pain. A good day is when she makes it out of the bedroom to the living room couch. And it’s even better if she makes it an hour before falling asleep. Though she’s always hungry, I never see her eat more than three bites of any given meal.

Nurses come and go. A chaplain arrives. When they enter, it’s all smiles and awkward small talk, and then they disappear into the bedroom. It’s an unscripted one-act stage play with the same ending — the promise of more waiting.

I try to make myself useful, especially for my father. I cook and clean. I circle the living room like a plane in a holding pattern. Will today be the day I can finally have a conversation with my mother? Or will today be the day we’ll never talk again?

On the television, I’m seeing the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Florida and North Carolina, and Hurricane Milton is slowly marching toward the Tampa Bay area. 

I still say Florida when people ask where I’m from, even though I’ve lived in Poland longer than in Florida. In fact, the home I’m in now is the longest I’ve ever lived in one place. And in nine years, I'll have lived in Poland longer than in the US. What am I supposed to say then?

On the big screen in the living room, I see a bar where I've spent countless evenings with my friends, and it's underwater. I have a clear memory of being at this place and laughing so hard that my body hurt, and now, when I think of it, I'm submerged, struggling to surface, gasping for breath.  

The water missed my home in Wrocław, but the place where I'm from is underwater. And it's only a matter of time before the water finds its way back. It's a slow annihilation, ebbing and flowing behind and in front of me. 

The water has to go somewhere.

The 10th Anniversary Edition of SMASHED is available

It feels like the world has changed for the worse since SMASHED was originally published a decade ago, which is why I thought the book needed a proper upgrade.

If I’m right and things were better ten years ago, this new edition of SMASHED can help us recapture some of that good old-fashioned nostalgia to distract us from engaging with the present and shaping the future in a meaningful way.

If I'm wrong and things weren't better ten years ago, this book can help us fuel our collective delusion and distract us from engaging with the present and shaping the future in a meaningful way.

Either way, WE WIN!

Here are the details:

With nearly 70 pages of new material, it’s a better book in every way.

But don’t take my word for it…

“Yeah, if I'm free, yeah.”

How would you like to make $200K for doing nothing?

Actor Bob Hoskins met with director Brian De Palma to play Al Capone in The Untouchables. De Palma admitted to Hoskins that Robert De Niro was his first choice to play the part, but the actor was playing hard to get.

“If Robert doesn’t commit, would you be willing to take the role?” De Palma asked.

Hoskins replied, “Yeah, if I'm free, yeah.”

If you've seen The Untouchables, you already know De Niro eventually agreed to play the part.

Weeks later, Hoskins is at home and his wife brings in the mail. She opens up an envelope. “Oh, what’s this?” she asked. Inside was a check for $200,000, with a note that read: “Thanks for your time. Love, Brian.”

Hoskins immediately called up De Palma. He said, “Brian, listen, you got any films you don't want me to be in, babe, I'm there for you any day!”

Hold on tight

I know things aren’t looking good right now. I expect things are going to get crazier next year. This is why it’s important to use this time and make sure your oxygen mask is secured and fastened. We’re going to need each other and you’re no good to anyone if you don’t take care of yourself first.

Join the fight when you’re ready and no sooner.