More thought required. But I liked the #GameofThrones finale. I did not love the majority of this last season, but I thought they ended it in a fitting manner. Which is to say, a coda. Bittersweet in nature. Yes, like ‘Lord of the Rings’ and many tales before it.

— M.G. Siegler (@mgsiegler) May 20, 2019

And so it ends.

I don’t really have a hot take. Besides there are already plenty of them out on the net. For me, I may need to ruminate a bit more on the end and endings in general. Mostly, I just wish everything was a tad bit more satisfying than what we got. It’s just far too rare to hit that sweet spot. Far more easier to go for the bittersweet end and sometimes that’s enough.

Todd VanDerWerff, writing in Vox, explains in perfect detail the rise of The Big Bang Theory and why it endured for as long as it did at the top of the sitcom game. Here’s the kicker:

…the secret of The Big Bang Theory’s popularity: It was never about nerd culture so much as it used nerd culture for what felt like a novel setting when it debuted. The jokes themselves were always about sex or interpersonal relationships or the characters’ foibles. The geek references were simply window dressing.

The hatred the show generated is also an interesting point.

The Big Bang Theory’s ratings prowess — undeserved in the eyes of viewers who consider their comedy tastes more rarefied — has long been enough to mark the show as something to scoff at. But the sheer hatred the show inspires comes from a handful of unlikely other sources.

One is that in 2010, when the show was just beginning its ascension to megahit status, CBS moved it from Mondays to Thursdays. So its fourth season aired at 8 pm on Thursdays, directly opposite the second (and best) season of the beloved geek-friendly sitcom Community, which took as a point of pride its ability to actually make accurate pop culture jokes. On Community, jokes about the show’s characters were often told via their incredibly specific tastes, not the most generic version of geek culture the show’s writers could dream up.

Community’s fervent fan base helped keep it on the air for six seasons, despite it never becoming a huge hit. But its continued survival didn’t matter: Having the very traditional Big Bang Theory air opposite the much cleverer Community drew the lines for battles to come. The Big Bang Theory was fake geek culture. Never mind that it was written by math and science nerds, and never mind how many geeks really did see themselves in it. It was always, on some level, going to go for the broadest possible audience rather than the narrowest one, and that was the opposite of being a geek.

This all led to one of the more unfortunate strains of Big Bang Theory dislike — calling the show “nerd blackface,” meaning that it was built around big, trope-y portrayals of geeks that were meant to draw derisive, jeering laughter. Equating the show’s clumsy portrayal of geeks and geek culture to a decades-long history of systemically portraying black people as bumbling fools is, I hope I don’t have to tell you, pretty dang offensive. Yet the idea of describing the show in such a fashion keeps cropping up, because many self-proclaimed geeks feel like the show takes a hectoring or even bullying tone toward them.

I’ve never heard the term “nerd blackface” before and, honestly, I’m shocked by the term. The Big Bang Theory does not deserve this kind of derision.

For me, I liked the show quite a bit but it was getting tired. I missed a majority of this last season, but I’m sure I’ll catch up and I’ll laugh right along at the dumb joke about the TARDIS or Star Wars.

I’ve watched every episode of Game of Thrones. I haven’t read any of the books. The anticipation of this season and the upcoming series finale is palpable. However, after watching the penultimate episode, it seems quite obvious how the showrunners are going to end everything. I mean, I guess they could really swerve all the viewers with an out of left-field ending, but I highly doubt it.

Daenerys has turned into a “mad queen.” Sure, the “turn” has been rushed and probably hasn’t quite been earned. I mean, it’s not Anakin Skywalker into Dark Vader-level speed, but it’s pretty fast. For most of the series, she was set up to be the savior of the seven kingdoms. However, a turn like this is really par for the course of the show.

If you’ve been paying attention, the good guys don’t always win. The bad guys don’t always either. Ultimately, it’s cunning and ruthlessness that take the day.

From the Starks getting killed when they were obviously the characters we were “supposed” to be rooting for to Jon Snow meeting a nasty end (and coming back), this show has upturned traditional fantasy stories. It’s why the show and books are incredibly popular.

Nothing is ever easy in Westeros. Daenerys and Jon aren’t going to rule as aunt/nephew/lovers. Dani’s turn has sealed that potential “happy” ending. Someone is going to have to kill Daenerys, and it’s either going to be Jon or Arya. If I was writing it, Arya would take Jon’s face without killing him, meet Dani late at night and kill her. Jon would take the blame, join the Night’s Watch and rebuild the wall with Bran and possibly Drogon. That would leave the question of who sits on the Iron Throne.

It makes sense that Tyrion would succeed his sister on the throne, but Gendry Baratheon would have a legitimate claim as well. Of course, I’m not sure Tyrion survives the trial that will surely happen at the start of the last episode. Freeing Jamie was a betrayal of Daenerys, and even with the Lannister twins apparently buried under rubble, she won’t forgive him.

If Tyrion survives, I could see an alliance with Sansa in marriage, and they rule the seven kingdoms. I could also see Jon ruling just long enough to declare the kingdoms independent. Arya will no doubt go off and become an adventurer of some kind, maybe off west on the Sunset Sea. Brienne will be kingsguard to Sansa either in Winterfell or King’s Landing. Greyworm will take the unsullied and Dothraki back across the Narrow Sea to free slaves or join Jon north. Samwell Tarly could get Winterfell or become the new Grand Maester. Davos Seaworth could be on the council and maybe the new Hand.

I think they might show Gendry plotting to take the throne, but I doubt it. I’m sure the final shot will be a sigil of the Night King, letting us all know winter is still coming.

There’s a new idea that’s been floating around lately regarding productivity and dealing with the distractions of owing a device that is quite good at doing so. It’s called Brick Mode.

Thomas Sobal outlines the whys and the hows of this approach to “significantly improve” one’s life.

When my phone is in Brick™ Mode and I’m completely disconnected from the internet (at dinner with a friend, on a hike, or reading a book) anyone who texts me will get an automatic reply saying that I’m off my phone and I’ll get back to them when I’ve reconnected. This simple auto-reply relieves my “always on” pressure because I know that anyone who texts knows I haven’t seen the message yet.

It’s a smart approach. It might even mesh well with Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism.

Do you know those Pom Wonderful TV commercials where a giant “worry monster” complains about not being able to keep their human counterparts from leading healthier lifestyles? The monsters are the inner voices of anxiety. I get the hook, but I sure wish it would take just drinking some Pom to make my own personal worry monster go away.

I worry about everything.

I worry about saying the wrong thing, getting fired, being criticized, having reviews, and lots and lots of other things. Mostly I worry about things I don’t have any control over. I know I’m not alone in my anxiety.

We think we have more control over situations, but it’s not really true. However, we can control our personal responses and behaviors. How things turn out, though, and what others do or say is beyond our ability to control.

Insecurity is a result of fear. For me, most times, that fear is pushed down and ignored. It’s a struggle. I haven’t had a panic attack in a long, long time. Be that as it may, I’ve done a few things to ease those creeping thoughts of fear and anxiety.

One way to remove the fear is by acknowledging just how often our fears come true, which is quite rare. Fear is just a “what if scenario,” and the odds are the majority of those situations just don’t come true. Plus, the ones that do follow that wrong path are seldom as worse as a creative imagination might visualize.

Another thing I’ve done lately is ease off social media and 24-hour news channels. There’s far too much news, both the real and “fake” kind, which will automatically induce anxiety in me. Using Facebook and Twitter can trigger anger and anxiety even if you curate and cull it to the point of erasing much of the algorithmically-optimized crap. Curate your lists and “friends,” and you’ll feel less worried. Watch less television news and go for deep dives into news stories via magazines and newspapers instead of hot takes. Better yet, stop watching the news and delete social media altogether. Of course, I’m not there yet. I bet you aren’t either.

One thing I’m still not very good at is asking for reassurance constantly. It’s my way of easing my anxiety and worry. I look to my wife, mostly to tell me everything is fine. It’s only a part-time fix, and my wife is way better than me at recognizing my seeking reassurance than me actually asking for it. She usually puts me in my place when I do this and doesn’t reinforce the pattern. I’m not sure why I need reassurance. Sometimes I think it’s a variation on the “imposter syndrome” feeling.

When I get down to it, I’ve got enough problems in my present to worry too much about tomorrow’s imaginary problems. Of course, plan for the future but don’t hide in the corner worrying over what might happen. Worrying about tomorrow won’t make it better.

Make a plan. Be flexible. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Move forward.

And, apparently, drink Pom Wonderful.

Nicholas Bate wrote 100 words on writing and it’s delightful.

Take a sheet of paper. Blank, unlined is good and just write. But what? Well, start your novel. Or what’s worrying you at the moment? Or how about things to appreciate, things you’re excited about this week? Keep it narrative. Don’t stop: if you feel like stopping, put an ‘and’ and get on with it. Keep going and aim to fill at least one page. And you know what? After all the irritation you were feeling at the top of the page, some of that is dissipating and you have re-discovered one of the reasons to write: it’s remarkably healing.

Here’s a question I saw recently, “Would you rather believe you can’t achieve something you haven’t but that others have, or that you chose not to?”

I find this kind of internal monologue question interesting mostly because I don’t usually have internal monologues with myself. I told this to my wife and stepdaughter the other day, and they looked at me like I was an alien.

The question feels like, “do you want to lie to yourself or not?” It’s the “I can’t ask her out” versus “I chose not to ask her out.” Can’t or won’t.

It’s a mindset and one that everyone can control. Make a choice and follow through.

Want to get healthier? Choose behaviors that match the goal. Instead of “I can’t work out” or even “I chose not to work out,” why not simply avoid those internal dialogues completely and lead with “I’m going to work out.” You make it a no-brainer choice, a thing you do each day, so it becomes a habit, and you eliminate the internal question.

Believing you can’t is enough to not even try for a lot of people. You have to change your mindset. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, and having a “can’t do attitude” is detrimental.

Change your thinking and change your life.

Olga Khazan, writing in The Atlantic, has a great piece that’s superficially about noise-cancelling headphones, but does a bit of a deep dive into some of the reasons why she continually wears headphones. I loved this paragraph:

This auditory selectivity is, in some ways, part of a trend toward bespoke experiences, particularly in upper-middle-class life. Many Americans don’t befriend their neighbors anymore; they befriend people with our same hobbies and interests. We don’t date the girl next door; we date the girl who has been served up by an assortative algorithm. With the help of Facebook, we read the news we want to read, instead of the news we should. Social media connected us, and then the connection grew too close for comfort, so now we “cancel” those we don’t want to hear from.

Tim Conway passed away today. He was 85.

I remember watching the Carol Burnett Show and hoping I would catch a sketch where Conway made everyone break character. Writer John Scalzi summed up my feelings perfectly.

“It occurs to me that one day every celebrity I ever loved growing up will be gone, and it will feel a little bit like being orphaned.”

William Saletan, writing for Slate, outlines recent polls showing there are smarter ways to hold Trump accountable before the 2020 election. His ultimate idea is that the upcoming election will be the “impeachment.” I’m not sure.

I have no fantasy dream that impeachment would actually remove Trump from office, but it would shine a brighter light on his maleficence. Impeachment could play into Trump’s hands, but I’m just not sure the normal oversight process will be enough.

Personally, I think what most Americans want is a presidential candidate who can beat Trump so everyone can finally breathe easy for a bit.

[Mia Mercado](https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/what-is-writing-and-does-this-count-as-it), writing for The New Yorker, set up a “helpful” guide for those times when you are wondering if the thing you just did was actually writing. A few of the bullets –

• Writing is when you have an idea for a book and then spend three decades telling people about that idea.

• Writing is when you sit—fingertips hovering over your keyboard, cursor blinking on a fresh blank document—and open Twitter for the twenty-eighth time.

• Making lists of ideas, reading novels, scheduling time to sit down at your computer, researching new coffee shops at which to work, and establishing weekly word goals may seem like parts of writing, but they are not. They are procrastination, which, if you think about it, is actually writing in its purest form.

I’m quite good at that last one.

Luke Skywalker and Jaime Lannister are both one-handed dudes who’ve made out with their twin sisters.

Patrick Redford, writing for Deadspin, outlines a report and the result of a racist fan using the OK gesture behind Doug Glanville, an African-American sports reporter. The Cubs have permanently banned the individual from Wrigley Field.

I’m glad they didn’t ignore the act. I’m glad they banned him. Still, I prefer Jake and Elwood’s way of dealing with Illinois Nazis.

Steve Greenberg, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, has full-color, cover feature on Illinois basketball soon-to-be-a-sophomore star, Ayo Dosunmu. It’s a great read and, hopefully, a harbinger of things to come.

Philip Ellis, writing for Man Repeller, has some thoughts regarding having an opinion about the political news of the day.

The urgency to be informed about politics and have a vocal position on everything was palpable. I would rage and rant about injustice and inequality, and half the time my anger would be directed not at those who were behind it, but the people in my life who hadn’t read up on a particular topic and formulated a stance on it. “Ignorance isn’t innocence,” I would say, a hint of superiority in my voice.

But at an indistinct point along the way, I confused saying something — anything — with actually having something to say. Responding to world events began to feel like a race to have the most insightful takeaway. The impulse to formulate a hot take become more informed by a rush of endorphins than inspired by genuine activism.

Twitter, for example, is filled with “hot takes.” The feeling of writing something smart and smug can be intoxicating and addicting. Personally, I wrote hot takes regarding this administration up until I couldn’t take it anymore and I had to stop. Now, I’m engaged, but not at the “everything, all the time” level. Ellis goes on about finding the right balance.

Disengaging in this manner isn’t about abstaining from discourse altogether, it’s about eschewing your knee-jerk reactions in favor of something slower and more thoughtful. Of actually taking the time to figure out how you really feel about a certain issue or a series of connected issues. This deliberateness is more difficult to parlay into glib dunks on Twitter or Instagram, especially in a frantic 24-hour news cycle where the headline which piques your interest or stokes your outrage is replaced by an even wilder one before you have figured out where you stand. And that’s a good thing, because snap judgments are a trap. The situation is a lot more nuanced than that.

It’s understandable to feel numb or just downright exhausted in the face of everything that’s happening. And there’s merit, I think, to stepping back from the rapid-fire arguing to see the forest for the trees. Doing so will not halt progress or make us apathetic — but rather make us thoughtful, and even give us the space to examine our own role in where we are today, instead of always assuming we’re categorically righteous. It’s okay to conserve energy, to pursue deeper reflection and to pick our battles — there are plenty in front of us.

The best thing about beating yourself up is that you never fight back.

Christopher Clements has recreated the lightsaber duel from Star Wars IV: A New Hope making it longer, more action-oriented and smartly incorporated call-backs from the prequel trilogy.

It reminds me a lot of Star Wars Revisited.

Brian Beutler, writing for Crooked Media, pens an essay lambasting the Deomocrats response to the Mueller Report.

Their dithering about the Mueller report is sadly typical of the party’s general paralysis in the face of the most corrupt and dishonest administration in the country’s history, and it carries a sobering lesson for all those who might themselves in Trump’s crosshairs: Democrats won’t come to your rescue unless you make them.

He goes on to outline the fear of the leadership.

They fear that if they do the right thing, they will not do as well in the 2020 elections as they will if they do the wrong thing. This fear is highly speculative, and thus irrelevant. We can’t know if an impeachment inquiry would help or hurt Democrats next year, but we do know that the wrong thing causes real harm to people right now. Politicians should pay political penalties for hanging supporters out to dry like this—without the threat of penalty, Democrats will proceed under the impression that abdicating their obligations is costless. We should all demand that they stand and be counted while it’s still an option, and should interpret failure to do so as a profound, collective failure of character. 

This really is unacceptable. The House has an obligation.

Zachary Basu, writing for Axios, reports on an interesting development into the Mueller Report.

More than 650 former federal prosecutors have signed onto a statement asserting that if the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) did not prohibit a sitting president from being indicted, President Trump would be charged with obstruction of justice.

I’m waiting for the Robert Mueller testimony asserting that he would have indicted Donald Trump were it not for the OLC opinion. While I understand my bias here, I’m saddened Mueller did not just go ahead and indict him for obsctruction. It would have made headlines, but not much else would have changed I don’t think.