Reading and Music

Happy New Year!

It’s that time again when I foist upon you my reading list of the previous year. In 2023 I read 67 books and I hit that same number in 2024. Hmmm…

One of the most interesting reads was Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond. According to the latest national data, one in eighteen people in the United States lives in “deep poverty,” a subterranean level of scarcity. Take the poverty line and cut it in half: Anything below that is considered deep poverty. The deep poverty line in 2020 was $6,380 annually for a single person and $13,100 for a family of four. That year, almost 18 million people in America survived under these conditions. The United States allows a much higher proportion of its children—over 5 million of them—to endure deep poverty than any of its peer nations.

…capitalism is inherently about workers trying to get as much, and owners trying to give as little, as possible. With unions largely out of the picture, corporations have chipped away at the conventional mid-century work arrangements, which involved steady employment, opportunities for advancement and raises, and decent pay with some benefits. As the sociologist Gerald Davis has put it: Our grandparents had careers. Our parents had jobs. We complete tasks. That’s been the story of the American working class and working poor, anyway.

January will be pretty active with music events. And we hope to see you at Borderlands this afternoon to bring in the New Year with the Kevin Pakulis Band (featuring Heather Hardy). Note that we’ll be outside and playing from 5-8pm!

Tuesday, Dec 31, 2024
Kevin Pakulis Band
Borderlands Brewing Company
5-8pm

Sunday, Jan 5, 2025
Kevin Pakulis Band
Borderlands Brewing Company
2:30-5pm

Sunday, Jan 12, 2025 (I’ll be out for this one)
Kevin Pakulis Band
Borderlands Brewing Company
2:30-5pm

Thursday, January 16, 2025
Sunny Gable
(Karl and I, along with T. Greg and Alvin, will be in her backup band)
Tap & Bottle
8-10pm

Sunday, Jan 19, 2025
Kevin Pakulis Band
Borderlands Brewing Company
2:30-5pm

Thursday, January 23, 2025
Dropped By Birds (with special guest Clay Koweek)
Monterey Court
6:30-9pm

Sunday, Jan 26, 2025
Kevin Pakulis Band
Borderlands Brewing Company
2:30-5pm

Thursday, January 30, 2025
The Morpholinos
Monterey Court
6:30-9pm

And now…