Mind. Blown.

Here are three things that blew my mind this week.

1. Severance on Apple TV+. I’m a little late to the Severance party and just started watching it. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really read the show description previously and thought the show was about a group of people who get laid off and receive a severance payout (spoiler alert: it’s not), which sounded pretty boring to me. A friend recommended it, and I figured with all the buzz it was getting, there must be more to it than just Adam Scott moping around his house drinking cheap wine and watching Seinfeld reruns. Turns out that, thankfully, my first impression was way off. I won’t say too much, because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t watched, but suffice it to say that the first couple of episodes blew my mind and I’m still thinking about them. There is one scene where a character repeatedly tries to leave through an exit door and every time she walks through the doorway she ends up back in the hallway she was trying to leave. I had to watch it multiple times before I caught on to what was happening and then all I could do was nod my head in appreciation. A very clever, well-executed show.
2. The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges. In Borges’s short story, the universe is a library composed of an indefinite number of hexagonal galleries filled with bookshelves. Each shelf contains thirty-five books; each book contains 410 pages; each page contains forty lines; each line contains 80 characters. There are a total of 25 possible characters: 22 letters (there’s a reason, but it’s not worth explaining here), 2 punctuation marks (comma and period) and a space. Each book contains a different sequence of the 25 characters. The universe contains a book for every possible sequence of the 25 characters (while the amount is vast, it is not infinite). No two books are identical. Thus, every possible book has been written on every possible subject. Everything. The history or Jupiter? Written. The true confessions of the Dread Pirate Scott Kober? Written. Predictions for the next fifty Super Bowls? Written. There is a book for everything. I still can’t quite wrap my brain around it. Borges does note that actually finding a specific book in this library is nearly impossible and could be a lifetime task. People go on lengthy expeditions to find a book that justifies their existence. It’s mind-blowing writing.
3. The CMEpalooza Spring agenda. No, it hasn’t been released yet, and we aren’t releasing it today. We’re cleaning up a few remaining details and plan to release it on Monday (March 3). But, obviously, I’ve had a chance to see it and I’m truly thrilled and amazed at the quality of abstracts we received and allowed us to put together what we both think is a pretty cool agenda. Is it mind-blowing? I mean, c’mon, I’m trying to do a thing here. No, it’s probably not mind-blowing, but we had some very clever submissions (there’s a beatboxer involved) and I was pleased at the number of “new faces” who submitted abstracts. It’s a really good agenda and we think you’re going to like it. More to come on Monday!