Holiday Whac-A-Mole

10 things worth sharing this week

“Whac-A-Mole,” newspaper + marker, 2025

Hey y’all,

First, a fun heads up: I’m having a live chat with filmmaker Penny Lane this Monday, Dec. 22 at 1PM central. We’re going to talk about her movies and how she gets them made. Join us!!

Today is the penultimate¹ Friday of 2025. Not sure if my gift guide will be any help to you at this point, but it’s there if you need it. Paid subscriptions to this newsletter are still 20% off! Print off a zine, click the button below, and cross that last creative weirdo (it might be you!) off your list:

Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:

1. “If you’re reading this, you must be in dire need of a change. The same thing happened to me, long ago. I’d lost sight of what mattered most in life…real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong…” That’s the beginning of Stardew Valley, a cozy 2017 farming video game that I’ve become completely addicted to. It really feels like art to me — probably because it was, unbelievably, made by a single person. (And played by over 41 million people!)
   
   

2. “One afternoon I called Parker over to show her how much you can make on a good haul of melons and corn. ‘See?’ I said. ‘Look at that. That’s one day’s work.’ And she scoffed. ‘Sure,’ she said, ‘but who loves you?’” I loved this essay by Jason Sheehan about playing Stardew Valley with his daughter. (Sheehan wrote more essays on video games for NPR’s Reading The Game series.)

   
   

3. In case you were wondering: Yes, I’m still reading Sherlock Holmes stories, and I plan to keep going until I run out. (To quote the WRB: “If you’re happy, [sad Christmas music] brings out the cheer by comparison, and if you’re sad, it lets you embrace it. There’s a similar dynamic to the Christmas crime novel. If you’re enjoying your family and friends, it reinforces that; if you’re not, it allows you to share in murderous rage.”)
   
   

4. “We talk about ’having’ an idea—but maybe what we really want is for the idea to have us?” Mason Currey on the usefulness of believing that ideas are “out there.” (See also: my post, “It’s not inside you trying to get out, it’s outside you trying to get in.”)
   
   

5. “I always find out what I really wanted to say once the break starts as I learn what it feels like to be a thinker and not just a harried, hunted animal.” I double-checked with Alan to make sure he gave this student an A.
   
   

6. For a special kind of nerd: Meg and I enjoyed The New Yorker at 100 documentary on Netflix. My friend Brian Braiker just made his first appearance in the magazine’s “Shouts & Murmurs” section with “So You Want To Come To My New Vinyl-Listening Bar.” I also liked the recent cartoons issue, especially the “Takes,” which featured Roz Chast on Gahan Wilson, Emma Allen on Otto Soglow, and Liana Finck on William Steig. (You read Liana’s wonderful typewriter interview, right?)
   
   

7. If you need more good laughs — and who doesn’t? — I recommend The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards (especially this photo), a Little Free Library I saw on my morning walk, and Tom Hardy and his dad, telling dad jokes. (I believe the proper Christmas vibe is the comedy of survival.)
   
   

8. RIP Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. Rob Reiner made at least three of my favorite movies, and all of them would make for excellent holiday viewing: This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, and When Harry Met Sally…
   
   

9. Christmas Adventurers! My favorite movie of the year — Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another — starts streaming on HBO Max tonight. (“Courage, Bob!”)
   
   

10. I made a Christmas mixtape for you full of music, books, and movies I like.
    

Thanks of reading. Have a safe and happy holiday. Remember our friend Beth Pickens’ advice that artists are people who suffer when they don’t make art! If you fit that description, be sure to carve out some time and space for your holiday practice.

If you need something to stick around for, next Friday is my year-end wrap-up and the first Friday of 2026 will be my annual list of 100 things that made my year.

This hand-rolled publication is made possible thanks to the kind support of readers like you. To support my work and keep Friday free for everybody, take advantage of the 20% off sale and become a paid subscriber today!

xoxo,

Austin

1. My teenager rolls his eyes every time I (over)use this word. But, hey, at least he knows the definition!