How to Update Your Weekly Newsletter From A Hospital Bed
(Below is a copy of B.J. Mendelson’s weekly newsletter. IF you like what you read, you can subscribe and get the newsletter delivered to your inbox every week. New emails go out every Wednesday at 9am.)
I’m pretty sure the guy next door to me died, so … That’s going to be something I need to unpack with a therapist for the next thirty years or so.
Read This First!
Some of you are getting this email for the first time.
Hello!
I have consolidated the WAYWO.TV announcement newsletter with this newsletter because they were basically doing the same thing.
And I need to cut my workload back dramatically after this weekend’s emergency room visit.
So, thank you for your patience and understanding.
If you don’t want to receive these emails from me, the unsubscribe button is below.
P.S. You can’t actually update your weekly newsletter from a hospital emergency room.
I tried.
The Wi-Fi is terrible.
P.P.S. We are FINALLY ready to drop the WAYWO.TV podcast.
I’m sorry it took so long. It’s nobody’s fault. The behind-the-scenes stuff was just too complicated with too many cooks.
There is no one to blame but myself. I take responsibility for the delay.
The podcast edition will be coming out on May 25th with 12 episodes for you to binge.
Then more episodes will drop after that.
And a WAYWO We Go …
Lexa Doig on The Joy of Doing Nothing, Hanging With Her Kids, and Activism
This week, on the (video version) of WAYWO.TV I am joined by Canadian actor Lexa Doig.
We talk a lot about her activism on Twitter, what she hopes for her kids in terms of their future careers, and more.
(In this case, “more” is an absolutely hilarious description of what Lexa’s family does to celebrate Christmas each year.
I’ll let you listen to find out what that is, but my face in the picture above should tell you I enjoyed it.)
If the thumbnail above doesn’t take you to YouTube, you can also tap right here.
And now, a rant from BJ …
Hey.
I’m ok.
There’s no reason to get into my fun trip to the hospital this weekend.
But I do need to keep this newsletter short this week.
Not because I don’t feel well.
But because I’m pretty angry and upset, like a lot of you, over the shooting in Buffalo this weekend.
My Western New York Credentials: I went to school at the University at Buffalo, I’m a Buffalo Sabres fan, and I enjoy Paula’s Donuts as much as the next guy.
I also spent two years on Buffalo’s periphery when I was younger and attending school at Alfred State.
There wasn’t much to do at Alfred State at the time, except go and visit Buffalo and Chippewa Street.
So I know the city of Buffalo intimately.
The city also has an Anchor Bar franchise in their airport.
The airport!
This is a city that loves food, and how can you not love that?
But like whenever there’s a mass shooting these days, it seems like all any of us can do is be upset about it for a few days and “move on”.
You can’t hold Tucker Carlson and Fox News responsible because the free speech absolutists will freak out if you do.
Believe me. I had some “fun” talking to those alleged legal scholars on Twitter yesterday about that.
They came with their usual: False Equivalencies. Slippery Slopes. Pointing Out Spelling Errors. All the greatest hits were there.
(I am absolutely guilty of typos. I take no offense to people pointing them out, and all the offense to people hiding behind “free speech” to justify some schmuck on television basically advocating for murder every night.)
You know the drill if you’ve tangled with these weirdos and Russian operatives online.
So, I’m just too frustrated to be funny right now.
You can’t pass legislation to prevent gun violence, even though a majority of Americans want exactly that, because the Senate is (intentionally) broken.
And you can’t just vote, because as we’ve seen, voting seems to only provide a little bit of protection against the nutjobs.
You vote to keep the crazy people away, but then the people who do get in there are kind of just these useless rich people who don’t want to rock the boat because the people who fund them are also the ones funding the crazy people.
No. Don’t worry. I’m not getting “all political” on you. This isn’t about politics.
I’m not a political guy. I used to be, but then, I also used to think I had psychic powers when I was little.
We all have weird shit we’re into, or were into it.
At least one of you, statistically speaking, is sexually attracted to fire.
Look, I’m not kink-shaming you.
It’s just math.
Why am I sharing this with you?
Because I don’t care about politics.
What I do care about is this feeling of good people being held hostage, and feeling helpless watching our friends and neighbors die over and over and over again.
All of it is preventable.
All of it.
And yet, there’s not a damn thing you or I can do about it.
This rant is about how black and brown people will continue to die at the hands of white supremacists, and other white people will sit around doing nothing to stop it because of (insert bullshitty reason here.)
Next week, we’ll be back to jokes.
This week, I’m just really pissed off.
I honestly, and sincerely, hope you are too.
-BJ
How to Reach Out and Touch Me (Appropriately)
BJ@BJMendelson.com is the email.
646–331–8341 is the number.
But please don’t call it.
I’m only going to answer if you fill out the Google Form I’m setting up.
You know the one.
The Google Form I’m going to use to find the second Mrs. Mendelson.
More on that next week too.
I promise to limit my emergency room visits to zero.
