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A zillennial Book review of "Health and Saftey" by emily witt

A review done by me, Gray, who is a zillennial which adds very little to this review (but I feel compelled to say it). I am someone who is of no importance which is why I think my take is IMPORTANT. "Health and Safety" covers the years from 2015 to 2020 in the topics of politics (rise of Trump's first term and the Black Lives Matters protests) and a crumbling personal relationship all with the back drop of NYC techno nightlife being at the center of the book. Personally, I don't like reading about anyone falling in love or breaking up because I can go ahead and do that myself and I don't like to read when people do it better than me. Having the techno night life as the forefront kept my attention and I have never read a book or article that has captured my same shared feelings about the feel of techno music. I personally have been out of my cities electronic music scene for about a year and a half and this book single handedly made me buy tickets to three different events in my area to head back into the scene. I also picked up some K on my way home from work from a college kid which made me feel sour and slightly agitated for reasons I just want to suppress right now. The writing was so well done that it wasn't a good track that took me back to the dance floor, it was this book. I read it in two days and I haven't polished off a book that fast in months. Talking about taking drugs was also a large part of the book which I felt was a bit excessive at times. I'm not sure if millennials are too sincere for my early Gen Z taste but I find it should be a given that you are taking various drugs at these shows and if you are not, I'm more interested to see your take on going to these events sober. But this is what Perfectly Imperfect is for, my little dumb opinions. I lately have been looking through this lens of "Get Z vs Millennial" and it's getting me nowhere but I felt this book gave somewhat of a connection. The years that Emily was writing about, she was describing her early and mid thirties and during those same years, I was doing the same activities in my early and mid 20s. I found it a fun comparison to see what someone was doing in an upscale part of NYC in their mid 30s in the techno scene versus me in my 20s in the PNW. To my surprise, a lot of it was the same. I recommend this book to anyone who likes reading about American politics in an easy, digestible way as well as techno and raves. Perfect book to read for fun and a bit of introspection. The author also gives great recommendations on other books to read as well. I find it very timely now since we are in our second trimester of Trump (and the demon baby will be born soon...just in time for my 30s!) -Gray

@BennyLiquid

Feb 20, 2025

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BUY MY BOOK!

It’s about hating yourself the way you should probably hate other people and loving other people the way you should probably love yourself. It’s about Princess Diana doppelgangers and crucified Oasis brothers and the eternal hunt for Colin Farrell. It’s about old bisexuals and digital dating and avoidant Englishmen and unemployed girls with borderline and alcoholism and writing and theater and sex-work-esque relationships. It’s sad and sexy and irreverently funny. GO TO MY INSTAGRAM IN BIO FOR MORE INFO AND LINK TO BUY! THANK YOU!

@myvapeisdying

Feb 7, 2025

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My essay on kamala

I recommend reading my latest Substack essay that I posted ~2 weeks ago with my thoughts so far about social media is handling and responding to the HarrisWalz campaign

@suisrenaissance

Sep 26, 2024

Top Recs from @ruffianbandwidth

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being a poser has been normalized

I don't know how well this actually answers your initial question, I think it's more of a counterpoint to some of the stuff people have already said, but here it goes. In the past (prior to social media or search engines) specific styles, specialized knowledge, and niche awareness actually took effort. You had to go out into the world and find a scene, be accepted, participate in it, contribute to it, and learn from others with specific knowledge within the specific sub- or counter-cultural scene. It took time, effort, and experience to craft an identity. Nowadays people cycle through various identities and trends like commodities because it takes no effort (they're sold to them by social media algorithms, influencers, brand accounts, etc.). It comes to you in your phone without you ever even having to leave the house or put in the time to discover it or participate in it (you just follow specific people or subscribe). You can be a passive observer or consumer, not an active contributor. As a result, you're not invested or tied down and committed to that core identity. You can cosplay depending on your mood or who you want to momentarily convey yourself as, because it's easy. Essentially, being a poser has become normalized. An identity is now something to be momentarily consumed and affected, rather than grown, built, and developed over time. Granted, it's always been different in regards to "mass" culture and popular trends (both in the past and now). Those are impossible to miss and were always monopolized by specific trend setting institutions, but always by the time it gets to that point, the actual initial counter- or sub-culture that inspired it has already been coopted and has started to disintegrate under the weight and attention of mass consumption.

@ruffianbandwidth

Feb 18, 2024

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When your cat crosses his paws like a perfect little gentleman

It's an action deserving of its own nickname. My cat's name is Gomez, but when he crosses his paws like this, he turns into Hodgkins Plumpersocks.

@ruffianbandwidth

Feb 2, 2024

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Downtown LA during the Summer of 2020

I feel like everything about this photo captures that unique period of time - the covid masks, the protest signs, the boarded windows, the national guard. I look at it now and I still feel glimmers of the hope I felt in that moment, when the rigid and all encompassing oppressive and systemic ruts of society felt like they were becoming more plastic and might even come undone. However, in retrospect, I am of course also hit with the ultimate disappointment, betrayal, and futility of it all. So in that sense, it really captures that hovering sense of disillusionment and hope that I'm perpetually caught between within my day to day life.

@ruffianbandwidth

Mar 30, 2024