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Xander Paul's avatar

I relish the opportunity to take a close peek at the inner life of people whose interests I have a fond appreciation for, and this post did not disappoint. Between your writings here, your photography, and completing the first year of your MBA, you had a fruitful 2024, and I’m excited to see what’s next. We should talk more in depth about what you’ve included here, but I wanted to share some quick reactions:

Challengers was one of the pieces of media that surprised me the most this year. I agree that it’s stylized but would also highlight Josh O’Connor’s performance. His veneer of persistent wryness over a core of blown potential lent the right blend of danger and want that elevated the film.

I’ll thank you again for recommending If on a winter's night a traveler. For me, this was a year of reckoning with reading qua reading, and Calvino’s novel helped grease my cognitive wheels.

I’ll have to check out the other books on your list. I’ve been working through an anthology of Baldwin essays that features The Devil Finds Work, so I’ll make sure to find you when I make it there. The Machen collection of stories piques my interest as does the Jacobs.

Contrary to what you wrote, your snaps look awesome in greyscale. I’m not a photo buff but I dig your skyscraper/cityscape shots, which remind me of Georgia O’Keefe’s paintings of the city.

Thank you for teaching me a few new words. I’m especially captivated by sprezzatura and will be sprinkling that liberally in my future conversation.

Lastly, love the quotes section! The Dan Gode one is priceless, and you just had to throw in a Kendrick diss, didn’t you. I’m inspired to read more Auden as well.

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Bradley Andrews's avatar

Xander! You are too kind. Thanks for the compliments — a Georgie O Keefe comparison is so so flattering! Always impressed with how diverse your interests are and how wide of categories you pay attention to. I’d love a similar roundup from you, honestly. I have a feeling that there would be a lot for me to add to my 2025 wish list.

I was required to throw in a Kendrick quote — he is the primary reason I don’t have any music recommendations on this list. My Spotify Wrapped was pretty much him and SZA…

Also glad you caught the Dan Gode quote. What I REALLY wanted to put was the following from him, but I was afraid people might get the wrong idea 🤣:

“If you want to commit a crime, there’s two lessons to learn from business school. #1 is commit big crimes. #2 is don’t get caught. If you’re going to steal, steal at scale man!”

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