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1 week ago | 
jameslileks.substack.com | James Lileks
“Are they that poor? They can’t even top the sandwiches?”“It’s not that at all! They’ve gone Dane. Everyone’s going Dane this year.”
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1 week ago | 
jameslileks.substack.com | James Lileks
The train doesn’t leave for an hour but I am readyRemoved from the column about making the plane on time: a note about getting from the hotel to the subway to the proper shed. But: how early do you leave the hotel to make the train to Terminal 3? The train runs twice an hour, and it’s a seven minute walk to the train. I did not count on heavy traffic, th…
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1 week ago | 
jameslileks.substack.com | James Lileks
After leaving the theater Joe drove for two hours, his stomach sour from popcorn and whiskey. He considered getting a motel for the night – the boss wouldn’t complain, given the sales he’d made, and it beat driving all night feeling your stomach somersault every time you hit a pothole. He found a place an hour after dusk, a seven-unit Mom and Pop motel called The Wayfarer. According to the sign the big draw was telephones in every room, but he couldn’t think of anyone he wanted to call.
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1 week ago | 
jameslileks.substack.com | James Lileks
I have taken three airplane trips in the last two weeks, and didn’t miss any of them. People ask me: “gosh, how do you do it? I’m always standing at the gate watching it taxi away, wondering if there was something I could’ve done.” Well, let me help. Here is how you make it to the plane on time. Leave early. I set a personal record on the last trip, arriving at the airport 18 hours ahead of time. The danger, of course, is getting complacent - oh, no need to rush, I’ve seven hours.
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2 weeks ago | 
jameslileks.substack.com | James Lileks
We’ll be back to the regular array on Monday. For now, one last preview of the forthcoming collection of paintings by Chet G. “Petey” Dahleigh, a commercial calendar artist who painted in his sleep. Well, guess no one was fooled ‘bout that secret missile base actually being a carnival-ride research facility
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2 weeks ago | 
jameslileks.substack.com | James Lileks
It’s another unusual week here at the Substack, since I’m taking a vacation break. Last week we enjoyed, if that’s the word, and I’m sure it’s not, some excerpts from a 1974 Donaldson’s Department Store housewares mailer. This week we are fated to repeat the experience. Minimalism! It’s not cheap, no - it’s modern! So modern!Somehow everyone was just fin…Keep reading with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to LILEKS (James) to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
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2 weeks ago | 
jameslileks.substack.com | James Lileks
23: Movie House“Can you help me with this? The boy’s not in today. I’ll take this one here, you grab that one. ““Sure, Mister -”“Fleming. Go easy there. “Joe lifted the handle of the big metal can, wondering how much it would weigh; he watched Fleming to see if he strained. No bodybuilder, that guy. Odd bird – homely as hell, but a face that held your a…Keep reading with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to LILEKS (James) to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
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2 weeks ago | 
jameslileks.substack.com | James Lileks
This is a completely unprofessional start to the week, I know. Instead of the usual Art lovingly crafted by AI, a selfie? Instead of a proper column, a travelogue? Really? Well. If you’re also a reader of the Bleat, you know I have been on a much-needed hiatus for a week. This lamentable lack of the usual content has been compensated by tolerable place-holder until things resume next week.
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3 weeks ago | 
jameslileks.substack.com | James Lileks
This is usually cast-off day, but there was nothing cast-off, because there was nothing written. So why don’t we look at a Donaldson’s Home Fair circular, mailed to homes in the Twin Cities in 1974. As if you couldn’t tell the decade. What interests me about this, aside from the color, is the number of items that we still use today. I mean, I don’t know why we wouldn’t, but some things just seem to have a particular persistence.
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3 weeks ago | 
jameslileks.substack.com | James Lileks
22: Road TripSteak? Why not. Joe looked at the menu and decided he’d have it all. Driving made him hungry; driving made him think of all the things he’d do when he stopped. A hot cup of coffee. A good long leak. Crack the back, stretch the legs. Chow down. Usually he stopped at a roadside joint, because a burger was usually all he ever wanted, and who didn’t want a burger? What did the world do before Americans invented the burger? It was the only thing you never grow tired of seeing again on your plate.