Jesse Vitelli Newsletter #6

You know what time it is. It’s time for another update on my life and maybe a funny story or two. It’s been another quiet week as September ends and the actual goated month of October begins. Now all of the mallgoths and midwestern emo kings and queens rise up from their eternal slumber inside of the Roosevelt Field Mall Vans store and shuffle their way onto the streets of Bushwick.

It’s a magical month filled with costume parties and my birthday, which means I’m in my fucking element this month so don’t test me, I get one month a year to thrive.

Yu-Gi-Oh

A few nights ago my friends and I decided to watch some old episodes of Yu-G-Oh to relive some of the stranger moments of that show. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched the show, and i truly forgot how much bullshit there is. We watched an episode where Yugi would have his legs chopped off if he lost this card game battle against a magician whose girlfriend left him and was fighting to win her back. It was like Tobin Bell was in the room to create the most fucked up Saw trap possible for a kids television show.

For those wondering, Yugi did not get his legs cut off. He survived like any good card player would, by making up card game rules as he went on. Idk if I’ll watch any more of that show, but it was a fun revisit for the night.

Legally distinct Franklin the Turtle

I have a little market near my apartment that my roommates and I frequent pretty often. It’s got a lot of really good snacks and beverage options, and most importantly it’s the only place I can get organic Strawberries for 1.49.

While I was there I was browsing the wares, and found this legally distinct Franklin the Turtle lookin ass on a bag of chips. It’s like they didn’t even try to hide it. Idk if this marketing works for them, but it worked on me, I bought 3 bags. Get that bag Franklin.

Origami Angel

Origami Angel put out a new record on Friday and honestly it’s a certified banger. I highly recommend checking it out. It was easily my most anticipated album of the year and it lived up to it, which I can’t say about a lot of other albums I had been looking forward to this year.

Live wrestling

This week I went to see professional wrestling. It’s something I find myself doing once every decade and every time I’m always surprised at the sense of community built in these spaces. Chanting and cheering for wrestlers who I don’t know if they are the good or bad guy this week, but it doesn’t matter because everyone else is doing the same thing. There’s a sense of shared camaraderie among the fans, regardless of if you’re a die hard who’s been there since day one or a first time viewer.

I saw people chatting and arguing with the folks around them, just excited to share a space with other folks who love the same thing as them. On paper it makes sense, everyone’s here for a specific shared love of AEW. It was nice to see, and I don’t know if I’ll go to more of these events, but it was cool to see dudes beat each other up with leather straps and a table with hot wheels cars poured on top.

Fantasy

Bear with me for a moment because this is something that’s been on my mind for a hot minute.

The last 24 hours I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of fictional story telling and how these works become institutional pillars of some of our lives. How a fantasy story can ultimately shape how we perceive reality and the lessons we bring alongside of us. Sort of like the seminal works that make up our very core.

Works that sort of transcend the tightly confined box of escapism and cause us to self-reflect on what makes us, well, us. There’s plenty of ways to express these works in our own lives. And I’m not talking about like getting a tattoo from your favorite novel and show, but how some of these works can fundamentally change how you conduct yourself to the outside world. How a single piece of media can alter your viewpoints or understanding of a given topic.

It’s a powerful tool when something resonates with you so deeply, and how internalizing these fictional stories can better help you understand your own values and ideals.

It’s really easy to look at these works as escapism, and if you do it’s fine. But I’ve been thinking about how there’s so much more to dissect from these concepts, and how when something strikes a cord with you it get’s tucked away into your own personal core library for reference for the rest of your life.

Hot Takes

On Instagram this past week I’ve been collecting hot takes that have been submitted by those who follow me there, and I’ve decided to share some of the worst ones here/

• Forrest Gump is Horrible

• if it aint what you know it aint. then it dont gotta be that

• Vampire Weekend is peak Alt

• New York is just Los Angeles 2

• Grape is the best popsicle flavor

• Chapstick should be edible

• Root beer and cream soda are disgusting

Anyway, I need y’all to get better taste, I can’t take this anymore.

Ok that is all

I little bit of a short one this week as nothing truly exciting is ever going on. This one is like an hour late but that’s a me problem and not a you problem unless you want to make it one. Alright see ya alter.