Welcome to Tyler Recommends, by Tyler Watts: a public intellectual, a pleasure to have in class, a baby mystic who some would say is fun at parties.
Coffee at home
If you make $15.75 an hour and are tired of sacrificing the sparse fruits of your labor to french toast lattes and mobile-order cold brews, then you’re just like me. Coffee dependents: we must take back our power! Already have a coffee machine in your suite, but don’t know how to use it? Now’s the time to dust it off and learn! Making coffee at home epitomizes a tender and peaceful domesticity that has been collectively abandoned for what is quick and convenient. After several weeks consistently keeping up the peaceful ritual of my pour-over, I am convinced that our respective solipsistic cafes—that is, our kitchens—are the best in town.
Classics by NINA
NINA is the solo project of Nina Cristante, the frontwoman of Bar Italia and a frequent collaborator of Dean Blunt. Her 2021 album Classics is only twenty minutes long, but it’s nostalgic in a way that softens the ice slush valley of our current season. The production makes the sun feel farther away; a colder winter hollows out my headphone speakers. The music’s dream-like quality infuses the songs with artistic unease. As we navigate Pisces season, the late adulthood of winter, Cristante’s surreal sounds offer a sense of grounding.
Idiosyncrasies
In my perpetual state of self-making, I have realized that crafting a person requires more than ideas, outfits, and interests; you need movements, physical ways to manifest the specific type of person that you are. If we overthink the right amount, we perform ourselves infallibly. I’ve begun to finish readings by lightly skimming a book while I trot down the sidewalk, late to my English seminar. I also gnaw the chain of my pendant when I’m sitting back and thinking. Cigarette positioning—the artful lacing of smoke and bent knuckles between drags—is a confession, expressed with fidgeting fingers or an elongated, steady hand posture, only caught onto by those paying close enough attention. Coming of age is when we form ourselves out of clay, collapsing and reshaping our substance, sometimes with intention and other times unconsciously. What will it be that makes you—one hand in the pocket, or two?
Snack Time
I couldn’t name a greater delight as of late other than ripping open the seam of a fresh bag of Cappuccino Quadratini. I have detoxed enough dopamine, sung for my supper. Let’s have treats.
