instagram

#猫 got me thinking

Im sure there are hashtags in different languages on instagram. But what if, in the future, alternative formats to text such as images and sound clips could be used as hashtags?

idea about instagram.
after updating the account there was a consistent flood of activity. the page overall probably got 147 total engagements. I call them engagements because they were not just likes.
There were comments. my high school friend liked 4 posts. then my pharmacy friends liked 3-5 posts each. then my high school friend liked some more stuff, around 7 posts. then a person i've never met before liked 10 posts. my sister liked 7 posts. then a mutual friend liked 10 posts.
even liking something can be turned against you. the internet feels too political right now.
i just discovered donald trump's instagram today. i swear it was never linked to his infamous twitter page until today. makes sense, because he is launching his campaign right now. according to the news he bought a lot of advertising space for his campaign on youtube.

some tao lin-esque links

 http://www.bearparade.com/todaytheskyisblueandwhitewithbrightbluespotsandasmallpalemoonandiwilldestroyourrelationshiptoday/

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1981/05/04/safeway

I'm disgusted at the $100 digital-only subscription fee for the new yorker. i am interested in testosterone shots. not for myself, but to write about maybe. 

Tao Lin writes very similarily to Frederick Barthelme, who invented "minimalist literature". 

Every plot of a story has a good idea. Tao lin’s Richard Yates even has a good plot. It’s written blandly but it has an underlying idea or circumstance driving the story. In his case, superficially it’s about a bored couple whose ages don’t match up: a completely emotional minor with a bored male protagonist (but really he’s the antagonist), but if you go deeper it’s about an autistic vegan not realizing the legal consequences, and the mom trying to stop them but she is a victim of her own depression and mania. The story mimics reality, because there’s no ending. No names. 

Some good lines:

• I want to apologize ahead of time for my inconsistency.
• I try to imagine myself standing in the shade of one of the buildings at Brentwood plaza. The summer heat is buzzing around me like a broken cooling unit. I feel anticipation to meet up with friends simultaneously with endless boredom. It is set down, block by block during the summer. 
• I can’t wait to go downstairs and make instant noodles at 1 am, triggering the aging cat to wake and rub against my legs. On one hand, the noodles will make me feel good, but on the other hand, the slowly dying cat makes me feel bad. 
• It’s funny how you can trick yourself into thinking you’ll never be sad again.