My Christmas Lists
A special edition of Habituate in Space recapping top moments and people in a year where the word “unprecedented” became the "new normal."
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🗞 THE NEWSSTAND
This year was jam-packed with historical events moments after ringing in the New Year. Let’s run through the top 10 stories from the newsstand in 2020…
Three’s a crowd: DJT joins the (Impeached) President’s Club
At the start of the year, Donald J. Trump became only the third president in US history to be impeached by Congress. While he was impeached on accounts of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, he was soon acquitted by the Republican led Senate in February.
Rest in Peace Black Mamba
On January 26, it was reported that legendary retired Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant along with his daughter Gianna had been onboard a fatal helicopter crash along with seven others in Calabasas, CA. Later in the year the Lakers led by his protégé LeBron James went on to win the NBA Finals.
A travel ban on China
On January 31, as it became apparent the coronavirus first detected in Wuhan, China was spreading rapidly, the Trump administration placed a nationwide travel restriction on people entering the country from China. Though we now know by that time the virus had made its way across Europe and entered the US in cities like Seattle, San Francisco, and New York.
The city that finally slept
In March and April the country watched in horror as cases of coronavirus spiked in the “City that Never Sleeps” with images of ambulances lining the streets, empty sidewalks at Times Square, and the New York Governor giving daily briefings to the world.
Biden accused of sexual assault
On May 7, Vox reported on a story about accusations of sexual assault against Vice President Joe Biden by former staffer Tara Reade. While the story initially gained much popularity and seemed like the end for his campaign, the accuser was soon discredited and became a distant memory in the never ending drama of American politics.
A summer of racial reckoning
On May 25, 46-year old George Floyd was murdered by police officer Derek Michael Chauvin with the haunting image of the officer kneeling on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds as the man gasped for his final breaths of air. The tragedy added to an ongoing list of names of African Americans murdered at the hands of the police. It kicked off a summer of protests and racial reckoning with images of burning buildings and thousands of protestors taking to the streets.
Fires blazing across the West
The summer of 2020 once again marked one of the hottest ever recorded in our Earth’s history. As record temperatures and summer long droughts caused wildfires to blaze across the West Coast from California to Colorado, climate change continued to integrate itself into our everyday lives.
Social media giants fight fake news (the President)
In another unprecedented event this year, social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube attempted to combat ‘fake news’ ironically being shared by the President himself. Twitter kicked it off with warnings of misinformation on posts claiming mail-in voting would lead to fraud or posts violating terms of service like the infamous tweet by Trump stating ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts’.
Trump torches the presidential debate
In quite possibly one of the most embarrassing presidential moments in history (until later this year, of course) Trump all but lit the stage on fire, in the first presidential debate. The president was the interrupter-in-chief coming out of the gates like a belligerent buffoon at the bar after having too many whiskey shots. The world watched in horror as the “city upon a hill” appeared to have sunk into a deep pit of despair.
The moment the networks called it
After four long, tense days, Wolf Blitzer came on air Saturday, November 7 at 11:24 am ET to announce Joe Biden would be the 46th President of the United States along with his Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. In the highest voter turnout in our nation’s history, Trump joined the short list of one-term presidents and Biden would go on to become the oldest president in history, and Kamala Harris the first woman and woman of color vice president.
Count the vote, wait, stop the vote!
As predicted by conservative and liberal academics, moments after the networks announced Biden would become our nation’s next president, Trump began calling the election a ‘hoax’ and ‘fraud.’ His months of setting the stage for a perceived ‘unfair election’ via mail-in voting led his followers to take to the county board of elections in protest. Though, the peculiar, bipolar message depending on the state was quite a spectacle. In states where mail-in voting would benefit Trump, his crusaders chanted “count the vote” while in other states protested “stop the count!” In the end, Biden’s victory was affirmed by the Electoral College.
A very, very special shout out to @AnnafiWahed, founder of The Flip Side for her team’s mission to bridge the divide between liberal and conservative journalism.
🎧 WEEKLY MIXTAPE
While in 2020 artists weren’t able to perform on tour or at iconic festivals like Coachella or Lollapalooza, we got to witness a new era of streaming concerts and the resurgence of artists whom we had not heard from in years.
Here are HIS Artists of 2020
Billie Eilish for her legendary Grammys showing at age 18
Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny for achieving global superstar status
Burna Boy for being the voice of a movement in Nigeria
K-pop boy band BTS for their TikTok takeover
Travis Scott for throwing first-ever online gaming concert via Fortnite
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion for unabashed female sexuality
Diplo for throwing weekend-long virtual parties during lockdown
Bob Dylan for his ongoing folk-rock classics on Rough and Rowdy Ways
The Strokes for staying relevant in a post-post-punk world
Texas trio Khruangbin (pronounced KRUNG-bin) for making Global Funk mainstream again
Here is a special holiday mixtape brought to you by the Wrightstuff. Enjoy these less tired tracks as you sip coquito and rock your favorite flannel this holiday season.
And with the end of an utterly chaotic and frankly fucked up year, we celebrate with another orbit around the sun on this New Year’s playlist.
Wrightstuff x An Orbit Around the Sun
🥃 THE CABINET
Coquito
This Puerto Rican take on eggnog can be found on sale in New York apartment windows during this time of year. But if you don’t happen to live in the big city and are in the mood for a stiff holiday island cocktail, whip up a batch of coquito and you’ll be singing carols into the New Year.
Ingredients
1 can cream of coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
12 oz white rum (or to taste)
1 tsp coconut extract (or vanilla extract)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
Garnish with ground nutmeg or cinnamon
Directions
Mix cream of coconut, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, rum, coconut or vanilla extract, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in blender.
Blend until well-mixed and pour into glass pitcher.
Refrigerate for about 1 hour before serving. Coquito tastes best served very cold.
📺 STREAMING
The holidays are a time to snug up on the couch and throw on Christmas flicks. With a never-ending stream of Netflix holiday movies being released on what seems like a weekly basis, here’s a HIS-worthy list to watch before the 25th with an emoji guide on how to enjoy them.
Here are HIS top 10 Christmas Flicks
It’s a Wonderful Life 🍸
Home Alone 1 & 2 👨👩👧👦
Scrooged🍸
Christmas Vacation 🍸
Elf 🌲
Muppets Christmas Carol 👨👩👧👦🌲
The Grinch (2018 & 1967) 👨👩👧👦
Polar Express 👨👩👧👦
The Man Who Invented Christmas 🌲
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) 👨👩👧👦 🌲
🎙FIRESIDE CHAT
I began this newsletter at the height of the pandemic making its way through my small town of New York City. It was a time of peak anxiety; a time when we avoided our neighbors across the hall when taking out the trash for fear they might transmit the virus to us. It was a trialing time to say the least.
But as the saying goes “in darkness, we find light.” As FDR found comfort in his radio broadcasted fireside chats during his presidency, I found purpose in writing these newsletters to share with all of you.
I’d like to thank each and every one of you for encouraging me to keep writing, and helping me get through what has seemed like one long existential nightmare of a year.
So, as we wind down 2020, we look to the New Year in celebration as we have for the past 4,000 years dating back to the ancient Babylonians. And as we celebrate another orbit around the sun, we make our wishes for a better year ahead.
Here are HIS top 10 wishes for 2021
President-elect Biden delivers on his promise to unite a divided nation
A safe and effective rollout of COVID-19 vaccines across the globe
Racial justice makes real progress and resists being a moment in time
Domestic travel to US parks, cities, and regions continues
Lebron James gets number five and closes in on the shadow of MJ
New York bounces back in a Roaring 20s fashion
Restaurants, bars, and other small businesses make a comeback
Lines down the block at Trader Joe’s become obsolete
Crazy Uncle Steves and neighbor Karens disavow QAnon and MAGA
And this one is personal—a return to big gatherings—weddings, concerts, and sporting events
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
—Abraham Lincoln
We're in this together
#StayAtHome #HabituateInSpace