Who Will Save Us Now
On Venezuela, Straylight Run and What This Thing Actually Is
I woke up today to the news that the US had invaded Venezuela, made a protein shake, filled my gallon water jug and finished watching Glengarry Glen Ross.
A lot of ink has already been spilled about the unprecedented nature of the millenial experience and some days it’s really hard not to feel it. I’ll never forget a random day during the pandemic, probably May of 2020, when my dad said to me unprompted, “Ya know, things have been really bad for your generation” and it was nice to finally be validated on that front in my 30s. It was largely meaningless but it was nice.
There are some positives that have come out of being a generation with constantly shifting sands beneath our feet. I think that largely we are a pretty empathetic and resourceful group - I’ve at least experienced that firsthand. But I do think that the exhaustion of the forever war we’ve been in since the day Gerard Way was inspired to start My Chemical Romance has taken it’s toll.
I hate that I woke up today pretty numb to what is happening. Same shit, different country. And I still have to get a run in.
Reality is Relative
Three days into 2026 and it seem that I am back to running with music on a more consistent basis. That might partly be because it gives me something to write about but also writing this consistently is something I haven’t really done since college and the first thing I ever wanted to write about was music.
So I went back to a record from the waning days of the Bush administration. It’s the end of my freshman year and Straylight Run, a favorite of mine from high school, has released their sophomore effort, The Needles, The Space. The result of a messy brekaup with Taking Back Sunday, John Nolan and his sister Michelle’s new outfit bridged the gap between indie rock and emo in the 2000s along with other bands like The Hush Sound and Eisley among others. Their first record was piano-driven high school existentialism at its peak but their follow-up eschewed much of that to tackle current events and fire a few shots across the bow at other bands in their scene for their sort of musical ouroboros of self-importance and self pity. At 19, it wasn’t what I was looking for but I listened to it a ton.
I’m not sure what inspired me to throw it on for five miles today. (Though, the length was just about perfect.) But I did and I was struck by how much better it was than I remembered. Specifically, “Who Will Save Us Now” stuck out. It may seem a little over-the-top to call it a screed against the actions of imperialist nations across the world in 2007 but it was at least engaging with something so much bigger than the band’ previous fare. But by the end of the song Nolan realizes that there’s no answer to the question he’s posing - that life is a sort of unending uphill struggle to find out what’s wrong and what’s right and what’s in-between.
“Who will save us now?
It's a wrong
And irrelevant question
'Cuz we figured it out
With the people who love us
Who call us our brothers
Through lessons we've learned
From our fathers and mothers
Not looking for someone
To find our solutions
To fight all our battles
Or show us what truth is
By working hard to find our own peace of mind
Living and learning till we know what's right for our lives”
My heart broke a bit while I ran. I don’t know anything but I don’t think this ends well for anyone involved and all we’re creating is another generation who will know nothing but war.
Livejournal Redux
This all kind of brings me to the purpose for this newsletter/blog/Substack/whatever you want to call it.
Early adopters may noticed I’ve changed the name twice but I’ve finally settled on Running at the End of the World. I think, given everything we experience on a daily basis, sports are one of the most insane things that human beings care about. I’m not saying that anyone shouldn’t. (I’m a sports enjoyer.) But viewed objectively, they are a blight on humanity. Billions of dollars for new stadiums, events that ruin whole communities, tragedies triggered by Monday Night Football - the list goes on. Running feels similarly insane.
Do I win races? Haven’t in a while. Is it cheap? Technically, no. Do I like doing it? Complicated answer - feels like I need to run in circles to to keep the bad thoughts out.
Anything viewed through the lens of current events is going to seems silly. Why try to find any joy when there are so many terrible things going on? So the title I landed on feels appropriate for this thing.
I’m not surprised that so many people that I know ended up becoming writers - we all grew up in an Internet that included Xanga, Livejournal, Myspace blogs and bulletins. We wrote all the time. (I see it as kind of similar to the rise of YouTubers and streamers in younger generations.) So I’m treating this a bit like a diary because I miss having a public diary. I’ve never been great about keeping a private one. Hell, I still talk to folks I met on Livejournal when I was 16.
So I’m running and writing at what seems like the end of the world. Dramatic? Sure. But who cares? I’ll definitely post more running related things as it feels relevant - race recaps, training updates and things like that. I have the Boston Marathon in 107 days after all. But thanks for being here for the feelings parts, too.
Today’s distance: 5.17 miles
Time: 38 minutes, 46 seconds