private, strange, and out loud smiles

3 on-my-own, out loud smiles yesterday before 6:30 am—light laughs with big face-stretching grins.

If you enjoy an occasional weird smile, like the smile that develops from the stink—maybe the funk—of a good blue cheese, these might work for you. If not, these aren’t the droids you’re looking for. (Star Wars, man!)

The 1st—

Of my early morning out loud smiles was hearing Barry White at the end of a multi-artist song say, “Yes, baby, that’s right” and then “Work it, baby.” To which the singer Tamia heats things up with, “You know I like that,” only for Barry to continue the loving chatter by baritoning, “Baby, just let me play.” (Barry, baritoning.)

Clean in comparison to so many other songs, especially 30 years later. But lyrics like those at this stage of my life feel a little silly and just make me smile. So much so that sometimes I’ll want to share that smile with malady. Whoops—My Lady.1 If you’d like some smiles of your own, it’s a 1996 Quincy Jones production called “Slow Jams.” Maybe it’s a match for your upcoming Love Day 2026.

Barry woke up with his special voice one morning in his 15th year. It scared his mother. He shares that story in the video below with a young Conan O’Brien. Barry got about 44 years with that voice before leaving. Made a lot of people happy—for some, while they were making people.

The 2nd—

Out loud smile was a comment someone made on this image—

Felt more figurative than literal. Maybe omitting up was a slip. The smile surprised me in the ugliness.

And finally, the 3rd—

Was hearing myself say, by myself, “There’s no way I’m allowing that shit into my life.”

Just popped out of my face after I read Michael Ruhlman’s newsletter (food writer). He mentioned these magic mushrooms that create the exact same hallucination for people who eat them. “Tiny people appear everywhere, crawling under doors and over tabletops.” Not something I need to see.

Okay, Sam. Where’s all this coming from?

Might be my last hours of dry January showing up. It all happened as I kept interrupting myself to chase curiosities during my morning pages.

Oh, and—

I also watched Bugonia the other night. So there’s that.

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