Like most everyone in the world, I’m pretty much constantly seeking ways to be more content and less anxious/miserable/lonely/doom-scrolly. It’s annoying that the things that everyone says to do actually work: walks, meditation, body movement, good sleep, good food. And yes you should do all of that, I do all of that, I have a Brick, I set my timer for 20 minutes every morning and afternoon, I eat so much raw honey, I get sleep scores you wouldn’t believe babe. But still - I want more. I want fun! I don’t think we talk enough about fun when we talk about being well. Who cares if you get 15k steps a day and your deep sleep level is 15% and you get 300 grams of protein from cottage cheese blended into flatbread or whatever if you are in fact JOYLESS. That’s why I’m so pleased to have recently discovered (Columbus over here) another modality that speedily reconnects me with my Self (big S, Jung type beat). And that is going teenager mode.
What is going teenager mode? Glad you asked. (Even though I am sure you can just guess it’s pretty right there in the name).
I stumbled into this healing modality (if you will) the other week when by happenstance I found myself engaging in several activities that would have (and did) light up my teenage self so many years ago. I don’t really believe we change that much of the core of who we are between the ages of like thirteen and (insert middle age year here). I know I personally made a career out of it, but I do think it’s the same for everyone. And the more you ignore/deny that part of yourself (yourSelf), the more disjointed and lost you feel.
Anyway for me this involved wandering around LA on foot with my best friend Sara (we actually do this every Saturday, highly recommend, a warmer, more social way to get those steps in) and in this wandering, stopping to buy sneakers. Sportie LA, the legendary shop on Melrose I used to beg my parents to drive me to all the way from Torrance so I could get Adidas shell toes or those suede Pumas with the super thick sole, is now sadly permanently closed, but we popped into Foot Locker and made it work. Then we went into a store I have been frequenting since college which thankfully is still very much open, Headline Records.
Headline Records is owned by a cool French punk dude and is the place where I have been buying Black Flag shirts to work out in (inside you there are two bros, one is a gym bro) for years. They have a great collection of records as well - I once scored a bootlegs boxset of live 7 inches by The Cramps here. I picked up a few tees and Sara got a couple of LPs and then we shot the shit with the dude for a while. Or rather they mostly spoke French to each other (I caught the word “podcast”) while I deliberated whether or not I also needed a Killing Joke shirt (I did). An overall more fulfilling experience than ordering shirts from like, Tee Public or something.
That night, Chris Ryan and I grabbed a very adult dinner (cocktails, oysters, an incredibly delicious thing called spaghetti bolognese a la japonaise) before heading over to the Angel Du$t show at 1720, a warehouse type venue in downtown LA. We caught the opener Midrift who was SO good (classic teen-type music discovery) and then were renewed and reborn witnessing Angel Du$t’s electric set.
I was very tired the next day (because my body is no longer thirteen) and so I spent the day flopped on my belly sipping a Coke, eating french fries, and paging through old music magazines. (If you added a clear green and blue Swatch telephone by my side, we’d be pretty much back to my teenage bedroom).
My therapist asked if these activities felt good because they felt nostalgic. But the truth is, they don’t feel nostalgic. Because they are very much the present, and that’s what it feels like to engage in them - being present, being engrossed, being absorbed. Being delighted! I still find the same exquisite pleasure in these activities in 2026 as I did in 1995, and not because they remind me of 1995. Because they remind me of who I am.
36 Hours in Boise
The following week I headed to Boise, Idaho to do a live Bandsplain episode at the Treefort Music Festival. The festival had a killer line-up (Geese, Built to Spill, Blondshell, Porches, Drug Church, and more) so I was disappointed I wasn’t able to stay and really get the fuck into it, but I made the most of my short stint - I spent the day leading up to the live show bopping around Boise checking out their incredible vintage clothing stores. Shout out my fav drug (vintage clothing) dealer, Known Bad Boy, aka Samuel Poole, for all the tips.
First up was the incredible Graveyard Vintage, where I immediately snapped up this Urge Overkill tee (literally like, snatched it off the wall like a feral hyena) as well as these great 501s and several other great tees (including the orange Adidas one above). The prices were really good and the guy who ran the shop, (either Kyle or Clay or Drew, I am sorry I am brain damaged and terrible with names!) was a great hang. (He showed me an incredible bootleg Screaming Trees shirt but I already was veering towards prison for my spending at the shop - if you’re in Boise and you love Lanegan, make sure to stop in and check it out).
Next stop was Junkyard Jeans. Thirteen year old me and forty three year old me also still pretty much dress the same (for better or for worse, I’m probably never going to get to “The Row cashmere belted coat” era) and that means we need old Levis. It doesn’t matter how many pairs we already have. We need more. We need infinity old Levis. They all look and fit different okay? I tried on about twenty pairs here - their selection is fab - but ended up only taking these ones home.
I stopped a few other places but forgot to take pics: Haus Vintage was super cute (I got a slip dress and some homemade tallow lip balm), Wear Haus thrift, which is right next door to Graveyard (I got a really cool old Benetton striped sweater here for $14) and of course, The Record Exchange, Boise’s go-to record store (I got nothing, my carry-on was bursting at this point). There were so many more shops I wanted to hit (like No Name vintage and Bill’s On Broadway, which is appointment only and run by Erik Bill, a former pro rollerblader and currently one of the biggest vintage dealers in America) but I had to go do my dumb job (recording a live podcast about Life Without Buildings with Sabrina Teitelbaum of Blondshell, will be out in a few weeks!). Good to have a reason to come back (addiction to vintage shopping - also very teenager mode).
Also got to meet fellow podcasters Axe To Grind (big link, you might say).
The great dylan tupper rupert aka the artist formerly known as Producer Dylan was there as well, interviewing the one and only Toody Cole of Dead Moon for her podcast Music Person.
Sabrina and I kiki’ing about Scottish indie music and math rock and post punk.
I very much agree with you on teenager mode. In my 30s I progressively downplayed my enthusiasms and fandoms and the things that really give me joy (relatively speaking). Thank God I stopped with that BS. I am now more honestly modeling for my kids the adage that you should "be yourself", I have made new friends, and I'm happier. Also I love the double-fisting of canned waters that I'm seeing during the podcast.
Thank you for naming this-I am 52 and practice teenager mode. Favourite going out shoes….doc martens. I can dress those things up beautifully.