The List: 5 things I’d rather be doing right now

1. Watching “Atlanta” on FX

Donald Glover’s new show with an all-black writing team premiered with back-to-back episodes on FX last week, and it’s fantastic. Complex characters, multi-dimensional blackness, unflinching looks at systemic and individual racism and also comedy make “Atlanta” worth watching. Starring Glover — known as rapper Childish Gambino and as Troy Barnes in “Community” — as a Princeton dropout who aspires to manage his cousin’s budding rap career, “Atlanta” airs on Tuesday nights at 10 p.m.

2. Reading Somethingtofoodabout

The large format book by Questlove — yeah, the one and only — explores the interplay of food and creativity, interviewing some of the world’s most interesting chefs. So much food writing either ignores the joy of eating food, cooking and creating or overlooks the social implications and larger context by catering to a wealthy, white audience. Questlove straddles both, and the Q&A portions of the book are particularly compelling, as if sitting down to dinner with the musician and various chefs and listening while they’re lost in conversation.

3. Traveling

I love y’all, but the Triad can feel small. I went to Durham last night for a concert and I’m headed back tomorrow, but I’m thinking bigger. Cuba. Sweden. Chicago, New Orleans or Denver. Vietnam and Thailand. None are financially viable for me right now, but I’m making this list and see no reason to limit myself to the imminently achievable.

4. Weekend redux

Yeah, I’ve got a case of the Mondays. This weekend I saw DJ Grandmaster Flash, caught Leon Bridges in concert in Durham, went to a Prince-themed birthday party and took time to relax, among other things. Today is a back-to-back-to-back workday, as I’m heading to Winston-Salem for a freelance piece after 5 p.m. and then hitting up somewhere else in the Camel City for Triad City Beat immediately after. They’re enjoyable articles to be working on, to be sure, but I wish I could be basking in the weekend again. Plus, who wouldn’t want to go back in time and improve on their mistakes so they could wake up feeling even better on Monday?

5. Napping

I had great plans for this last item, things that would make me sound cool or more athletic or inspiringly original. But the honest truth is that more than anything I want to be asleep right now, catching up on my much-needed beauty rest. Sometimes I wonder if I’m actually a gigantic koala given how much sleep my body seems to require in comparison to other humans. But here I am, sitting upright and typing away for your amusement before moving on to the next assignment. I hope you feel special.