Hello! I understand that many of you might be feeling particularly anxious this weekend — that’s what you get for all that doomscrolling. I’ve warned you about that.

So what do you say that in this edition of the Weekend Reader, we try to stay away at least from those selections that seem to always end in nuclear holocaust (those stories are shockingly easy to find these days) and focus on material that’s a little happier. Oh, there will be spots of depressing news — the death of director David Lynch, for example, and the Atlantic article about the new American solitude — but prospects seem good that, at least this week, we won’t be killed by nuclear explosions.

Director Lynch, perhaps best-known for “Blue Velvet,” “Mulholland Drive,” “Eraserhead” and the immensely influential TV series “Twin Peaks,” died this week at the age of 78. Here’s something I didn’t know about Lynch: During the heart of the COVID pandemic, he broadcast minute-long weather forecasts for a local public radio station (later, he made short of his forecasts as well). Here’s a story by The Atlantic’s Gal Beckerman in which he fondly remembers these weather broadcasts from the artist once dubbed “Jimmy Stewart from Mars.”

If you’re not familiar with Lynch’s work — well, you’re in for a pleasurable surprise and not a few uncomfortable, baffling moments. The New York Times’ Esther Zuckerman outlines some of Lynch’s most notable work in this retrospective, but I urge you not to start with his version of “Dune,” although it is fascinating as an example of an artist struggling to make something memorable while stuck in the machinery of big-budget moviemaking. (And the “Dune”-Lynch connection does have a current-day analog in how Marvel Studios likes to put independent directors in charge of some of its movies, like “Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao getting the nod for “Etermals.” Now, as then, the results are mixed.)

You’ve probably heard that Corvallis City Councilor Charlyn Ellis has prevailed in her lawsuit challenging the efforts to oust her from the council. (In any event, Ellis won reelection in November.) U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the portion of the Corvallis City Charter Ellis was accused of violating is unconstitutional on free-speech grounds. The judge also ruled that Corvallis unconstitutionally retaliated against Ellis for exercising her First Amendment rights. Ellis sought for, and won, $1 in nominal damages. The city, meanwhile, has racked up $240,000 in legal bills pursuing the case — and Ellis’ attorney, Jesse Buss, will soon be filing a motion seeking his fees. Maxine Bernstein of The Oregonian/OregonLive has a good summary of the case. City officials have so far declined comment on Aiken’s ruling, citing the ongoing litigation. Let’s hope that’s a reference to Buss’ motion for attorney fees, and not because they’re pondering an appeal.

If you’re curious and want to read Aiken’s decision, click here.

Here’s this week’s long read: It’s that Atlantic story by Derek Thompson in which he reports that Americans now are spending less time with other people than in any other period with reliable data, going back to 1965. You might be tempted, as I was, to link this to the growing concern about an epidemic of loneliness, but Thompson says solitude and loneliness aren’t quite the same thing: “It is actually a very healthy emotional response to feel some loneliness,” a sociologist tells Thompson. “That cue is the thing that pushes you off the couch and into face-to-face interaction.” Thompson writes that the real problem is that “most Americans don’t seem to be reacting to the biological cue to spend more time with other people” — and that could have far-reaching consequences.

Last weekend’s Weekend Reader incorrectly reported that the Academy Award nominations would be released Sunday. The nominations have been pushed back again, due to the Los Angeles wildfires, and now are due Wednesday morning. If you’re looking to get an early head start on your Oscar preparations, you could do worse than to take a cue from the Producers Guild of America nominations, which were unveiled last week: Last year, all 10 nominees for the guild’s top award went on to win Oscar best-picture nominations. Four of the guild’s nominated films appear to be locks for Oscar nominations — “Anora,” “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez” and “A Complete Unknown” — and “Wicked” and “The Brutalist” likely will win best picture nods as well. It will be interesting to see what happens with films that appear to be on the best-picture bubble, including “Dune: Part Two,” “A Real Pain,” “September 5,” and the gory horror-comedy “The Substance,” which picked up momentum with Demi Moore’s surprising Golden Globes win.

The great thing about this year’s Oscar race is that a front-runner has yet to appear. By this time last year, we all knew “Oppenheimer” was going to win. The bad news for the Academy is that years with a front-runner (especially a hit front-runner) tend to draw the most viewers. The Associated Press has this wrap-up of where you can see the leading contenders.

Speaking of movies, reports that a sequel to “The Goonies” is in development at Warner Bros. might, unfortunately, be exaggerated. Kristi Turnquist has the story for The Oregonian/OregonLive. But the original movie, celebrating its 40th anniversary, is scheduled to return to theaters Sunday and Monday. It doesn’t appear to be showing locally, but it’s screening in Independence, a pleasant drive from Corvallis.

I promised that we wouldn’t have anything overly political in this edition, but here’s something different from The Associated Press: What if your name was Donald Trump, but you weren’t the Trump who will be inaugurated Monday? An AP reporter tracked down people who share the names of presidents, from Trump to Abraham Lincoln.

Finally: Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and The Atlantic is taking the occasion to republish King’s famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King began the piece by writing it in the margins of a newspaper — the Birmingham News, which had published a piece from eight white moderate clergymen who had criticized his actions. (King calls them, without a hint of irony, “men of genuine good will.”) I understand that Monday has other events on the calendar, but I thought you might like to revisit a beacon of hope.

That’s it for this weekend. Let’s plan on gathering again next weekend.