Maybe the most important event this week was re-learning how important it can be for me to have order and momentum in what I do. A while back I had to table a personal project so I could focus elsewhere. When I tried to come back to it on Tuesday: immediate frustration. I’d forgotten where I was, the original goals didn’t seem to matter at all, I wasn’t sure where to pick things up. I was lost, and desperately furious with myself for having lost the plot.
After a few hours to settle down, I figured out the relevant goals and made a list of to-dos. Came back the next day and had an absolute blast, ended up renewed by all the progress. What a difference a day made – twenty-four little hours.
ಠ_ಠ → (✿◠‿◠)
I’ll launch into the coming week boosted by my first-ever visit to Brooklyn Botanical Garden. I traveled across the realm to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx before I visited the one down the street. I’ve lived in walking distance for a few years, sure I’d get to it “some day”. All’s well that ends well, a perfect dewy morning stroll.
A few other highlights of the week:
– making pancakes for a weekday lunch
– visiting an elementary school’s plant + bake sale
– making gumbo!
Art
So much personality in the Makonde Portrait Mask (lipiko).
Figure (akua ka’ai). “Sometimes also referred to as ‘god sticks,” they would have been planted in the earth, positioned on altars, or located in the rafters, thatched roofs, or walls inside temples.”
Up and Going (New York), by Gerald K. Geerlings.
Running
My running club did a course preview run for an upcoming half-marathon, so our route took us down to Coney Island. I added a few miles when we were done, and was amused to see the vibe shift. One one end of the boardwalk: amusement parks, hot dog stands, runners, tourists, parents with strollers. On the other: old Russian retirees chatting on benches. A beautiful day to be outside.
Books
The Explorer. Another kids book from Katherine Rundell. In the first three pages, we crashed an airplane. This is the kind of active plotting my brain needed this week. It also feels like a rewind for me, staying true to some core piece of myself. – Hatchet, The Swiss Family Robinson, My Side of the Mountain, Robinson Crusoe, Island of the Blue Dolphins – since childhood, I’ve had a thing for getting stuck in the wilderness!
School
My latest class has required a lot of “grinding it out”, mainlining vocab, making ChatGPT summarize the essentials at a high level before I wade into the muck. The only way out is through.
Music
TECH, from Owen Kleon. My far-and-away favorite is the found-sound layers building up in “Typing”. The melody/chord progression of “AI Buddy” made me think of “Suspicious Minds”. Not sure if that was intentional or not, but the pairing resonates well. Great dark energy in “Cards” and persistent development in “Television”. Cf. an interview with the artist.
Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song” is more catchy than I thought it would be! I’ll find more of his work soon.
Pure dumb luck to stumble on Sabrina Carter’s “Espresso” – perfect pop confection. My incessant replays eventually led me to her “emails i can’t send“. “Read your Mind” and “Feather” are similar upbeat disco-inflected dancefloor magnets.
Cocteau Twins is one of those bands where I fell so hard for a few albums that I never really looked further. My loss! I took time this week to fill in the gaps:
- On the “The Pink Opaque“. I like the vaguely-ominous “Pepper-Tree” (like the cavern level in a video game?).
- From “Blue Bell Knoll“, it’s gotta be the open strings of “The Itchy Glowbo Blow“.
- And same rationale for “Squeeze-Wax” on “Four-Calendar Cafe“.
- From “Milk & Kisses“, it’s “Calfskin Smack” by a mile, for those jangly open strings again, and the fun backing vocals.
Articles & Episodes & Twoots
“It feels like being too serious online skips a generation.
Boomers: Not funny online (at least not intentionally)
Gen X: Funny or at the very least not too serious
Millennials: Sanctimonious, virtue-obsessed, much too serious
Gen Z: Funny”
Interviews with New Yorkers who work in tight quarters.
“Is there anything out there like Stumbleupon that will just show me weird, creative websites if I click a button?” Lots of good stuff in the thread – Marginalia Search and Kagi Small Web are especially promising.
“Creating a culture where people can try new things and be ‘a little good’ is the way forward.”
Movies
Redemption / Hummingbird. I wasn’t expecting this to be so dark! And wasn’t expecting to see Statham smile, either.
TV
X-Files, s2e10, “Red Museum“. Look, there is just a lot going on here! Possession, serial killers, vegan cults, factory-farming conspiracies. But we got an iconic dinner scene moment out of it.
Shōgun, s1e8. The very far-reaching limits of absolute loyalty and sacrifice, phew.
Mark Larson 