January is passing with blazing speed
Art
I love old Japanese panel art on huge panels and it would be cool to own some one day. I also love a lot of Byzantine art, and saw a the cool Africa & Byzantium at the The Met recently.
Related to those, I’ve been thinking about the slow-burn interests you develop over a lifetime. Lots of stuff 10- and 20-yo Mark cared about are still in effect – running, hiking, orchestral music, sculpture, etc.. Some others, never would have seen coming: Byzantine art, Native American history, tapestries and textiles. What a gift, to keep stumbling on new stuff.
School
I finished a project, and now feel 20x more competent with Python. Next adventure is all Linux, which is one of those areas where, all due respect to the super-fans, I’ve never bothered to look at for more than a second. Curious what’s in store.
Running
In the last week, I ran the fastest 10k I’ve done in a couple years… which was so so much slower than what I did when I was younger. Funny to know, objectively, I’m not as fast today, but still feel so happy with it. It’s been a great year of running.
I’ve been a part of a local running club for most of my time in Brooklyn. I dabbled a bit in Atlanta, didn’t have one at all in Los Angeles, and now have a hard time imagining not having one again. Again, something I never would have guessed in my ’20s, a pretty dedicated solo (or duo) runner.
Books
Lord of Chaos, continued. Finally getting some bubbles in this pot.
Blogs & Pods & Twoots
Natural Fibers in Outdoor Performance Apparel. I’ve been a member of Backpacking Light for a couple decades now (!), and an episode like this is a perfect example why. Deep science nerdery into hows and whys of fibers, weaves, knits, fabrics, and how they differ in effectively keeping you cool/warm/comfortable/safe.
Nicholas Cage has respect for the dollar. (Cf. “No amount of money, neither large nor small, ever should be taken for granted because somewhere along the way someone earned it“.)
Derek Thompson, in conversation with Oliver Burkeman: “Everything we radically oppose in life, we ironically revere. We give power to the things that we set up our life in opposition to.” Burkeman is an excellent guest, here and elsewhere.
Huge ancient lost city found in the Amazon. “Prof Rostain says he was warned against this research at the start of his career because scientists believed no ancient groups had lived in the Amazon. ‘But I’m very stubborn, so I did it anyway.'” LIDAR is so cool. Feels like there are still so many old cities we haven’t found yet. We underestimate how much history the past had!
Music
- Old-school-flavored soul/R&B from Jalen Ngonda
- Betty Benedeadly, “Mojave Mystic” – some kinship with Hermanos Gutiérrez in this one.
- This playlist of X-Files soundtracks has been on repeat during working hours.
- Brandee Younger’s cover of “If It’s Magic”
Movies
Twister. The ’90s were a great era for movies. It could be simply a formative-age thing, but they just… look right! Wear & tear, sweat, grain, a little softness in the image. This is standard adventure-romance fare, but you’ve got some terrific non-star star power here: Hunt, Paxton, Hoffman, Gertz, Ruck, Davies. What’s not to like?
Leave the World Behind. Very nicely introduces the tension and looming sense of… something… not quite right, but never ratchets up very much.
TV
X-Files, s1e12, “Fire” was a bit of a miss for me. Evil guy being evil.
Three Pines, s1e4-8. I am bummed that this show didn’t get another season. There are moments of rough dialogue, some characters sketched a little too sparsely, some dialogue that really insists you get the message, and yet… so much else working in its favor. Honorable heroes, and I can’t think of any crime show that cares so much about its victims and makes time for grieving families. Here’s hoping we’ll get more someday. (Small consolation, there is a movie, and I’m curious how it interprets the characters in this world.)
Mark Larson 