More reminder than revelation: weekend naps are worth it, in moderation.
Art
I like this gingerbread house I stumbled on during my run yesterday, artist unknown:
Blue Lagoon, is one of many cool quilts by Michael C Thorpe. (via)
I went to the Brooklyn Museum this weekend for Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys. Favorite piece there, by a wide margin, was Derrick Adams’ Floater 74. His recent work is super cool.
Running
Through most of the winter, my running has followed a casual “today’s mood” sort of program. Two weeks ago I started a new formal running plan, in prep for an upcoming race. So far, so good. One thing I’ve noticed is how adding 1-2 miles to a typical ~6-mile weekday run can feel like such a big adjustment. The extra exertion isn’t a big deal. But the ripple effects on diet, recovery, sleep, social time, etc. are very real. No such thing as a free run.
Books
A Crown of Swords. I finished the previous in the series with so much energy, but had a really hard time getting back into the groove. Moved on to others, for now.
How to Say Goodbye. It’s barely a book. Short read, loving/haunting illustrations.
The Sleepless. Noir-ish novel set in a near-future where we no longer need to sleep. Some people opt in, others do not. I’m enjoying the pace.
Music
A great week for listening!
Tracy Chapman’s Grammy appearance got me curious. “Fast Car” came out when I was a kid, and I remember it being low-key omnipresent on the radio up through high school. I never listened to her self-titled back then, but it’s good! I especially like “If Not Now…“. The piano and conga work reminds me of something from the Carly Simon “Anticipation” / Carole King “Tapestry” era.
I spent a lot of time with a couple playlists of opera duets, trios, quartets, etc.. A couple I really liked:
* “Dôme épais le jasmin à la rose s’assemble” from Delibes’ Lakmé has been on a bunch of soundtracks (about a minute in). It’s gorgeous, and you can’t unhear it.
* The oboes and basset-horn in “Mi lagnerò tacendo, notturno” stuck with me.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Blackbraid II is heavy and screamy. Really like the riffs in the second half of the album, as in “Twilight Hymn of Ancient Blood“.
I love the horns and general ’80s pop richness of Yukihiro Takahashi’s “My Bright Tomorrow” and “KILL THAT THERMOSTAT“, and the stereo bounciness of “OH LES BEAUX JAPANAIS!“.
I just love disco. If you give me a jangly rhythm guitar, a roving bass, four on the floor… I, too, will be ready for Murder on the Dancefloor.
Les Arts Florissants recorded a 3-volume/6-disc collection of madrigals from Carlo Gesualdo. The choral packaging is familiar, but the harmonies are so far ahead of their time. So many moments you feel a little unexpected ~twist~ in your brain. Also fits in that special category of “music that can function as wallpaper but also reward close listening”. Hard to recommend one, but worth a sample.
The adagio from Bohuslav Martinů’s harpsichord concerto is excellent.
I love the soft droning organ and synthesizer tones in Alice Coltrane’s Kirtan: Turiya Sings, how it fills up the ears. The album was “initially released in 1982 on privately-pressed cassette for her Vedantic Center’s students”. See “Rama Katha“. I’ll be spending more time with her work!
Articles & Episodes & Twoots
The Vesuvius Challenge was successful. Incredibly cool that we can read text from charcoal. I’m trying to imagine the feeling of scholars who have been toiling within the field for decades, suddenly getting a rush of attention, abilities, technology that unlocks decades of progress… that they may never see.
“One of my New Year’s resolutions is to not try to be modest unless I really mean it.” Thinking on this, and I think I like it!
“I think people confuse the feeling of nostalgia for the past with the feeling of being alive in that moment. They think they are remembering a feeling that they are in fact only having now, as they remember.”
Service journalism meeting the people where they are: “We used 311 call data to find the New York zip codes with the most heat-related complaints per person. Then, we sent the guide to getting your heat fixed to nearly 1,400 addresses via postcards.”
IRS is taking a huge, much-needed step forward: the Direct File pilot is alive! Limited scope and availability, but hope this keeps moving forward.
Movies
The Place Beyond the Pines. My fourth viewing. My notes on the first, second, and third viewing show a growing appreciation – five will not be enough!
I really felt for Eva Mendes’ character on this watch. Dealt a bad hand several times over, just moving forward as best as possible. Emory Cohen is perfect as the very, very wounded teen putting on his best cool, unaffected front. And what’s with that smile at the end? What lessons has he learned?
I appreciated more parallels and echoes on this watch. Characters wearing t-shirts with lightning bolts on them. Gosling appearing with an t-shirt inside-out (like his life) after a major revelation. Dane DeHaan scooting around with his backpack and bike. Gosling barging upstairs to build a crib, dirty cops barging in to rob it. Bradley Cooper with his own two momentous walks up the stairs, and two trips into the woods. So neatly done. That soundtrack, too!
Fallen Leaves. Took a while to get used to the dry humor and deadpan delivery. Appreciated a setting I’ve not seen much of, working class Finland. Two star-crossed will-they-won’t-they lovers scratching out a bit of hope in a comically hostile world – turn on the radio and its either war updates or love songs.
TV
X-Files, s1e18, “Miracle Man“. One unexpected part of this rewatch is the emphasis on Mulder’s sister as a driving force. I didn’t remember her coming up so much. I love how direct Scully is when they’re interrogating people. She just says blunt things in the most calm, polite, “here’s your chance to convince me otherwise” tone. She’s got no time for your BS.
And s1e19, “Shapes“. Felt very anxious about the Native American depictions going in. Could have been worse! Most of all in this episode, I really appreciated how much this show travels around, all across the US, urban, rural, and everywhere in between.
Jack Reacher, s1e1. This was fun! I’m into it. I like Tom Cruise’s sarcasm and confidence in the movies – hard to match that – but this better fits the brutish charmer I remember from the books.
Miami Vice, s1e10, “Give a Little, Take a Little“. Parallels between life undercover and life as an informant. Interesting to see so many freeze frame moments. Fun guest stars: Burt Young, Terry O’Quinn, Michael Madsen.
Mark Larson 