We elected a new President on my birthday. I’ve gotten better gifts before, but… #WeMove!
Running
I went out for some trailrunning in Harriman State Park on Saturday morning. I wasn’t really familiar with the area. What lovely surprise, though, when we ended up just a half-mile away from the Lemon Squeezer – a part of the Appalachian Trail that squeezes through some looming boulders. I passed through my first time a lifetime ago in 2007. We took a quick side trip to visit again.
I passed walked into the channel and – feeling the cold rock, hearing the scrape of backpack – the most vivid, visceral memories washed over me. Unexpectedly moving to retrace those steps. Mark v.2007 would not have predicted the details of Mark v.2024, but I think he’d be stoked.
Books
Outlander. DNF. I remember this circulating a ton when I was working at the library. Not for me!
Termination Shock. Just started, appreciate the early momentum.
Articles & Episodes & Twoots
Projects are things with steps.
“Accomplishing worthwhile things isn’t just a little harder than people think; it’s 10 or 20 times harder.”
The Housing Twenties: New York’s Biggest Building Boom and Its Lessons for Today. “The period from the Great Depression to America’s entry into World War II (1930 to 1941) […] surpassed housing construction in the best 12 years of the 21st century (2012 to 2023).”
I fell asleep in a driverless car.
“I didn’t take animation seriously because it came easily to me. It took me a long time to realize, maybe it comes easily to me and it’s fun because I’m good at it. Maybe that’s what a talent is called, but you feel like you have to beat yourself up and do things the hard way or it doesn’t count.”
A reflection on the 10th anniversary of Nightcrawler. “As our relationship with cameras and information delivery systems has evolved, the public often finds themselves a spiritual descendant of Lou or Nina, even with good intentions.”
“God walks out of the room when you’re thinking about money.”
An excerpt from “Any Morning” by William Stafford…
Little corners like this, pieces of Heaven
left lying around, can be picked up and saved.
People won't even see that you have them,
they are so light and easy to hide.
Movies
The Lion King (1994). Watched as a sing-along. I tell you what: this hits way different as an adult with aging parents!
Crooklyn. Watched on the big screen at BAM. Love the hilarious chaos of a 5-kid household, and the variety of “characters” on the block, and the lively soundtrack, and the shock of travel to foreign lands (Virginia). One of my favorites of the year so far.
Music
Time for Three, Letters for the Future. New music for string trio and orchestra. The strumming and pizzicatto bits in “The Shallows” were nice – warm Americana.
Another round of comparing recordings, ft. Camille Saint-Saëns…
- Organ Symphony; Bacchanale; Danse Macabre; Carnaval des Animaux. Just now realizing that the “Aquarium” is featured heavily in in Days of Heaven!
- Symphony No. 3 / Piano Concerto No. 2. Don’t think I’d heard the “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor, Op. 28” before, nice surprise.
Samuel Siskind, Fourth Wall Ensemble, Christopher Allen, Johnathan McCullough, Awake. Lovely chamber/choral opener.
Svaneborg Kardyb, Superkilen. I like this combination of keyboards and percussion, with some electronica mixed in to expand it. I had the title track on repeat for a while.
Wolfgang Lackerschmid, Chet Baker, Ballads for Two. Trumpet + vibraphone, “Softly As a Morning Sunrise” is the highlight here.
Cobrah, Succubus. BDSM pop. Not sure I’d give it “10/10“, but it was a welcome injection of novelty. Buckle up!
Molly Lewis, On the Lips. Lots of whistling and mood-setting – I like “Lounge Lizard“.
TV
The X-Files, s3e17 “Pusher“. Trance brainwasher! Skinner as plot point (ht Jara). Holding hands several times, Scully’s concerned expressions. Russian roulette!
CSI: Miami, s7e12 “Head Case”. I like all the lab work they did in this one. Eric and Calleigh need to sort it out this mess lol.
The Terror, s1e9-10. Welp, everyone died! Glad the ending of the show wasn’t as Hickey-centric as I feared. Respectful appreciation of an ensemble cast. Really enjoyed the scene of finding the Northwest Passage.
Words of Wisdom
“In a cemetery once, an old one in New England, I found a strangely soothing epitaph. The name of the deceased and her dates had been scoured away by wind and rain, but there was a carving of a tree with roots and branches (a classic nineteenth-century motif) and among them the words, “She attended well and faithfully to a few worthy things.” At first this seemed to me a little meager, a little stingy on the part of her survivors, but I wrote it down and have thought about it since, and now I can’t imagine a more proud or satisfying legacy.”
Mark Larson 