This week I went to a white elephant party. Aside from a renewed appreciation of Brooklyn brownstones, we took away our prize – a handful of scratch-off lottery tickets. I had no idea they were so awful. Just a really terrible experience, the manual labor, the numbing futility of it all. I felt very… repulsed by it. (That said, I think I’d get a kick out of picking numbers and then watching the TV inevitably not say them.)
I was thinking the other day about detective shows, and how it’s so common for the protagonists to work cases at a couple different levels across a season. Maybe the primary case is a new string of crimes that’s hot in the community, and that drives the day-to-day. And in parallel, they’ll work something older, more deeper, more personal. Minus the murders, I wonder if that’s a useful frame, the detective mode of living: give your best to something present that needs your more urgent, frequent attention… and also to continue chipping away at something deeper that’s gnawing at you. Do we all need a cold case?
Art
I wish heard sooner about the Gee’s Bend: My Way Today exhibition at the Nicelle Beauchene Gallery. Hope I can pay a visit early in 2025 before it wraps up.
Running
Returned to the Tuesday/Thursday run club cycle after some irregular weeks. On some nights, it’s really annoying to have made the commitment to lead the group, and have to follow through on it. But it’s in the repeatedly showing up that makes it valuable. “We dedicate ourselves daily anew.”
On Saturday morning, my first snowy run of the season.
Books
Native Nations, cont.
The Path of Daggers, cont.
I’m trying to decide what my loose reading goals should be for next year. My goal this year was to start 50 books – mission accomplished, 58 started, and many proud DNFs to get there. Back in 2021 I caught up on a bunch of Shakespeare plays. Next year, I think maybe get I’ll back to tackling some Big Books™? Middlemarch, War & Peace, that sort of thing. We’ll see.
Articles & Episodes & Twoots
Favorite first-time watches this year from Letterboxd critics and contributors.
Ted Gioa submits his 100 best recordings of 2024, part one and part two. And Amanda Petrusich’s list of best albums.
“I start with the question, What do you want your relationship to paid work to be?”
“the trick is you can just keep “getting undergrad degrees” in your regular life by going through phases of stuff you’re into. It’s the ideal lifestyle”
The Underrated Joy of Being a Working Mother. “To focus only on her struggles is to miss an equally vital truth: the joy that comes from holding two worlds in tandem, and finding pleasure and meaning in both.”
An interview with Annie Rauwerda from Depths of Wikipedia. “I think that one shared quality of every single person I’ve met who has stuck around Wikipedia for a long time is that they have very little hesitation to work hard, and they put a low value on their own time.”
“Agathonicity is usually described as the property of objects getting better with use.”
“An Anti-Tag Cloud shows you the most common English words that never appear in a text, visualizing the “negative space” of a literary work.” (via)
Why is Spain’s social housing so well-designed?
Atlanta Can’t Afford to Punt on Beltline Rail – Part One: Density and Part Two: Connectivity.
Music
A few from Caroline Shaw…
- In Waves perf. Ars Nova Copenhagen. I really like the “spray”- or “steam”-like sounds the chorus makes here and there.
- Rectangles and Circumstance perf. Sō Percussion. Big fan of this album. “The Parting Glass” is so lovely – vibraphone + voice is a winning combo. I love the way the percussion droops out of tune, turning the harmonies a little sour and bittersweet.
- Leonardo da Vinci OST. It is simply not very interesting!
VOCES8, Nightfall. Pleasant choral arrangements to pluck at the heartstrings. Sigur Rós “Fljótavik“, Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight“. “Zelda’s Lullaby” was a fun surprise!
Bruce Liu, Waves: Music by Ravel, Rameau, Alkan.
Handel, 8 Great Suits for Harpsichord perf. Asako Ogawa. The Allemande from HWV 426 is really nice.
Schubert: Chamber Works perf. Tetzlaff, Tetzlaff, and Vogt. I like the Adagio from D.821.
Movies
Happer’s Comet. Vignettes from the middle of the night in the suburbs. Almost no speaking, just observation, very meditative… and weird, because people are! Roller skates, corn fields, glowing lights, chirping frogs and bugs.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The kids grew about 5 years in the year between movies. I’m glad they dialed down the “look how magical” moments, and amped up the stress levels – I audibly gasped when Hermione got petrified. And while last week I complained about quidditch, I recognize now that those scenes are useful for a bathroom/snack breaks. Only two movies in, but so far I’m glad to be rewatching this series.
Batman Returns. This time around, I really appreciated all the kooky sets. And I like the chaotic circus henchmen, and the Penguin’s theatrical flair, always playing to the cameras. I should watch more Michell Pfeiffer? For as long as she’s been going, I haven’t seen that many of her films. (my previous viewing)
TV
Cross, s1e5. I like that we spent most of the episode in one building, a good way to escalate this turning point in the movie. The almost-escape scene was really solid – I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like it. Cross’ pride will be his ruin – don’t play with your food!
Mark Larson 