This was an exhausting week at work, and that sort of vacuumed up all the energy I might have put elsewhere. Took on some work in a new area, straight to the deep end, trying to absorb context on the fly. Add in our usual backlog and a critical incident or three, and poof, the workdays fly right by… and continued into the night a few times. It’s nice to know that, when needed, I can just crank out a 12-hour day and come back for another one. People are resilient!
This week I also had a last-minute hang with a friend in town, one I hadn’t seen in a couple years. A huge and immediate boost. Highlight of the week.
Art
Starry Night and the Astronauts (1972), acrylic on canvas by Alma Thomas.
The People’s Bank Shortly Before the Crash (1877), oil on canvas by Christian Ludwig Bokelmann.
Reflection #2 (1959), tapestry by Kay Sekimachi in plain-woven linen, cotton, and rayon.
Books
Life and Fate. Feels like I’m losing my grip on this book. Found myself skimming over, rushing through, attention drifting.
Bright Young Women (Knoll). A little bit of trashy killer thriller to liven things up. I think this will end up as DNF.
Running
One of the things that fell by the wayside this week. I did return to run club yesterday for a rainy 38° run over the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges. A familiar route, but made sure to liven things up for myself with a couple detours. Needed that dose of selfishness.
Articles & Episodes & Twoots
“The idea that nastiness and negative affect are going to win the day strikes me as a lazy tactic that people reach for because they lack creativity and skill.”
Patrick Collison on what Europe and the U.S. each excel at. I’ve only spent a couple months in Europe (at most), but it has the ring of truth.
Read to live, live to read. (via)
Middle-aged man trading cards.
“And the days are not full enough“, poem by Ezra Pound.
Music
Freddie Jackson, Rock Me Tonight. Another r&banger that I heard my local grocery store: “Rock Me Tonight for Old Times Sake“.
Jon Hopkins, Singularity. This one rips. See “Emerald Rush” and “Everything Connected“.
Jon Hopkins, Music for Psychedelic Therapy. On the lighter, wispier side of electronic vs. the pulsing EDM flavor of the previous.
Harms Way, Posthuman. Metal. “The Gift” is easily the least like the others, but I like it’s nightmare-ish basement-of-horrors energy.
Movies
West Side Story. The first and only time I saw was when I was a kid, must have been elementary or middle school. I also played the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story orchestra suite in college. So it was fun to revisit a story I barely remember set to music I know really, really well. The brownface and accents are rough, but it’s still a pretty lovely movie.
The Sacrament. Inspired by events at Jonestown. Gene Jones gives a tremendous performance. The rest of the movie, I could take or leave. The wikipedia is haunting enough on its own.
TV
The X-Files, s4e13 “Never Again“. Scully wrestles with her inner demons by getting a tattoo.
Bosch, s1e3-4.
Severance, s2e10. Finale! I don’t need another season, but I’d 100% tune in if we get one.
Abbott Elementary, s4e18. One of the funnier episodes I remember.
Mark Larson 