Art
A Mayan blackware ceramic vessel modeled in the form of an owl. [Untitled] (Sax Player), print from engraving on plexiglass by Scott Smith. Landscape with Charon Crossing the Styx, oil on wood by Joachim Patinir.
Books
Winter’s Heart. Homestretch.
Running
Feels good to steadily pick up my volume and consistency since late winter. Yesterday I went on my longest run of the year so far, and today, no ill effects. Still one of my favorite ways to explore the city. (Mill Basin is a strange little self-contained world. Felt like I was in Florida.)
Articles & Episodes & Twoots
From a profile of an archaeologist couple: “One of the reasons we’re able to make as many contributions as we have is that we stayed put at one site for a long period of time and we just kept asking questions.”
“Given Canada’s vast size and low population density, I was surprised to discover that the country feels more urban than the US, with far more skyscrapers per capita.”
Young families have stopped leaving big cities, for now.
Thoughts from buses across America. “In any town such as Harrisburg, you can have two very different experiences, one optimistic, the other pessimistic, and that is the defining feature of the US.”
‘No One Else Has a Bike Like Mine’: How Deliveristas Trick Out Their Rides.
“AI feedback (“you raise a profound point”) creates a new market niche for the offhand, the critical or slightly dismissive, the kinds of response only a slightly jaded human being can currently provide.”
“I painstakingly printed out my social media feeds FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH so I could read them like a newspaper, as god intended.”
NYC art schools see record-high application numbers as Gen Zers clamber to enroll.
“I’ve been sober for six years now; and that kind of milestone does something to your perception of time. It creates a before and an after, and it invites you – gently at first, then insistently – to take stock.”
A visual research tool that maps out a Wikipedia rabbit hole.
Music
Cerrone, Christine and the Queens, Catching feelings. Fun! Good pop/EDM/disco feel.
Laura Cannell, A Compendium of Beasts, mixing olde medieval and folk traditions:
Domenico Scarlatti, Sonatas, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 perf. Angela Hewitt. I’m partial to the B minor, Kk.27 and the G minor, Kk.426 seems to anticipate Chopin or the like.
Movies
Red Eye (2005). Tight thriller. I like the focus on only two actors for most of the runtime. Helps that both are charming.
Battle Royale. Second viewing. I love the melodrama – heightened with teenage hormones – and how we learn about so many relationships in the school. Beautiful soundtrack mixing in classical orchestral work.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Still so fun. I think the characters actually work on their cars more than any other film in the franchise. That’s cool. I think this is the third or fourth time I’ve seen it? (Previously.)
TV
The X-Files, s4e23 “Demons”.. Feels like I’ve seen this one a few times before (i.e. Mulder perseverating on sister trauma → unhinged behavior → getting arrested).
Mark Larson 