Back to work in full this week, and back to the office. So nice to get warm welcomes and questions about my travels. Absence makes the heart grow fonder? The ability to work from home so often is priceless. Full-time WFH, though… not for me!
Art
Perils of the Sea Traveller, color stonecut on paper by Pitseolak Ashoona and Mary Pitseolak. It’s Not A Dream If You Will It, mural in the Brownsville neighborhood down the road from me. Untitled (Yellow and White), oil on canvas by Ad Reinhardt.
Books
Crossroads of Twilight, cont. This book is living up to its reputation (but I will finish it).
Running
Took the last several months away from run club, and returned this week. Felt good to be back. After so much vacation time, my weekend long run was a bit of a struggle. Build, decay, rebuild.
Around the Web
Fewer people should run marathons.
“Running a marathon is thus, by definition, uncool. It’s one of the most try-hard things that anyone can do. That’s why people like doing it. It feels really good to try. And it feels even better to try alongside thousands of other people trying, too.”
On the grid. They’re everywhere!
I like the “Does practice make perfect?” illustration in this essay.
“Creativity is just deviance put to good use.” (via)
Don’t Follow Your Dreams, Follow Your Tools.
How Marlon Brando Changed Acting. For as much as I love and watch movies, the nuances of acting are a big knowledge gap. This was cool. (via)
The Columbo Technique for Technical Writers.
Music
Klaus Schulze, Are You Sequenced? and Another Green Mile. From the second album, “Follow Me Down, Follow Me Down” is a great slow-burn pieces, and also liked “The Wisdom of the Leaves“.
Reba McEntire, What Am I Gonna Do About You. I heard “Why Not Tonight” when I was watching Tremors last week. The title track is great, too.
Brunnenthal 1715: Music for Organ and Cornetto. Much more moody and pensive than I’d expected. The “Chaconne in C major” was my favorite.
Arvo Pärt, …Lente. Mostly familiar material, glad I revisited.
Movies
Compensation. Loved this movie. Told in silent-film style, a story of two deaf Black women, in two different eras, finding love. Love the borrowing from pan-the-photograph documentary style, and vivid captions that let you imagine and dream along with the stories. It will make my end-of-year favorites, top tier.
TV
The X-Files, s5e5 “The Post-Modern Prometheus“. Black-and-white throwback episode in the spirit of James Whale. Fun!
Words of Wisdom
“The best fertilizer is the gardener’s shadow.”
Mark Larson 