I put in a lot more hours at the office and wonder, where does motivation come from? Why does work feel like so much fun sometimes, and how do you know whether or not it’s fulfillment or a substitute?
Art
This weekend I saw a nice collection of Faith Ringgold works at Jack Shainman Gallery. Especially liked Coming to Jones Road #2: Sunday Evening on Jones Road, acrylic on canvas with pieced fabric border. Reading and exploring afterward led me to Subway Graffiti # 3, acrylic on canvas pieced fabric.
Another good one this week: Motown in Motion, quilt by Stephen Towns in natural and synthetic fabric, polyester and cotton thread, crystal glass beads, metal and resin buttons.
Books
Crossroads of Twilight. Finishing soon, I think more Shakespeare is up next.
Running
Filled in some map in Bushwick this weekend. Maybe the first time I’ve had nice experience running in that neighborhood. A beautiful autumn morning elevates everything.
Around the Web
Fun Wikipedia wormhole: amate paper, shaft tomb culture, and Olmec colossal heads.
“I’m a huge fan of death. … I think it’s the metronome of our existence.”
Monks in the casino. “Risk-aversion in the social sphere has combined with their risk-chasing in the market, and it’s created a genuinely berserk modern life script.”
When environmentalists choose panic over progress. “Well-intentioned but misinformed resistance to innovation and technology slows progress toward the very objectives environmentalism aims to achieve.”
“You can in fact do time travel. You do it by going to some key places right now.”
“i miss blockbuster because it forced you to pick one thing and live with the consequences.”
Friction was the feature. “When the legibility of effort disappears, institutions often fall back to cruder filters”.
The Taliban Drove This Afghan Trumpeter Into Exile. He Still Dreams of Home. (Congrats, Mishti!)
“Does calling a timeout actually do anything? Does it help?” Analyzing timeout strategy in college volleyball.
“Semicolons are humanity’s last stand.”
Atlanta Is… a new podcast on my playlist.
Music
A few albums from Alexandre Kantorow…
- Saint-Saens: Works for Piano & Orchestra
- Brahms: Piano Works. Still don’t love it, but a new appreciation for the Ballades, Op. 10.
- …Plays Brahms & Schubert
A playlist of Chicago House Music.
Movies
Jurassic World Rebirth. Leans toward the horror genre much more, right from the jump. Maybe too much anthropomorphizing with the obnoxious little baby one, and the napping T-Rex. Casual with child endangerment, but too cowardly to let a minor character die off. A mixed bag, but generally sustains the fun of the franchise.
Frankenstein (2025). Sins lead to suffering. Don’t let that happen! I like the Mia Goth’s naturalist wardrobe – feathers, lustrous velvets in green, gold, olive, flashes of purple like beetles. The ending scene at sunrise makes a fun contrast with Nosferatu (2024).
TV
The X-Files, s5e6 “Christmas Carol”.
Hannibal, s1e9.
Mark Larson 