Last week I traveled to the Bay Area, adding layers a place I know pretty well (4-5 trips?) but not deeply. Time in Palo Alto, and San Ramón, and Oakland, and SF. Managed to visit five museums visits and two public libraries while we were out there. Libraries in particular are a good way to get a sense of the community. (Oakland is not happy with ICE right now!)
I also got sick a few days after we arrived, and it all came crashing down. I was hoping to work from one of our SF offices, but ended up holed up in the hotel for several days, working from a blanket mere blocks away so as not to infect everyone.
Speaking of hotels, a soapbox: by and large, today's "nice" hotels have have overly-soft beds! It's one thing to have a squishy mattress, but then also the extra padded top, and then putting a padded bedsheet on top of that? People, come on. I'm over 40! I need more support! And then covering it with floofy down comforter? It's a recipe for overheating. Gotta rethink this whole thing from the ground up.
Art
Preserve Your Peace, acrylic on canvas over wood panel by Greg Ito. Foothill Cabin, oil on canvas by Pacita Abad. Where Dreams Flow, handmade pigments on linen by Rupy C. Tut. Coup de Chapeau II, painted and patinated bronze by Roy Lichtenstein. Textile Fresco, linen, silk, cotton, and synthetic fiber by Sheila Hicks
Books
The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom. Finished. Very detailed and meticulous. Gave me new appreciation for: how much cultural blending was taking place at the time and how big that world was, even though travel was atrocious; how much organization / bureaucracy there was even in the olden days... but also how power on paper ≠ power on the ground. Also fun: historians using basically meeting agendas/roll call to identify social climbers vs. who was falling out of favor among the elite. Interesting for the historical period, but also a good view into how history gets done. There is cleverness in every job done well.
Foundation: The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors. Just begun. Seems like the breezy counterpart to the previous.
Running
Had a nice run in Palo Alto, but then too sick to do any others while I was in the Bay. Alas! Saw some new streets in East Flatbush on a long run this weekend.
Around the Web
"God created you with 3 Claude skill files and you're supposed to figure out when to call consequentialism, deontology, & virtue ethics. Make no mistakes".
Who shows at the Whitney Biennial. (Thanks, Jara.)
Jazz based on the flow of NYC subway cars.
A stroll through the Mall of America.
"When you decide what to consume, you ask: 'What do I want?'. When you decide what to produce, you ask: 'What do other people want me to do?'. The former is a lot more individuating than the latter."
The people do not yearn for automation.
Music
Kali Malone, The Sacrificial Code
Sam Gendel, Josiah Steinbrick, Mouthfeel / Serene
Tristan Perich, Infinity Gradient perf. James McVinnie.
Following on the promise of week 14... Mathieu David Gagnon, Flore Laurentienne, Volume III. I like "Navigation VII" and "(À travers les) Chablis"
Movies Ratatouille. It's fine? This might be a victim of hearing so many good things about it for so long before I got to it. Didn't land at all. Also too much swirly moving camera.
Frybread Face and Me. Some stilted acting but a good heart.
Love, Brooklyn. Maybe some home court bias, and I love pointing at the screen like Leo when I recognize local places, but I really liked it. Several views on several key relationships, and we get to see them sympathetically from each side. Benefits from the compression in a shorter film. "Don't say it." Bittersweet, hopeful. Andrê Holland reliable as always, but Nicole Beharie especially stood out. Perhaps pair with Past Lives?
X-Men: Days of Future Past. Better than expected! I like how we have several ~villains to work with here.
The Outfit. Still good but lost some of the zip the first time had. Narration like The Prestige now that I think of it.
TV
The X-Files, s6e6 "How the Ghost Stole Christmas". This was fun! I like this kinda silliness. Lean into the cliches and heightened storytelling and you get someting special.
Hannibal, s3e7. So glad the Verger arc is winding down.
Big Little Lies, s1e3.
CSI: Miami, s4e16.