Newborns are mostly pretty boring? And at least a little annoying. The first week or so has not been as hard as I'd imagined, from hearing from others. Relentless, a constant slow drip of stuff to do, but not crazy-making. Maybe that will change. Another difference from what I heard vs. what I experienced: I didn't have the transcendent wash of love that several other people described to me, when they first held their kid. I felt daunted, curious, attached. Love is there, but I think I'm experiencing another version of normal.

---

We also had a visit from family this week, and much more arriving in the coming weeks. We don't do a ton of hosting, so learning this part on the fly, too. How long is too much time hanging out? When do we want to delegate or ask for help vs. get the time to do it ourselves? Etc..! Time will tell.

Books

The Sagas of the Icelanders.

Running

Another short one in the books this week. It's weird to run so little. I notice not just how out of shape I am but also how uncoordinated I am. Like I'm re-learning it every couple of days.

Around the Web

You could argue that these kitchens aren’t even real — they’re stage sets where creators perform stories about food and style and health for vociferous audiences.

Movies

Emma (2020). Back to opulence in this rendition. Lots of lovely scenery and sets and costuming to look at. Some more "movie moments" in the intimate close-ups and swelling strings and delicate framing &c. But: I didn't like that this Emma is so much more snobby and cold. The portrayals in the Beckinsdale version and especially the Paltrow version have more warmth. Paltrow's Emma's snobbiness comes across as more oblivious, off-hand, lightly carried; Taylor-Joy's seems more chosen, intentional, acid, and for me, it makes our protagonist much less charming. Similar for Isabella – a minor character, but bossy and controlling here, where I read her as more affectionate, nervous type. This one does have the best Mr. Elton and the best Jane Fairfax, though.

TV

Furious, s1e4–5. Overall enjoying it. Some bad writing here and there when they need to make a sociopolitical point, but overall weird and compelling characters and I could not have predicted where we got to at this point in the show.

We had a baby last week. I am a dad. We are parents. The best is yet to come. ♥️

Books

I've read nothing since the birth, but before that...

She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth.

The Sagas of Icelanders. I loved reading Njál's Saga many years ago. Looking forward to digging into this one more.

Running

N/a, minus the shortest sunny morning run for coffee to bring back home. It was perfect.

Around the Web

The Doomscroller.

Men also want it all.

Music

Global Communication, Mark Pritchard, Tom Middleton, Transmissions Sampler.

Change, Change of Heart. I like "Change of Heart" but "Warm" is even better.

Movies

Jane Austen's Emma (1996). This one was more tame, more muted than the Paltrow version, with everything looking appropriately shabby by modern standards. Also a lot more class subtext going on, and a richer portrayal of the surrounding village. Much to appreciate in both.

Jurassic World Dominion. Watched for completionist reasons. It's not good, but it was good as smooth-brain entertainment to watch across multiple sittings in postpartum delirium.

TV

Dark, s3e6–8. The last few episodes really really dragged, with so many characters standing and narrating at each other. Worth the watch, though.

Furious, s1e3.

CSI: Miami, s5e7. Three crime lab montages! Let's go!

Last week I donated my bike. I originally bought it after I moved to Santa Monica. When I moved to Brooklyn (almost five years ago now!), I brought it with me. And never touched it. Train and bus and walking was too convenient. And as we reinvent our living space, it was time to let go. Funny feeling. I won't say I had strong sentimental attachment to it. But there were a lot of memories represented there, in a particular time, and in a particular place. Those will have to be enough (until I get a new bike...).

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Too many webinars last week! They were all good and worthwhile, but I've had enough zooms for a little while.

Books

This Time Tomorrow. Light and breezy. I didn't love the mini-essays, sketches of social commentary, but the main plot and easy acceptance of scifi premise was refreshing.

Offshore. Gave it a couple dozen pages, didn't click, DNF.

The Hour of the Star. Gave it a couple dozen pages, didn't click, DNF... and then came back. It is miserable and depressing to read about a main character in miserable circumstances, and to deal with the intrusive self-conscious narrator, but seems that's also part of the whole point here.

Running

Minimal, healing!

Around the Web

What I Learned About Loss While Skateboarding at Costco.

Review of middle age: 3.5 / 4 stars.

"My number one tip for blogging is to lower your standards! Aim to hit publish while you are still actively unhappy with what you have written, because the only alternative is a huge folder full of drafts and never publishing anything at all."

Reader as actor.

From the world of dance: Concerto Barocco, choreographed by George Balanchine, and Esplanade, choreographed by Paul Taylor.

A couple daily stitching projects, super cool. (via)

"Hospitality, at least the version I respond to most, isn’t really about impressing people. It’s about creating evidence of thought. A room changes when it appears to have anticipated company. Even if nobody touches the water all evening, it has already done its job."

Photographs of kudzu in near-infrared. (via)

A lost civilization is baffling experts and rewriting China’s origin story and mysterious shapes hidden beneath the Amazon canopy reveal a sprawling ancient civilization "They note that their study area amounts to less than 3 percent of Amazonia. They think other regions may have had similar population densities, raising the possibility that the Amazon was once home to tens of millions of people before European colonization."

Music

Audrey Hobert, Who's the Clown?. Lyric-driven pop, decent.

Evgueni Galperine, Theory of Becoming. Slower meditative ambient stuff. Liked this one.

Bach: Harpsichord Works perf. Tilman Skowroneck.

Julee Cruise, Floating Into the Night. Didn't realize I already knew so many songs on this, great album. See "Rockin' Back Inside My Heart".

Mark Pritchard, The Four Worlds.

Katseye, Wild. It's fine. "That Way" is the most interesting.

Movies

Emma (1996). Loved this. Collette is marvelous in everything. Paltrow has a certain charm but also a bit of coldness here, maybe more haughty than I'd imagined her in the book. Re-watched the picnic scene and subsequent reprimand and I'm tearing up again.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. Holds up! The knives always leave me cackling.

Obsession (2025). "It's not a romance, it's a love story." Really strong stuff. Our main character is the evil one. I like the blend of references and meta-commentary we get from movies like this, gesturaing at the main character as Pedrolino, the Green Man, voodoo dolls, "GenieAI", the Hansel & Gretel and willow tree folklore. Be careful what you wish for!

TV

The X-Files

• s6e21 "Field Trip". Mushrooms!
• s6e22 "Biogenesis". I like that we ended the season on a mystery rather than a crisis.

Dark, s3e5.

We got a new rug! Never underestimate what a rug can do to reset the vibe in a room.

Art

The Return of Odysseus (Homage to Pinturicchio and Benin), collage by Romare Bearden. “Sunday School Picnic” Quilt, by Jennie C. Trein. An ancient Roman mosaic floor panel depicting an almond cake. Composition in a Circle, collage by Jean Arp.

Books

Emma. Finished! Of the Austen novels, I've read, I'd put "Sense & Sensibility" first, then "Pride & Prejudice" (I think? It's been a while), then this in third place. But! Emma might be the best heroine. She's always getting carried away with her imagination and optimism, this over-confident meddling... followed by sincere regret and making amends. Repeat. It's great fun.

I'm not sure what's next, sampling a bit.

Running

Taking a few days off and a few days light. Mentally preparing for more time off of running during PTO soon, and trying to get a mild injury back on track.

Around the Web

Perfecting Pringles.

The billboard promises a new AI chatbot. It’s really just one guy typing. What a great gag.

New York City regulatory cliffs and winning the war on rats.

"In general, one should be cautious about assuming your opponents are just reading fake news."

"In 2025, Americans spent more money on home improvements and renovations than on building new single-family homes."

Music

Turnover, Peripheral Vision. Early 2000s soaring jangly indie pop. I really like "Humming".

Boneflower, Reveries. Rock a bit more on the screamy side.

The Lighting Section, The Fantasy. Loud rock!

A few from Fever Ray, moody, icy, vaguely demented...

• Fever Ray. "I'm Not Done" is pretty good, love the cross-rhythms in the clapping/snapping. I didn't know I already knew "Keep the Streets Empty for Me", helped job my memory on the connection to The Knife.
• Plunge
• Radical Romantics
• The Lake/Wrong Flower EP. Hearing "The Lake" when I watched The Bride! last week was what inspired this whole project.

Ariana Grande, Petal. The songwriting isn't good, and her voice gets too buried in (sometimes interesting!) synthesizer wash, but it's nice wallpaper and better at high volume. Felt some life breathed back into when we reached the harmonies in "Nowhere, Nobody", but too late by then. Bummer!

Georg Philipp Telemann, 6 Orchestral Suites perf. La Stagione Frankfurt cond. Michael Schneider.

Movies

Fight or Flight. Ideal sunny afternoon action thriller, Josh Hartnett tapping into some zaniness, great physical comedy.

TV

The X-Files, s6e20 "Three of a Kind". Casino setting is fun, but too bad they didn't take full advantage of it. Lots of talking in hallways and bedrooms.

Dark, s4e4.

The Expanse, s1e9–10. Glad I re-watched, if only to re-live the superior books by proxy.

Furious, s1e1–2. Promising!

I recommend: every so often to pick a random date, March 26th or whatever, and flip through all the things you did on that day over the years. Ideally you've keeping a journal to make this easy. I did a similar exercise while baking recently, paging through memories while licking batter off the spoon.

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This week I played shuffleboard for the first time, on a long deck with the big sticks that you push'em with. Couldn't quite calibrate this time, but if I were retired, I can see how I'd make it a regular thing. I still like the tabletop version more – moves quicker, easier to heckle.

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Lots of packages arriving over the last couple weeks, and mixed feelings about it. It's fun to have stuff! It's not fun to want stuff!

Art

Still life with vase, oil on fiberboard by Gabriele Münter. The Book of Jonah, woodcut by David Jones. Blod, textile in acrylic, wool, alpaca, hair by Anya Paintsil. Larks song and green lizard spring no. 1, gouache on paper by Eric Malthouse. '... I went into the garden of love' No 1, oil on canvas by Evelyn Williams. A museum in a small town, Louisiana, USA, photograph by Bieke Depoorter.

Books

Emma, cont..

Running

Dialed it back just a smidge after a big week. My old friend plantar fasciitis rearing its ugle head again, gotta keep it in check.

Around the Web

Dramatic Death of An Iceberg in Greenland.

It's cool to be weird.

"I tallied the colour of every couch in IKEA’s (now discontinued) catalogues from 1960 to 2021. 3,500 couches later, I have confirmed my suspicions." How colour drained from our furniture.

The coffee shop where 162 regulars have their own mug. (via Kottke)

In praise of the Midwest. "It’s not that they are more American than any other region, but that you can view America more easily, more inexpensively, and comfortably."

Medieval lives on medieval bridges.

Music

A few from L'Impératrice, upbeat disco-pop...

• Pulsar. I like "Cosmogonie" and "Amour Ex Machina"
• Matahari
• Tako Tsubo

Bach! Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, perf. Evgeni Koroliov. The opening aria is one of the most perfect little melodies of all time.

The Space Above is an interesting chamber trio with flute, piano, drums. They open with a novel interpretation of the Goldberg aria.

Monteverdi, Vespro della Beata Vergine perf. Ensemble Pygmalion cond. Raphaël Pichon.

Ola Gjeilo, Sunrise Mass perf. Westminster Williamson Voices cond. James Jordan.

Bill Alves, Guitars & Gamelan.

Chaconnerie: Bassi ostinati from the 16th to the 21st Century, perf. Silvia Márquez Chulilla.

Movies

High School Musical. What fun! Growing appreciation for Zac Efron, but Lucas Grabeel stole the show for me, a committed performance.

The Bride!. Not perfect, but I loved it. Twisted romance, great costumes, not-quite-our-history historical setting. And Maggie Gyllenhaal cast Jake pefectly here.

Interstellar. Holds up! I wish Jessica Chastain had a little bit more to do. How was this twelve years ago?

TV

The X-Files, s6e19 "The Unnatural". Not sure I could say anything that will help you understand what it's like to watch this episode. What a ride!

Dark, s3e3.

The Expanse, s1e8. Feels good to see the plot lines converge.

24, s1e1–2.

A very educational week to start: doctor visit, webinars, trainings, reading. I was glad for the change of pace on the back half, a more gentle slope into the weekend.

We moved some furniture around the house and reset the energy a little bit. Friday night fingerpainting on the roof. Saturday snoozing after a long hard run.

---

I wish Spotify were more adventurous and opinionated in its recommendations. So often it's playlists and singles. The small section with full-album recs is so often more of the same, so rarely the adjacent possible. Take a chance on me! Take a stance!

Art

The Matterhorn Quilt in hand-pieced and appliquéd cotton by Myrtle Fortner. Temple Hanging for the Autumn Full Moon (Picchavai Sharad Purnama), 1800s watercolor on cloth from Rajasthan, India. Tramonto a New York [Sunset in New York] Seating System, sofa by Gaetano Pesce. Within/Between/Corpus (11), photograph by Keisha Scarville. A 19th-century Qing dynasty wedding headdress, in silk, kingfisher feathers, copper alloy, turquoise, glass, and ceramic. Jeune marchand ambulant, oil on canvas by Alioune Diagne.

Books

Emma. Who among us has not been high on their own supply?

Running

Highlights of the week: Tuesday morning trailrun, and a Saturday morning long run to Shirley Chisholm State Park, and being the first one in when they unlocked the gates. :) (I wonder what it was like for long-time residents, seeing the old landfills changed to parkland.)

Around the Web

Does it matter if you don't like the characters?

"No matter how endangered the movies become, we still get to choose what moves and delights us. Why settle for less?"

"The stronger people’s political commitments, the less accurate their understanding of what the other side thinks. The politically disengaged have the most accurate picture of their fellow citizens’ views."

All US cities which used to have more than 100,000 people but don't anymore.

Music

All Bach, baby! A couple weeks ago I had a breakthrough with The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080. I wanted to seal that in, so that's pretty much all I listened to, a few different recordings:

• a piano version by Evgeni Koriolov, meditative bordering on ponderous, but you want to sit up and respect the listening a bit more than the others?
• a viol consort version by Fretwork, warm and reedy, "old-timey", modest.
• a harpsichord version by Davitt Moroney, more clinical but the percussive nature of the instrument keeps it interesting.
• a version by Emerson String Quartet, polished and lively and propulsive, maybe the friendliest version.

Also listened to a collection of Bach's Flute Sonatas with Basso Continuo, perf. Francesco Padovani, Roberto Loreggian, Francesco Galligioni. Really liked this album, especially the second-movement Allegro from the sonata in E major, BWV 1035 and the Adagio e piano third movement from the G major sonata, BWV 1039. The opening Andante from BWV 1033 draws you right in. Maybe the Andante from the E minor sonata, BWV 1034 takes the prize?

Movies

A Few Good Men. They don't make'em like they used to.

Hokum. Straightforward haunted house sort of thing told well.

TV

The X-Files, s6e18 "Milagro". John Hawkes!

The Expanse, s1e6–7.

Dark, s3e1–2. We're back, and I'm not sure when/where that is, exactly.

The weather lately – temps consistently over 90º, AQI at 150+ for several days – was really dragging me down. So much mental health and motivation comes from stable routines to click into, and a huge part of that is getting outside. When that's taken away, or just more annoying to do... things get tricky. But then Sunday morning was crisp and clear and all was right as rain.

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Went to Lincoln Center to hear Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 and a couple other pieces. It's long been a favorite, but I'd never heard it live. So lovely to get a new angle on it – bass plucking I hadn't noticed, counterpoint in the woodwinds, and just to see the camaraderie among the violinists in the moment. Great experience.

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After dilly-dallying for weeks on boring admin stuff, sometimes locking in on a good 3-hour block is better than a plan to chip away and make incremental progress. Better yet if you have a companion to lock in with you.

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I think my art section below ↓ is one of my favorite weekly rituals. I should go to museums more often – the concert a couple days ago is a good reminder that "there's nothing like the real thing". But also: I'm always free to go looking for things that delight me. Glad I make time for it.

Art

Scholar's Books and Objects (Chaekkeori), nineteenth-century Korean four-panel screen in ink and color on paper. 'Contained' Crazy Quilt of printed cotton, circa 1880. Chinese Ascetic, 18th century Japanese sculpture in bronze. A Hand Holding Prawns, Indian watercolor on paper, ca. 1850–1900.

Books

Caliban's War. This is such a slippery franchise. I like how it operates on a solar system strategic level but so many characters I just can't get a hold on, or find annoying. Ditto some of the writing, where sometimes we get lovely allusions to a broader world you're allowed to dream up on your own, and sometimes themes and motivations are just right there in tedious move-the-chains dialogue. And yet... I'd be open to book 3 after a break. We'll see.

Emma. I've read the first few pages of this at least a dozen times. Always seems to come up when I'm on a hunt for a new book – maybe this one? – and feeling like now is the time.

Running

Smoke put me on the treadmill for the first time in a long time. Whatever it takes! Glad to be back out in the neighborhood, though.

Around the Web

A Magazine With One Subscriber. DIY periodical, what a neat idea.

"All adaptations are acceptable. The real question is simply: is it good on its own terms, in itself, as a movie, standalone?"

"An easy way to tell if you’re really trying is to ask yourself, 'How would someone who is actually determined to do this go about it?'' Right away, you know whether that’s you."

Where is downtown?.

American suburbs are better than you think.

When AI is a member of the family.

Why American ambulance rides are so expensive.

Music

Sophie Dervaux, La Folia Barockorchester, Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerti and Vivaldi: Bassoon Concerti II. These were nice. I wonder if I get more out of different recordings, as it's easy for bassoon to get a little buried in the mix.

Flying Lotus

• Ash (OST). Glitchy and queasy and ominous electronics, fit the movie very well. The opener, "Oxygene" is great, also like the breathing in "It's Out There".
• Los Angeles More of a beat-lounge sorta vibe. I like the all the hand percussion in "Melt!".

Max Bruch, Violin Concerto No. 1, perf. Itzhak Perlman, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra cond. Bernard Haitink.

Passepartout Duo, Pieces from Places.

John Tavener: Eternity's Sunrise, Academy of Ancient Music cond. Paul Goodwin.

Movies

Shelter. Statham is a man with a dark past he can't leave behind, etc.. I hope to move as well when I'm his age.

Cleaner. Daisy Ridley does compelling actionm, and the whole scene is a decent gimmick.

Babygirl. What an odd one! I felt impatient sometimes, and baffled throughout, but never bored. "When characters have metaphor-heavy jobs, you know there’s trouble in paradise."

TV

The X-Files, s6e17 "Trevor".

Couples Therapy, s5e7–9. Another solid season! Always good conversation material.

The Expanse, s1e5.

I've been thinking about a new role in my company. I never consciously declared "this is my path and my passion", but building up expertise over time, identity sort of forms itself. So it feels weird to even consider it, opening up deeper and longer-term questions than when I was first toying with the idea. We'll see!

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A problem of affluence: muffins and cupcakes today are too tall. Food is better when you can get the full experience in one bite. Make them smaller!

Art

Three Houses, watercolor by Paul Klee. Couple drinking beer, inner tube floating party, Apple River, Somerset, WI, photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Tapestry: Greenery by John Henry Dearle. Heavy Metal Stack: Fat Cyan Three, sculpture by Angela Bulloch.

Books

Caliban's War. Going into the last quarter or so. I'll switch to something older next.

Running

Feeling summer's ticking clock. I need to reevaluate my running to-do list and make sure I'm prioritizing some of the more ambitious and novel ones in addition to routine maintenance.

Around the Web

"Every day is all there is."

How—and Why—to Cull Your Book Collection.

The rise of grocery tourism. "It’s anthropology with a basket."

On Japanese electric baths. I tried one of these on my first trip to Japan a long time ago, Yakuza guys laughing at us as we sizzled.

An audio journey on the Yamanote Line.

Abuse (I presume) of disability accommodations in elite higher ed kinda sickens me.

If you want to make money, be useful to rich people.

America's most prosperous neighborhoods are its newest.

Meet the next generation of New York City Skateboarding.

Does American have a fun shortage?

"I contend that the 21st century has seen a dramatic loss of information on screen, making for a less luxurious and less satisfying experience for the viewer, and trace how this loss was manufactured, department by department."

How to listen to a Tarantino movie.

Music

Spent a lot of time with these two Bach albums and I think I'm finally starting to piece them together a little bit.

• Bach - Busoni: Goldberg Variations & Other Works perf. Chiyan Wong.
• Bach: The Art of Fugue (1978–1981) perf. Grigory Sokolov.

Adrian Johnston, Primate OST. Electronic music for murderous chimps. Echoes of "Halloween", maybe. I like "The Pool" and "Run Hannah".

Songs of Passion, works from Henry Purcell and John Dowland, perf. Thomas Dunford, Lea Desandre, Ensemble Jupiter. Dowland's "Now, o Now, I Needs Must Part" is very nice.

François Couperin, Second Livre de Pièces de clavecin perf. Christophe Rousset. "Les Barricades Mystérieuses" is a banger. I hear it as one of those songs to play at a morning wedding during a hopeful walk down the aisle, quiet sobs as everyone overflows with joy and love. Many others to like on the album.

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Rosenkranzsonaten, C90–105, baroque violin works perf. Gunar Letzbor with Ars Antiqua Austria. It's good! Great companion when you say your morning rosary prayers.

Parle qui veut: Moralizing Songs of the Middle Ages perf. Sollazzo Ensemble dir. Anna Danilevskaia.

The latest from Four Tet aka ⣎⡇ꉺლ༽இ•̛)ྀ◞ ༎ຶ ༽ৣৢ؞ৢ؞ؖ ꉺლ, and I will not bother to transcribe the album title, but will definitely listen to it more!

Movies

The Bourne Supremacy. The ending never gets old, but I think I've seen the movie too many times.

Apex. Going in, I was hoping more for battles with nature (like The Revenant, say), and less crazy villain, but still a good ride. Interesting to see the main character keeping her cool in situations where every single alarm bell is going off, a wary confidence. Charlize Theron is good for that.

The Greatest Showman. The music is overall not good, but also not for me. But also: sometimes the heartstring-plucking works, and I love the pace and choreography and melodrama. It's a fun watch. "When you're careless with other people, you bring ruin upon yourself."

Ash. Sturdy trippy paranoid spooky scifi. Perfect for a midnight screening.

TV

The X-Files, s6e16 "Alpha". "Scary dogs in the city", indeed.

The Expanse, s1e3–4.

Couples Therapy, s5e6.

What's happened lately... Had rainy date night in the city – starting very grumpy, but I came around – where the rained-delayed outdoor dance performance made a good excuse to pop into a library exhibition on Martha Graham. Took an online class. Spent a whole Sunday on my laptop on a project for work, and loved the happy buzz of relief when I got it all done and went to bed late. Got an idea on a lark and started (inaugural?) Meat Week™, eating a different animal every day, and finding a new encouragement to cook creatively instead of phoning it in. Found a good flow at work lately – maybe just more breathing room from a summer lull, but also bigger chunks of focused time. Made cyanotypes for the first time and loved the rush of ideas and excitement from new possibilities. Life is good.

Art

Untitled (Blue Plant Woman), crayon, colored pencil and pencil on paper by Nellie Mae Rowe. Untitled (Blue Man on Red Object), poster paint and pencil on cardboard by Bill Traylor. The Baptism of Jesus in wood and paint by Leroy Almon. Multiple Housetop quilt, artist once known.

Books

Caliban's War, cont.. Still enjoying it. It's my morning subway book and my nighttime before-bed book. I often end up re-reading a fair amount that I slept-read, but it's worth it.

Running

Struggling with the heat, but getting through it, sweating through it. An early Saturning on forested trails was the right move to avoid triple-digit meltdown.

Around the Web

Gotta teach the young about meanderware. The kids don't know what they missed.

The year is 2063 and you were never interesting.

Heretic, 1931 dance performance choreographed by Martha Graham. Modern dance is so old!

Optimism is the ultimate lifehack.

How did vehicles get so expensive?

How Europe became the world champion of heat deaths.

"Whatever listening plans you might have, you should always disrupt them.."

And in that spirit, The 40 Best Albums from the Last 40 Years That You Probably Didn't Hear (but Should've) should help. Time for some crate-digging.

Music

This week was back to Bach, though. 😈 Don't think I've ever listened to so much harpsichord in such a small period of time. Never had strong feelings either way, but the instrument is growing on me.

Bach: The 6 French Suites, perf. Francesco Tristano.

Italian Concerto, BWV 971; Toccata, BWV 911; Duets, BWV 802–805; English Suite, BWV811, perf. Angela Hewitt.

And several performed by harpsichordist Lillian Gordis...

• ...Plays Bach
• Bach: Partita No. 6, English Suite, and Preludes & Fugues
• Zones, Scarlatti recordings

Jean Rondeau, Thomas Dunford, Barricades, an interesting collection of harpsichord & lute duos, and some songs.

And also...

Marconi Union, Multiforms: Ambient Transmission, Vol. 3.

Boren & Der Club of Gore, Sunset Mission. Good one for when you pour yourself a drink and go out for a smoke on the fire escape on a hot summer night, and it's only getting hotter, and you're in black and white and are a scrappy private detective or something, as in "Prowler".

Jon Hopkins, Biggi Hilmars, Wilding OST.

Movies

Zootopia. Fun and funny. Maybe I should make more room for my life for animated movies.

Zootopia 2. Felt a little flat? Better in plot and theme, but not as funny as the first.

Another Round. Affirming and heartfelt. One of my favorite movies of 2023 when I first saw it. Still love it.

Primate. One of those horror movies where once you meet everyone you know exactly who is going to die and who will survive. It's fun!

Dante's Peak. The disaster epic is a comfort-food genre. You know they'll hit all the main beats. Ebert's review sums it up well.

Fast X. Jason Momoa brings a much-needed spark. Probably the most compelling villain in the franchise?

Undertone. Solid horror. I like movies where audio plays a big role: like the podcasting in Monolith, the helpline in The Listener, and radio show in The Vast of Night.

TV

The X-Files, s6e14 "Monday" and s6e15 "Arcadia". So good when they get in this silly register.

Couples Therapy, s5e4–5.

Big Little Lies, s2e4–7. Confession, repentance, inherited sin, false idols. Our characters have to transform their lives and reject their illusions before they can address the collective lie. Great show.

This week I had to adjust to getting back to work, and having opportunities fall in my lap. After my time away, definitely noticed myself just being nicer than I was before – saying hello, being more willing to detour into office patter, less rattled by distractions. I was riding on a vacation high... and then Friday I fell face-first into a rut. Too much time on the phone aimlessly scrolling, and envying, and doing nothing productive about it! One of those where I eventually could recognize the cycle but not quite recover from it right away. Decided to take the L and sleep it off. The next day brought the predicted rebound: a great run, a wonderfully community-oriented Saturday jaunt – glad I got to see the revival of the June Balloon festival – and all the good things.

Art

Gray and Gold, oil on canvas by John Rogers Cox. The Forest, painting on folding screen by Katayama Bokuyō. Carol, JoJo and Lisa hanging out on Mott Street, Little Italy, New York, photo by Susan Meiselas. Untitled (Rain), pastel on wove paper by Nam June Paik. Head of a Young Girl, terracotta sculpture by Henri Laurens.

Books

Caliban's War. I watched a good bit of The Expanse tv show, a while back, which made it easier to settle in here so long after reading Leviathan Wakes.

Running

More exploration in Canarsie this weekend, and a big jump in mileage. Feeling it, feeling glad I got out for a longer one even though much of it was a struggle.

Around the Web

You can't comb a hairy ball.

"Romance rewards transformation; horror punishes failure to transform."

My Experience as a Juror on a Cold Case Rape Trial. Interesting experience that we don't usually hear about.

Traveling from NYC to Boston on foot.

Sailing is a full-time job. "There is a saying in the sailing community 'cruising is doing boat repairs in exotic locations'."

Footage from the 2026 US Sumo Open and I guess at the end of the day they do random, mixed-weight match-ups?!

Took this for granted, but wonder how my experience of elementary/middle/high school would have been different if I could just call my friends directly:

Phones were attached to homes, not people, and to reach a friend you had to make a phone call to their house. More often than not, someone else answered the phone and you had to speak politely to that person before the phone was handed to your friend. Everyone who made phone calls in those days was formed by those conversations, by the need to be respectful to your friend’s family, by the understanding that your friends lived in their own family unit, that your call was noted by others, that you might not be assured of privacy.

The past is a foreign country, and I am more and more a emigrant!

LA Metro: Ambient, in the spirit of NYC train jazz.

Music

Paul McCartney, The Boys of Dungeon Lane. Had a hunch it wasn't for me, was right, but no worries.

The lesson of this week: it pays to keep your ears open.

While touring some open studios in Greenpoint a while back, I spotted a couple LPs on a shelf:

• Alturas, a collab by Kawabata Makoto, Richard Pinhas, Manongo Mujica, Juan Luis Pereira, and Hiroshi Higashi. Trippy multi-instrumental/cross-genre stuff.
• Suso Saiz, Resonant Bodies, pleasant ambient.

My first time listening to Billie Eilish was this week via Hit Me Hard and Soft. Hearing "Birds of a Feather" in a restroom was the initial hook, had to go look it up later.

And from Labi Siffre, Crying Laughing Loving Lying. I first heard the title track during a taxi ride in LA last week. Love the open, jangly, stereo guitars.

Movies

The Ballad of Wallis Island. I loved this movie and expect it will be near the top of my favorites at the end of the year. Dances between silly and serious and bittersweet, and bitter, and sweet, and that's just life isn't it?

F9: The Fast Saga. These aren't getting better, so just get comfortable and let it wash over you.

Significant Other. Didn't know where it was going. That counts for something! A bit like Annihilation in that it all starts when something falls from the sky...

TV

The X-Files, s6e13 "Agua Mala". I love how this one escalates, just throwing it all into the pot and bringing it to a boil!

Big Little Lies, s2e2–3.

Couple Therapy, s5e3.