January is passing with blazing speed Art I love old Japanese panel art on huge panels and it would be cool to own some one day. I also love a lot of Byzantine art, and saw a the cool Africa & Byzantium at the The Met recently. Related to those, I've been thinking about the slow-burn interests you develop over a lifetime. Lots of stuff 10- and 20-yo Mark cared about are still in effect – running, hiking, orchestral music, sculpture, etc.. Some others, never would have seen coming: Byzantine art, Native American history, tapestries and textiles. What a gift, to keep stumbling on new stuff. School I finished a project, and now feel 20x more competent with Python. Next adventure is all Linux, which is one of those areas where, all due respect to the super-fans, I've never bothered to look at for more than a second. Curious what's in store. Running In the last week, I ran the fastest 10k I've done in a couple years... which was so so much slower than what I did when I was younger. Funny to know, objectively, I'm not as fast today, but still feel so happy with it. It's been a great year of running. I've been a part of a local running club for most of my time in Brooklyn. I dabbled a bit in Atlanta, didn't have one at all in Los Angeles, and now have a hard time imagining not having one again. Again, something I never would have guessed in my '20s, a pretty dedicated solo (or duo) runner. Books Lord of Chaos, continued. Finally getting some bubbles in this pot. Blogs & Pods & Twoots Natural Fibers in Outdoor Performance Apparel. I've been a member of Backpacking Light for a couple decades now (!), and an episode like this is a perfect example why. Deep science nerdery into hows and whys of fibers, weaves, knits, fabrics, and how they differ in effectively keeping you cool/warm/comfortable/safe. Nicholas Cage has respect for the dollar. (Cf. "No amount of money, neither large nor small, ever should be taken for granted because somewhere along the way someone earned it".) Derek Thompson, in conversation with Oliver Burkeman: "Everything we radically oppose in life, we ironically revere. We give power to the things that we set up our life in opposition to." Burkeman is an excellent guest, here and elsewhere. Huge ancient lost city found in the Amazon. "Prof Rostain says he was warned against this research at the start of his career because scientists believed no ancient groups had lived in the Amazon. 'But I'm very stubborn, so I did it anyway.'" LIDAR is so cool. Feels like there are still so many old cities we haven’t found yet. We underestimate how much history the past had! Music

• Old-school-flavored soul/R&B from Jalen Ngonda
• Betty Benedeadly, "Mojave Mystic" – some kinship with Hermanos Gutiérrez in this one.
• This playlist of X-Files soundtracks has been on repeat during working hours.
• Brandee Younger's cover of "If It's Magic"

Movies Twister. The '90s were a great era for movies. It could be simply a formative-age thing, but they just... look right! Wear & tear, sweat, grain, a little softness in the image. This is standard adventure-romance fare, but you've got some terrific non-star star power here: Hunt, Paxton, Hoffman, Gertz, Ruck, Davies. What's not to like? Leave the World Behind. Very nicely introduces the tension and looming sense of... something... not quite right, but never ratchets up very much. TV X-Files, s1e12, "Fire" was a bit of a miss for me. Evil guy being evil. Three Pines, s1e4-8. I am bummed that this show didn't get another season. There are moments of rough dialogue, some characters sketched a little too sparsely, some dialogue that really insists you get the message, and yet... so much else working in its favor. Honorable heroes, and I can't think of any crime show that cares so much about its victims and makes time for grieving families. Here's hoping we'll get more someday. (Small consolation, there is a movie, and I'm curious how it interprets the characters in this world.)

At the start of this week, I spent some time talking through 2024 goals.  I'm excited for what's to come. One over-arching desire is to build more intention and reflection. A weekly review may become part of that. It's a beginning. See where it goes? School Last October I went back to school, scratching an itch, giving myself a chance to explore and learn where I hadn't given myself the chance in the past. This week's focus is a project around the traveling salesman problem, working in Python. It's felt great to see my progress, and see the project transition from googling every step, to more and more code coming from my fingers. Plenty of googling in the future, but that transition from "how to build from zero" to "how to fix what I just broke" is very satisfying. One of the biggest improvements is just making myself form very precise, discrete to-do lists, and knocking them out one at a time. Running Fully transitioned to winter-running mode over the last few weeks. Runs in the 30-40ºF range are the new norm for the foreseeable future. Every season, every temperature drop comes with some new anxiety. I never quite remember what I wore last time it was XX temperature. There's always that little bit of paranoia when setting out, a hard time trusting the wardrobe as I walk out the door – even when I've looked up previous runs and used the same setup. But everything settles in within a few minutes. There's a lesson here. (This is also inspiration for a coding project.) Pushed myself a smidge on a long run this weekend, just to check in on my fitness... and in the middle of that run I did the fastest 10k I've recorded in several years? Felt like I had plenty left in the tank. Really curious to see how much I can improve over these next few months. Books Lord of Chaos. In progress. I started a re-read of the The Wheel of Time series roughly a year ago? First read during high school/college. Book six now, and thousands of pages to go. It's a perfect bedtime read when school and life has me too fried for more. Blogs & Pods "One of the most interesting things you can do as a reader is to sit down and think about why you abandon a book." Music The start of the year is always so good for me. https://twitter.com/mlarson/status/1743674368046084176 This year I stole the idea of so many, to create an ongoing playlist of stand-out tracks as I go through the year. Sampling from a couple great albums so far: Nation of Language, "Sole Obsession" Portico Quartet, "On the Light" Bulgarian State Television Female Choir, "Polegnala e Todora (Love Song)" I also have a new running playlist. Most often I'd create them for an immediate need, and delete later on. For the current on, I've just kept adding more. I keep it playing from newest-to-oldest, so that the freshest stuff is always near the top as I sprint around town. Recent additions: Mýa, "Free" Ghost, "Spillways" Movies Bad Boys (1995) Will Smith before he was charismatic? It's very much the Martin Lawrence show. I was surprised to see Smith so muted. You have to be wary with comedies of a certain period. Plenty of juvenile crudeness, innuendo, prejudice lurking, and... I'm over it! I'll still watch the sequel – I hear it's got more Michael Bay-ness going on. R.M.N. Villagers in a small town in Romania grapple with accepting outsiders (room for improvement...) and with their own economic need to leave home to thrive (and how they are received in turn). Empathy as a function of location. A major scene takes place at the most toxic community meeting you've ever seen (and it's sad that you probably know exactly what that's like!). Influenced by true events, and clear Biblical-refugee echoes here, with its Christmastime setting. TV The X-Files I haven't watched much since the '90s. Late last year, decided to revisit. I'd forgotten how much wisecracking Mulder does. This week featured "Fallen Angel" and "Eve". Strong entries, but "Ghost in the Machine" and "Ice" still have my top spots for the first season. Three Pines Another rewatch in progress. I really like my first go-round with this unfortunately one-season show. Mystery series in rural Canada with a bit of coziness, oddball characters, and a season-spanning arc with an indigenous community. It's nice to watch a crime show where, like Columbo, you sense the lead detective is fundamentally good and decent. Dark heroes are a bit overrated. Life On Our Planet Seven episodes in, the mammals are taking over! LFG!

This weekend I took the train from New York City to Washington, DC. An experiment: 3hrs down, 8 hours on the ground, 3hrs back home. A rousing success. I was blown away how much nicer the train trip was. Took a subway to the train station, grabbed a coffee and snack, and then pretty much walked directly to my car and seat. My big fat cushiony seat with plenty of legroom, next to the big window. No security hoops to jump through, no rules for seatbelts and tray tables. What a dream. Definitely want to do more trips like this. The specific reason for the trip was that the Rubell Museum DC just opened late last year. I can't think of any other time in my life I was around "at the beginning" for a new institution like that. What a cool opportunity! The featured exhibition was What's Going On? – a nod to Marvin Gaye, who went to junior high in the building that now houses the museum. Really liked the Kehinde Wiley in the main hall – Sleep (2008):

(Seeing Wiley's work in person for the first time was one of my favorite art moments.) Also enjoyed a bedazzled and dazzling work from Mickalene Thomas, whose collaged paintings just burst out of the frame. After the Rubell, the next stop was the National Gallery of Art, East Building. Man, I love quilts. I loved this one, "Columns of Blocks" (2003) from Gee's Bend quilter Sue Willie Seltzer, "evoking ripples and reflections on the wide, wandering Alabama River", as the placard has it.

Perfect. And I'll close with Max Ernst's "A Moment of Calm" (1939). Love its dense details, making harsh, spiky angles somehow lush and warm. And those big birds are just silly.

In summary: 10/10, will train for art again.

I watched 166 movies this year. I'm proud of that, sort of? Appreciate that I put the time into something I love. But also... probably a good idea to cut back a bit. Or a lot. Stil, I don't quite regret it, not with some of the high peaks in this year's viewing. I tweeted some of the favorites I watched for the first time, and thought I'd expand on the stand-outs here. School Daze Really enjoyed catching up on a few Spike Lee films this year. His Pass Over made my second tier, and Malcolm X just missed the cut. The energy in School Daze is off-the-charts. I love Lee's willingness to blend genres, do whatever will drive the story in an entertaining way. It may not be a dedicated musical, but if we need to have a dance-off in a salon or enjoy a joyous, raucous step show, we are GOING THERE. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives Completely mesmerized me. The languid forest conversations, visits from the dead, blurring boundaries between this life and the next. This was only movie last year that I re-watched right away, the following day. Clouds of Sils Maria I like the everyday-ness of this, a view into a rarified world – being a celebrity seems pretty boring a lot of times! And the meta-commentary on its themes – losing your youth and your place in the world. It just glides along. Whale Rider This movie got me more emotional than just about anything else I watched. I love that our heroine is so direct, undisguised in what she wants. We get a glimpse into a community, and see the young teach the old. Ebert sums it up nicely: "There is a vast difference between movies for 12-year-old girls, and movies about 12-year-old girls, and "Whale Rider" proves it." The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) Just a slick propulsive action movie. They don't make'em like this anymore. Kimi An agoraphobe is forced outdoors. Love the blend of modern concerns – pandemic, surveillance, corporate malfeasance, cover-ups – and Soderbergh's usual zesty presentation. This would make a fun pairing with The Outside Story. Vesper I watched this one on 12/31 – a perfect example of why I don't finish my list until the new year starts. Vesper is a biotech scifi fairy tale in the sodden forests of the north. This is sort of perfect species of science fiction for me: give me a few characters to care about. And sketch their life with such precise details that you understand their broader world without being lectured about its rules. Haunting, hopeful. Very grateful to have seen these. Thinking about movies in 2023, I need more constraints. Too often, I skipped over things I wanted to see in favor of the zeitgeist, or feeling a need to "catch up". And too often, I chose movies as the lazy way out, something only to pass the time. Not inherently a problem, but the blend is off. I'd like this year's movies tilted more toward the ones I'm especially intrigued by, watched when I can bring them the energy they deserve.

I tossed off a tweet when I was making breakfast the other day:

Advice on leaving (your place of birth, social media platforms, etc.): Make sure you're running toward something, and not just away from something! ✨

What prompted it was I was cooking breakfast, and reflecting on my move from Atlanta to Los Angeles a few years ago, and then from Los Angeles to New York City. When I told my family about the first move, my dad was curious why, and shared something along those lines. He was nudging for details and trying to understand my mindset – was I hurting? Worn down? Desperate? Or alive, seeking, hopeful? It stuck with me. And luckily the second move was much higher on the "running toward" than the "running away" side of things. I was also thinking of a certain website that's been in the news lately for leaning into some of its worst qualities. I'm one of the lucky people with a small, friendly following that generally has a great experience. I see many people who seem increasingly frazzled and broken by theirs, though. I don't feel it directly, but I can understand it. It's valid, as all emotions are. I think the part of the advice above that I love the most is the attitude it implies – positive, constructive, optimistic. Reminds me in a slant way of the current tag line for Alan Jacobs' blog:

More lighting of candles, less cursing the darkness

I'd always want to leave with a promise of something better, not a curse on the past. I'm open to the idea that Mastodon or Post or Hive or whatever is a better Twitter than Twitter. And I hope if (when?) I leave I've got a good vision of what "better" looks like. Eventually every escape will come to rest, and when you look around, it helps to have some standards to measure by. Similar to Amy Poehler's perspective I shared a few years ago:

I see life as like being attacked by a bear. You can run, you can pretend to be dead, or you can make yourself bigger.

I don't want to wear out my shoes fooling myself. What will make me bigger? It may not be another app. I've got time to think it over. I hope you do, too.

Romantic comedy is the only genre committed to letting relatively ordinary people — no capes, no spaceships, no infinite sequels — figure out how to deal meaningfully with another human being. These are the lowest-stakes movies we have that are also about our highest standards for ourselves, movies predicated on the improvement of communication, the deciphering of strangers and the performance of more degrees of honesty than I ever knew existed — gentle, cruel, blunt, clarifying, T.M.I., strategic, tardy, medical, sexual, sartorial. They take our primal hunger to connect with one another and give it a story. And at their best, they do much more: They make you believe in the power of communion.

Rom-Coms Were Corny and Retrograde. Why Do I Miss Them so Much?

I think I miss blogging? I feel annoyed when I look back at the date of the last post here, and know all the interesting stuff that happened since. I moved across the country, for example. Twice. And there was a wee pandemic. But outside of my journal (kept daily, religiously), no record of my thinking, my influences. I also miss the attentiveness it cultivated in me, when that flow was at its best. I gave a little extra consideration to what I was taking in. The intake hasn't really slowed. But the processing and reflection, that background hum ("hmmm I might share this") tapered off. I miss it. So... yeah, I'm thinkin' I'm back. We'll see how it goes.

Back in July 2017,  I spent a couple weeks hiking Kungsleden, a 270-mile trail in northern Sweden. I started at Hemavan and walked ~215ish miles north up to Saltoluokta, with time constraints keeping me away from the last chunk. Researching the trail was a bit challenging. While there was a lot of content on general trekking approaches, I didn't find a lot oriented toward the more ultralight/lightweight approach I prefer. There wasn't a ton of information in English, either. And because I do almost all of my hiking in the southern U.S., it was a little difficult to translate my own experience into what I would need to have a good time in a far different environment. So here I'll jot down the gear and resources I used, in hopes it will help the next person along. (I meant to write this sooner, but... 🤷‍♂️).

Timing and Conditions

I hiked from July 3 to 17. It was a higher snow year (I am told), and my start date was a few weeks earlier than peak season begins. When I began there was still snow lingering on many portions of the trail. Snow crossings happened on most days, but none of it was particularly difficult. It was rare to see patches longer than 100 meters or so, none of it was very steeply sloped, and I had only a bit of post-holing here and there. There was quite a lot of water on the trail – creek crossings, snowmelt, boggy sections, etc., so keeping feet dry was just about impossible. Temperatures ranged from high 30s on the coldest mornings, in the 40s and 50s on most days, with sunnier ones briefly in the upper 70s or low 80s. I was lucky to only have heavy rain on a couple of days. Those were pretty miserable, and just about perfect for hypothermia. Just about every day had some strong winds at some point. Walking from the south to the north kept the prevailing winds at my back, and I'd highly recommend a northbound hike for just that reason. The hut system is very nice, and I took advantage of it here and there.. Most have bunks, gas stoves, etc.. The best part is many have little shops with enough food to buy for the next few days. There isn't a ton of variety, but if you're hiking at a fair pace, you don't really need to carry more than 2-3 days of food and a few bites to fill in the cracks. On to the gear.

Kungsleden Gear List

Clothing

(Not listed are the usual essentials and conveniences – sunglasses, first aid kit, chapstick, nail clippers, small light, journaling stuff, maps, etc.)

Helpful Links and Resources

I got a lot out of Danielle and Wayne Fenton's Kungsleden journal, and found their book quite useful as well. The photos were super helpful for understanding terrain and weather and such. Ditto for Distant North and Aaron Teoh's pages. (That said, there's a fine line where you can read and see too much ahead of time...). Over on BackpackingLight.com, the trip reports from Kristin Gates' and Jörgen Johansson's trips in Alaska were useful for rounding out Arctic travel knowledge, as were as various forum posts. The Swedish Mountain Maps app was really useful for daydreaming in advance, and the occasional peek at the terrain. The STF Kungsleden Facebook page is good for the on-the-ground trail conditions in the days leading up to the hike. The Calazo maps are really good, and I was glad I had them along. And there you have it. Enjoy your hike.

Wonder Woman. Watched on a flight, which is the perfect environment for quietly sobbing at moments of goodness. The origin story can be so tired, but I just loved the moral heart of this one. The No Man's Land scene is perfect (and well-named...). Dr. Poison is such a great villain. I loved the make-up and sly creepiness and the hoarse voice. Wish she had more to do. The line "It's not about deserve... It's about what you believe." – such a great scene – got me thinking about William Munny. "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it."

A Vigilante. Wilde is superb. The movie is not. Among recent woman-seeks-revenge movies, I looooooved Revenge. Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts was pretty good. MFA was alright.