Hitting The Links: 10/12/25
We've got a bunch of great links, some post-conference recovery, your weekly BIRDY!, and more
The Virtual Memories Show News
A 2x/week email about a podcast about books & life
Confer
Another year, another conference micro-managed within an inch of its — and my — life! I held the two-day annual meeting/conference for my trade association in North Bethesda, MD last Thursday/Friday, and despite losing three speakers (out of 14 presentation slots) in the final week because of the US government shutdown, I managed to put together a great agenda, facilitate a ton of networking, and get some ideas for next year’s show.
It can be exhausting af, but my members do seem to appreciate the work that goes into it, even as they wonder what the heck my day-to-day life is like that I can do this along with all the other association work. Those who know about this not-so-secret arts identity are even more flummoxed by it all. I try to take in that praise in the moment, be there for all the attendees & speakers instead of staying in three-steps-ahead mode, even though I also have to stay three steps ahead.
But it’s over — except for building & emailing the attendee survey, sending thank-you emails to all the speakers, processing/editing/uploading the video files, sharing PDFs of the sessions, doing the accounting — in time for me to settle in at home and potentially get belted by a nor’easter.
If I didn’t respond to an email or text from you in the last couple of weeks, this was pretty much the reason why, not that I don’t feel like a heel about it.
Also, if you were expecting to see me at New York Comic-Con this weekend, that’s on you; there was almost zero chance I’d have attended that gig even if I was well-rested.
Birdy Of The Week
Amy sent this one while I was on the road.
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And now, let’s hit the links!
Links & Such
Recent Virtual Memories Show podcasts: Tom Tomorrow • Kayla E • Hunter Prosper • M.L. Rio • David Leopold • Dmitry Samarov • Ask Me Anything • Dan Goldman
RIP Diane Keaton . . . RIP Smoked Fish Czar . . . RIP Ken Jacobs . . . RIP Ivan Klima . . . RIP John Lodge . . . RIP Jilly Cooper . . . RIP Kimberly Hebert Gregory . . . RIP Phyllis Gardner . . . RIP James Grashow . . . RIP Darleane Hoffman . . . RIP John B. Gurdon . . . RIP Chris Dreja . . .
Dmitry Samarov wrote about Elaine May.
Jessa Crispin wrote about The Return Of The Girlboss.
I’ll stick with amateur meditation, thanks; no need to move up to the major leagues.
Just like people, dogs can get addicted to toys.
But at least they can wear PET TRACK SUITS.
I just hope Adidas will make them for homeless rhinos.
I cannot improve on the headline, “In the Wake of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”
Speaking of, long live the Shipping Forecast!
Without comment, three NYT pieces on how China built massive electrical grid capacity and put huge solar arrays in Tibet, while the US administration just essentially canceled a big solar project in Nevada.
Errol Morris writes about his history with Robert McNamara, which is a reminder that you REALLY should watch Morris’ doc The Fog of War.
Current/Recent Reading
Shadow Ticket - Thomas Pynchon
Bob Dylan: Things Have Changed - Ron Rosenbaum (2013, 2014, 2023)
The Magic Mountain - Thomas Mann (tr. John E. Woods)
“Do you know the artist’s name?”
Naphta shrugged. “What does it matter?” he said. “We should not even ask, because at the time it was created no one asked, either. There is no miracle-worker, no Mr. Individual Creator behind it — it is an anonymous, communal work of art. It comes, of course, from the very advanced Middle Ages, the Gothic — signum mortificationis.”
+ the mourner’s Kaddish every morning, in Aramaic
Sound Body, Fractured Mind
Now that my conference is behind me, I’m hoping to get back into a routine, though I’ve got a little more biz travel ahead the week after this, then a Euro-conference end of October into November. But I got in yoga Monday, and weights Wednesday. By the time I got home from Maryland — nearly 6 hours on the road, due to the traffic grind — my body was beat to crap, so I scheduled a deep tissue massage for yesterday. That turned out to be really good for me, sorta resetting a lot of the aches and pains I’ve incurred in recent weeks/months. I thought about doing yoga that afternoon, but decided I could use a true rest/recovery day, so I just lounged, read, etc., and will try to get back to weights today. I feel like an amorphous blob, but the mirror in my hotel room was magically slimming, so hey.
I didn’t get to meditate every day, but I hope to restart that as a regular practice, too.
Until Next Time
Thanks for reading this far! I’ll back on Wednesday, with a new episode, no Instax, and maybe some art. On Sunday I’ll be back with links, books, & workout craziness, & maybe a little profundity or something.
A nice breeze blows in / Whenever the big fella cracks a grin / And when the time and the place is right / We sit down, sip some bouillabaisse / Ah, you know I’m gonna have me a little fun / I got a candle, I can get a lot of reading done,