Hitting The Links: 5/5/24
This one's got lots of links, a missed photo, some great views, an agility drill, and more
The Virtual Memories Show News
A 2x/week email about a podcast about books & life
Shoot
When we stepped out on the patio, my guest/host pointed to the wooden cistern above us and joked that it was his jacuzzi.
I looked out over the panoramic view from his Manhattan apartment, the brick buildings of the west 20s giving way to a high-tech LEED army of steel and glass approaching from Hudson Yards.
The breeze rustled the green shoots of bamboo in their concrete planter. I took picture after picture of the cityscape with my iPhone, as my Instax camera dangled from my neck. I decided during our podcast that I’d shoot one of the pieces of art in the apartment with my Instax for That Book I’m Working On, but the shifting of the bamboo fascinated me.
How would I frame it? How would it come out on the credit-card-sized instant print? Would it inspire a piece of writing for the facing page of the book? Would I regret not shooting something from inside the apartment? Would my guest/host be annoyed or amused that, of all things, I decided to shoot shoots?
I folded those thoughts up and we went back inside, where I took a picture of a sculpture that had been behind him throughout our podcast. That print was formally fine, but we’d just spent 75 minutes talking about the importance of improvisation and spontaneity, and I still couldn’t just let my eye take me where it wanted.
REMINDER
One of my friends writes: “My daughter is completing her sophomore year at college, where she’s majoring in publishing & creative writing. Would you have any suggestions for people in the publishing industry she could contact about summer internships? Would any of the authors you interview like some free summer help so she can build her resumé?”
She’s based in the northeast; if you have ideas or want to find out if she’d make a good fit for an internship (paid or un-), hit me up & I’ll connect you.
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And now, let’s hit the links!
Links & Such
Recent Virtual Memories Show podcasts: D.W. Young • Jen Silverman • Leonard Barkan • Emily Raboteau • Trillian Stars/Kyle Cassidy (bonus ep.) • Leela Corman • Keith Mayerson
RIP Helen Vendler . . . RIP Paul Auster (+ tribute by Lucy Sante) . . . RIP Frank Stella (Here’s something that Peter Schjeldahl wrote about him) (I met Stella briefly in 2015 at an opening for Lorenzo Mattotti, but didn’t know his work well enough to start a conversation) . . . RIP Richard Tandy . . . RIP Martin Bax . . . RIP Sam Ash . . .
Jen Silverman (2021, 2024) on how art isn’t there to make you comfortable.
Speaking of Jen, their Broadway debut got announced last week! The Roommate opens Aug. 29 and stars Mia Farrow & Patti LuPone!
Maybe their next play will be about a passing bullfighter who helps round up runaway zebras.
Yes, I bought an Eames Lounge Chair a few years ago, but to my credit, it’s not like I show it off to anyone, because (virtually) no one comes by my house. I just dig the midcentury vibe.
I’m sorry to tell you, but That Show You Love is mid, because, once again: Everything’s Fine, Nothing’s Great (TV edition).
As a corollary, here’s W. David Marx on how information access kills cultural arbitrage and the benefits of having good taste.
Steven Heller (2018, 2019, 2022) had a neat conversation on the Design Education Talks podcast last week. Gotta get him back on the show soon.
I suppose if you only click on one link in this week’s email, it should be OPERATION PUSHKIN.
Current/Recent Reading
The Work of Art: How Something Comes From Nothing - Adam Moss
“While I washed my hands I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The singular feeling that arose when you looked at your own eyes, which so purely and unambiguously expressed your inner state, of being both inside and outside, filled me to the hilt for a few intense seconds, but was forgotten the moment I left the room, in the same way that a towel on a hook or a bar of soap in the small hollow in the sink also were, all these trivialities that have no existence beyond the moment, but hang or lie undisturbed in dark, empty rooms until the door is opened the next time and another person grasps the soap, dries his hands on the towel, and examines his soul in the mirror.”
—Karl Ove Knausgaard (tr. Don Bartlett), My Struggle: Book 4
Fractured Body, Fractured Mind
I got another 5-day cycle of weights-yoga in, last Friday-Tuesday, 2nd in a row. I won’t be able to do this week, since I’ll be traveling on Tuesday, but I’m starting to get my strength back, and maybe my shape a little? I shot a flex-pic of my back last Sunday, and I’m convinced my iPhone is just messing with me and exaggerating my shoulders, but I’m starting to get my V-form back, so yay. Also, on Friday morning I did a hike by/around Ramapo Lake (4.6 miles) that turned into an occasional trail run/agility drill, what with all the rocks and roots, but I cruised along and felt no ill effects the next day, so maybe I’ll try to get a street run in sometime soon, and see how that treats me. Here’s one of the views from the Castle Loop
Until Next Time
Thanks for reading this far! I’ll be back on Wednesday with a new episode and (I hope) some art, and on Sunday with links, books, & workout craziness, & who knows maybe a little profundity or something.
It’s true, the moody manners come and go / And it’s better that you never know,