Party Like It’s 5785
A new podcast with Christopher Brown, some thoughts on resolutions & Rosh Hashanah, a genuine smile, & more
The Virtual Memories Show News
A 2x/week email about a podcast about books & life
Podcastery
This week I posted Episode 607 of The Virtual Memories Show, with Christopher Brown returning to celebrate his phenomenal new book, A NATURAL HISTORY OF EMPTY LOTS: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys and Other Wild Places (Timber Press). We talk about his shift from fiction to a nature-writing/memoir/nonfiction hybrid, the eco-cosmos of East Austin, TX, the years of observation that opened him to the hidden pockets of wildness in urban environments, why solitude in nature is a myth, what we have to gain from taking a long walk, Long Time vs. the short presence of Anglos in Texas, how 2020’s lockdown turned off global capitalism and showed how society might truly change, and how this book mutated from when we talked about it at Readercon 2023. We get into Bruce Sterling’s unforgettable critique of his writing, the process of turning a narrative of colonization into one of decolonization, (eco)psychogeography & the Situationists, why he (begrudgingly) brought the personal/memoiristic into the book and how it helped him come to terms with himself, and what a workshop with horror writers taught him about the truth-telling power of non-redemptive storytelling. We also discuss the design flaws of the agricultural revolution, how his readers in different regions respond to his FIELD NOTES newsletter, the nature of mysticism and writing a narrative about transcending the self, hiking a Massachusetts marsh in summer with Jeff VanderMeer, and plenty more. Give it a listen, and go get A NATURAL HISTORY OF EMPTY LOTS!
(And go listen to our 2018, 2019, lockdown, 2020, and 2023 conversations!)
Last week I posted Episode 606 of The Virtual Memories Show, but artist, writer, and 327-time guest* Dmitry Samarov returned so we could explore his fantastic new book, MAKING PICTURES IS HOW I TALK TO THE WORLD, a survey of his art from the ’80s to today. We talk about the process of selecting pieces for the book, what artistic legacy means to him, finding roots of his work in his childhood, and why the notion of ‘progress’ doesn’t apply to his work. We get into the transformative experience of working at Tangible Books and how it’s inspiring his new ‘zine project, why he’s culling a lot of his library and how he’s deciding which books to keep, and how his bookshelf paintings started to open him to abstraction. We also discuss our monastic devotion to art and Antonio López García’s devotion to painting his quince tree, how moving some furniture can change one’s perspective, why he’s against starting art with An Idea, and plenty more. Give it a listen, and go get MAKING PICTURES IS HOW I TALK TO THE WORLD!
* Okay, D’s only been on 7 times. Go listen to our previous conversations: 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, lockdown, 2021, and 2022
Recent episodes: Stephen B. Shepard • Benjamin Dreyer • Nicholas Delbanco • Dash Shaw • Jess Ruliffson • Joe Coleman • Mirana Comstock
NO NEW SHOW NEXT WEEK, AS I’LL BE ON THE ROAD FOR BUSINESS
Party Like It’s 5785
Rosh Hashanah starts tonight, so I’m in a New/Jew Year vibe. For Jews, we’re meant to atone during this 10-day period & pray that we’re inscribed in the Book of Life for another year. A few days after it ends, I go for an oncology check-in, which will likely go fine but is a reminder that nothing’s guaranteed.
I’ve written before about how I like the built-in mulligans of having a the Jew Year 3 months before the Julian calendar turns over, and my birthday a week-plus after Jan. 1. Lets me recalibrate.
That said, I’m not one for resolutions — unless that resolution is not to treat any day/period as particularly special — but for the sake of giving future-Gil something to bash past-Gil over, I oughtta offer up some sorta goals for the year ahead.
Keep my Virtual Memories Show going - Duh. That’s my legacy in this world.
Make my GUEST/HOST book - Which means taking more podcast-related Instax photos, writing facing text for each one, figuring out production costs & timelines, and then crowdfunding/pre-selling copies.
Finish Haiku for Business Travelers #3 - I’m pretty close, but the stuff that still needs doing involves Real Work.
Draw more - I’ve let my art-making slide, and it’s something that expanded my post-50 world, so I oughtta rededicate myself to that.
Those are all external-ish things, I suppose, but I think each would also help with the soul-sickness I’ve had for a while/my entire life. This (Julian or Hebrew) year’s been tough on me for a variety of reasons, but it’s also been filled with moments of beauty, communion, transcendence, joy, and transformation.
I wish I could take more time to let these books, conversations, artworks, moments sink into my soul. But that’d require more resolution than I’ve got.
*
That said, “spend more time with old fiends” doesn’t seem like a bad goal for the year ahead. My pal sent over a couple of the pix he took from our Catskills Fire Tower hikes on Sept. 21. There are sexier ones of me, but I thought maybe you’d like to see me with a genuine smile on my face:
We plan to do the last one the day after I get back from my Italy business trip, as the tower-cabs will be closed for the season after that, and it’s the biggest of the 5 tower hikes, so I’m glad we’re getting it in before Hashem finalizes that Book of Life (haha).
Instaxery
No in-person podcasts last weekend, so no new Instax; sorry! I’m planning on recording an in-person later today, so I’ll get a pic there, and may drop in on 1-2 past guests to take more. This week I also put together a list of past-guest prospects to visit this fall, focused on Manhattan, Brooklyn, NJ and a Catskill-area bunch of guests, in hopes that I can reach a magic number of Instax photos for GUEST/HOST. Yes, there’s a magic number. Here’s one from a few weeks ago that continues to prick at my undermind:
Artistry
See what I mean? I was so fried that I didn’t draw anything in the past week. I wish I could knock something out for you this morning, but there’s too much going on. I’ll try to draw while I’m traveling next week. You should go to the Flickr album of most of the art I’ve made & find something you like.
Postcardery
Let me know if you want to be on my postcard-a-day list. (Financial supporters of the podcast get a hand-drawn/painted postcard as a thank-you.)
Until Next Time
Thanks for reading this far! I’ll be back on Sunday with links, books, & workouts, and on Wednesday with a new episode, and maybe some art & an Instax.
Kris Kristofferson walks by kicking a can / In a shirt he hasn’t washed for years / Hop inside my coat,