GRIZZLY PEAR
An exquisite pairing of surreal poetry with surreal watercolors.
Sendak’s haunting elegy for his brother.
The final book of a Master’s career.
I haven’t experienced loss to fully understand this book.
I’ll comprehend this book one day, life doesn’t let one escape so easily.
And if you exit unscathed, then others must bear the pain.
So I hope to grasp this book one day.
But let it be long away.
I’m ripping a CD that I burned in my first year in grad school. Most of it is the excellent Psychograss album Now Hear This.
I had thrown in a few extra tracks in the leftover space at the end, which is now a snapshot of my mental state of that tumultuous time in my early twenties.
The opening bars of each of these tracks triggers a flood of dormant feelings.
I have mixed feelings of Architecture school. It’s inherently traumatic but created memories I wouldn’t want to give up.
If I was in power, I would develop a less vicious pedagogy…but I can’t muster any sympathy for students today, even if Studio hasn’t changed in two decades.
Humans are weird. Maybe I’m more cruel than I dare to admit.
Hmm what big thing happened in the closing weeks of of 2022?
Oh yeah! Of course!
It has been an indulgent five weeks after I was let into this garden the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I was genuinely excited when I got the invite email. I should have been even more excited, if I had known what we would do together as a group.
With that, let me indulge in five #SundayShares of old posts, #PostTips and #PostProjects
The Ghost of Old Year’s Past
The Spirit of #PostTips today
Dreams of Posts to come
Unfortunately, it’s not all sunshine heading into 2023. I’m going back into the office after next week, re-inserting commute hours back into my routine and eroding my spare time.
And to be honest, I’m a fickle person when it comes to hobbies. There is a legit chance that this Post might mark my peak on this platform.
If so, I will be forever grateful to Noam and the Post team for an amazing year in five weeks.
But let’s hope we’ll have many great weeks of sharing together.
Maybe even years!
a novice reads the I Ching
How should we approach the New Year?
1:4,5 to 26
Yesterday afternoon, I took out my sticks for a reading while the kids played with their new “kid’s only” tent. The boy came out from the clubhouse and started messing with them as I created groups of fours.
He even attempted a cartwheel while holding a bundle. (Thankfully he didn’t poke an eye!) I told him to keep his feet on the floor if he wanted to keep playing with sticks.
Traditionally, yarrow stalks are used for I Ching divination. Maybe I’ll plant a batch one year. Until then, I have a collection of sticks from my backyard, the in-law’s garden, and from the desert overlooking the NSC Education Building that we built during the pandemic.
It’s a ragtag collection of more-or-less straight sticks that aren’t too knobbly, slightly smoother after to multiple readings. (I also tried using 50 unsharpened pencils, but that’s too industrial. I’d rather use coins.)
After obtaining the result, we were called downstairs for dinner. We watched The Fantastic Mr. Fox and played until the ball dropped in Times Square. That was enough for NYE. I did the dishes and closed the evening by reading Roald Dahl while listening to Bill Evans. A pleasant goodnight for the old year.
After I woke up in 2023, I read the texts from yesterday’s divination, conducted my morning jaunt on Post, gave myself a proper shave for no good reason beyond the calendar date, and put on Waltz for Debby again.
Let’s write it up to start the (real) New Year!
~
1. Heaven 乾
䷀ (heaven over heaven)
Creative. Ride the six dragons. Heaven over heaven, movement is constant. Sublime Success. Nothing is static, clouds dance with another. Perseverance gives power in the moment.
Changing Line 4
(yang becomes yin)
Leap into repose. No hurry. Inaction may be the right course. Move with deliberation. Attune oneself to the task. A delicate moment between two worlds. Hesitation is warranted.
Changing Line 5
(yang becomes yin)
Flying Dragon. Find a virtuous partner. Search for good company. Trust in resonance. A chorus of shared inner strength. Spontaneity, time to fly. The work is ready. Leap. Advantage.
26. Great Domestication 大畜
䷙ (mountain over heaven)
Not eating at home. When the soul is ready, branch out. Heaven in the mountain, the heart is prepared with great virtue. Profit. Inner strength is the core of action. Release them for great good. Cross the river.
~
Auspicious start
Move deliberately
Find the sage
Great deeds
~
P.S. My back is still tender…but I can touch my toes again! Thanks for reading my spontaneous silly liminal week journal.
Have a great new year!
Justus
She enjoyed the trailer and this is one of her favorites from the Roald Dahl book set. We gave it a whirl on New Year’s Eve.
The girl closed 2022 by learning the hard truth that adaptations distort beloved stories. She expressed her dismay throughout the viewing. Expecting fidelity is a surefire path to disappointment.
I hadn’t read the book, so I thought it was fine. It was a welcome respite from the current Pixar aesthetic. The story and characters had a delightful edge (which Disney studiously avoids). I haven’t watched Wes Anderson before, but I now grok his reputation. I’d watch him again.
After the kids went to bed, I read the book. It’s a fun, quiet story. I get why my daughter felt let down.
We discussed it further on New Year’s Day —
The director added all that stuff to fill a 90 minute movie.
But why did he make these changes?
Those are plot devices to manufacture tension.
Were they necessary? The book was better.
I agree, but the mass market demands more excitement in their movies.
As a father, it hurts to feel her sense of betrayal. Then again, she’s embarking upon lifetime of disappointing movie adaptations.
Best that we got the initial shock out of the way, last year.
䷲䷚
last night
she reread
still prefers
the source
This game is Where’s Waldo in a metropolis of murder and mayhem.
As investigators, the player’s job is to track the incident on the map — backwards and forwards in time and space — to catch the perpetrators.
The key conceptual breakthrough is that the little figures are repeatedly shown in the map, tracking both space and time. Of course, it helps that the design team implemented this idea impeccably.
The kids absolutely love this game. My daughter hates competitive games so the team coop is a good fit, and the illustrations are cute as hell (an apt superlative given what’s depicted).
As a parent, I been awful at picking presents, especially games. So it I’ll take any success when where I can find it, even though I dislike the idea of single use games (sorry Legacy!).
Given my cheapskate tendencies, the fact I’m now considering other games of limited replayability is the highest recommendation I could give MicroMacro. Not just me, it won the ’21 Spiel des Jahres!
If it sounds interesting, get it.
Make sure you have a real magnifying glass when you play the game. The thin plastic magnifier that comes with the game scratches up easily. Even better, get a domed magnifying paperweight. It’s perfect for marking a key point on the map as well as exploring the vicinity. I’m happy we had one at home.
My back was good enough (barely) to go to the park with the kids.
Before getting back into the car* I swung my arms around and discovered back muscles that I didn’t know existed.
Is this the #silverlining of #backpain?
* My wife was driving, there’s no way I would operate a vehicle outside of a dire emergency.
Oh and I survived my first day of living at 1.0x speed.
If it’s not worth 1.0x speed, it’s not worth it.
Maybe this will be rule #5.
Is there a hidden cost of trying to fit everything in? I can’t to remember anything from audiobooks that I “read” at 1.5x speed. Let’s not talk about YouTube.
Such an approach would force me to be pickier about my information consumption.
I also wonder if listening to things at high speed is grooving bad hidden psychological habits.
starting today, ending tomorrow?
What’s not to love?!
What’s a better Disney film?
As I grow up, my tastes regress.
Continue the trend and this will become my favorite movie!
(Though I can’t envision how it could dislodge Pom Poko.)
We watched it with her years ago.
No memories.
As I pulled up the movie, she was unimpressed by my excitement.
Then it started.
She LOL’ed throughout.
The boy watched intently.
During our dinner break, he smiled and proclaimed
That was a lot!
(But refused to elaborate.)
I’ll re-interrogate him on film criticism during breakfast.
Should we watch the sequels?
I’m a timid gambler.
I’d quit while I’m ahead.
But if the kids insist…
Beautiful music video! A gorgeous meld of music, setting, and dance.
I love it when the team does something interesting. Especially when they avoid the tired party scenes that dominate the EDM space.
This was the Post that started my #MondayNightMusic hashtag. We’ll see how long I keep it up.