Things need doing. This is as true now as it’s ever been.
Everyone wants an immediate response. Everyone feels that their query is the most important thing.
For them, that might be true. Maybe for some, it actually is true.
But in all likelihood, that email that just came in – probably not up there. No matter what they want you to believe.
If I’m honest, I sometimes long for a simpler time. I love – looovvveee – the conveniences of the modern world. Online shopping? Yes please. International flights? You betcha! AI? Bring it on.
But, there had to be an unrivaled enjoyment to a day of labor in the sun; a family dinner; a book read by candlelight.
I understand that maybe not everyone would have the privilege. But, there are certain dreams each of us have that maybe not everyone understands.
July 2026
Books Bought:
Books Read:
It’s been a while since I’ve written consistently enough to think about the books I’ve been reading. And, I’ve been fairly busy, so even making time to read had it’s own challenges.
Yet here we are. Writing some of this, after a couple of trips. While on a flight back home, I had been hoping for a meal service, but it didn’t come. Preflight bourbon did, though, and several more in flight. That left me feeling pretty loose. I was still hungry after the two bags of chips as well.
I was reading Nasty Bits, which probably explained my overt preoccupation with food and beverage service. Not being one to delve too deeply into food culture, I was consequently only aware of Bourdain in the periphery. It was likely during the pandemic shutdown that I started watching his travelogues in earnest, and discovered that his style of reporting resonated with me.
There are several things when thinking about Bourdain. There’s his cooking – which, I wouldn’t be qualified to really write about, even if I had tried it. There’s his writing. I enjoyed Nasty Bits, and bought a copy of Kitchen Confidential as well. Hoping to read that next month.
Then, in a little fit of nostalgia, I read books 3-6 of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. I’d read them before, back in 2020, but I missed one or two releases in the series, and figured that, before I’d picked those up, I’d refresh myself on the books.
They are pretty easy reads, so I could get through them each in a day or two. I’ve visited Chicago a few times since then, which is where the books take place. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a wizard, though.
And, very briefly, I read a few chapters of Twain’s On Writing and Publishing. I was looking for something I never found and honestly can’t even name anymore
The purchases all had specific rationale, so we’ll see when I get around to reading them. Circling back to Bourdain, I picked up Kitchen Confidential, obviously still in the midst of a Bourdain rabbit hole. Sometimes, when I’m doing computer work and can manage the tv being on in the background, I’ll play reruns of No Reservations or Parts Unknown. The hardest part there is, being a vegetarian, there is some animal prep that I’m not crazy about.
The Hunger came recommended as some of the best film criticism being written right now, the kind of writing that actually has teeth to it, not just plot summary dressed up as analysis. On the Edge came recommended as a roadmap for taking chances, which tracks, since that’s more or less Nate Silver’s whole professional life.
The final two were two of four books in the Pit Dragon Chronicles. I found a good deal on those, but I still need to pick up the first two. Jane Yolen, the author, passed away in June. I knew these books because of the CBS Storybreak episode that adapted the first one, Dragon’s Blood. Looking it up, I was surprised to find the episode aired in 1985, so I’m not sure how I ended up seeing it. But I remember it clearly.
It’s that time of year again, where I volunteer some of my time to a film festival or two. I’m once again screening features for deliberation, and, per the instructions, I don’t get to share about those that I watch.
Now, I will be seeing movies, somewhere between 5-10 a week, for the next few months. But I don’t get to talk about them.
Which left me thinking about, what are some common things that I see in film festival submissions?
Here’s one thing, that’s universal about indie film making. It is, without hyperbole, easier now to make a film than at any point in history before. The barrier to entry is nearly nonexistent.
Now while that may mean quality varies widely, it is still an amazing time to be a filmmaker.
I’ve started (again) trying to handle less, while simultaneously finishing more. one big thing, three medium things, and five little things daily.
My big things the past few days have been dealing with tasks that should have been dealt with weeks ago, if not months…
The medium things are things that are pressing, but have only recently come in. The five little things are quite easy and manageable.
The trick is to not do the five little tasks, and maybe add more, rather than doing the large one.
It’s okay to have bad ideas. I wish I could say that no idea is a bad one. But that’s just not true. A number of ideas are absolutely terrible.
And that’s okay. That’s what we have to learn.
In the pursuit of making something meaningful, you might come up with a thousand ideas that are complete trash.
In the ideating stage, just thinking up something should be fun. Otherwise, you could discouraged.
Don’t think about whether it’s possible to pull off, or whether it will make money.
I took a course on innovation – a long time ago. And one of the first activities was to come up with ten non-traditional uses for a paperclip.
Didn’t have to be good. Didn’t have to be practical. Just ten uses that weren’t clipping paper.
Getting your brain to shift gears allows you to think of things that might change the world.
Partly I’m still thinking of Hadestown. Partly, I read a passage from Mark Twain’s On Writing and Publishing, and I’ve been thinking of language.
Here: “There had been no death before the case of Cornelius Lean which had arisen and terminated in death since the special rules had been drawn up.”
I know every single one of those words. I understand their meaning. In their totality, though, it’s as if I’m staring at a blank wall.
Now Twain,I think, felt the same way. He had read that in a morning paper, and went on to say, “By the context I know what it means, but you are without that light and will be sure to get out of it a meaning which the writer of it was not intending to convey.”
Nope, Mark, I got no meaning out of it at all. My only guess is that a century ago, the meaning would have been much less obtuse.
And I was thinking that, as language changes, how much of a writer’s meaning do we lose?
There can be modern translations, sure, but then we also find ourselves at the mercy of the translator. Not that we should need English translated, mind you, but give Shakespeare a cold reading, and if your not familiar with the poetry, you’ll be probably end up lost.
Part of my writing tends to be dedicated to self-analysis. We all think about it, I believe… Why we do certain things, and not others. What led us to those choices.
A little introspection is a good thing.
Too much can lead to decision paralysis. If we’ve made the wrong choice – or believe we had – we are more inclined to think we’ll choose poorly again.
So, in a away – it’s beneficial to think like a goldfish. Not that they actually have a three-second memory, but you get the gist.
What about aggregation?
Let’s say you actually do want to receive a daily, weekly, or monthly notice of something. Something that, when compiled, is a lot easier to look at than going to each individual reference.
So, who does it well?
Here’s the thing. Everyone is selling you something. The stores are. The media is. Every newsletter, podcast, film, tv show, blog. All of it. It’s selling you. Even me.
Does it mean it’s not worth it? Not necessarily. But knowing that everyone is selling you on something could, possibly, give you an edge in decision making. You should decide, is this worth it.
If your life is set up to minimize decision-making except for the utmost critical, you can give full attention to important matters and let the inconsequential slip by.
Case in point. I receive, on average, a shit-ton of email every day.
Why? I don’t know. Newsletters. Sales. Events. People wanting to contact me. People wanting money. People wanting time.
It all comes down to time and money.
Now, if I unsubscribe from unwanted senders – no small task in and of itself – that will keep them from diverting my attention, regardless of how little attention it actually commands.
Thus, I’ve reallocated a small sliver of my time. Rather, I’ve freed it up, to reallocate somewhere else. Something that might provide me with more significant returns.
