Category: Writing

Unlike the recent “recent items” I’ve been sharing, this is a collection of links that I’ve been saving up – ether on my phone, in my reading list, or shared stories that didn’t fit in the overall order of everything else. So, in no particular order, a glimpse at some of the things that I’ve taken to checking out.

Tsundoku: The Japanese word for buying books that you don’t read. The systematic investigation into the word itself by the author of this post shows how much thought can go into etymological research.

Artemest: A new website brings old-world Italian craftsmanship right to your door.” Just a happenstance of coming across these furniture pieces. Nothing I’m going to buy, however the work that goes into such crafting is something that should be appreciated, especially in this day and age when everything is likely to break down. “Artemest was born to arouse and celebrate a desire for beauty in our everyday lives.”

I honestly couldn’t tell you when I was first introduced to parkour. This New Yorker article from 2007 chronicles the early ups and downs of the activity. Parkour is a form of free-running with jumping over obstacles in uniquely athletic ways. 

The audiobook market is overall dominated by Audible. Despite the Amazon property’s ubiquity, there’s a question whether DRM is in the best interest for writers.

When I was young, I was accidentally discouraged from drawing. Mostly because I had no talent, but we’ll gloss over all of that. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I started really appreciating modern art, in all its uniqueness and (non-traditional) interpretations. Paul Klee was sort of a gift from someone, and I saw these interesting linear representations of concepts and it was delightful. Here are some thoughts on creativity from the artist, curated by Maria Popova of Brain Pickings. 

SXSW takes its festival online for 2021, and it could be just the tip of the iceberg for next year’s event offerings.

Booker Prize short list was announced a little over a week ago. The Booker Prize is a literary award awarded to the “best novel of the year written in English and published in the UK or Ireland.”

Every now and then I’ll come across the same thing (story, image, name or character, etc.) several times at once in different iterations. This time it was a simple throwaway (or so I thought, because the material was in a light-hearted Japanese story I was reading), but had I been of East Asian origin, I may have been familiar with it. In the story, one of the protagonists was struck by infatuation over a young woman. He claimed that he could find her by following the “red sting of love that connected their fingers”. It wasn’t until I saw this in another story out of Japan that I realized it must be referencing something. 

In fact, the tale is familiar to those in China, Korea, and Japan. It is a tale of the Red Thread of Fate. Here is one such tale.

Walking home one night, a young boy sees an old man standing beneath the moonlight. After talking to the stranger, it was revealed that he was Yuè Xià Lâorén, the moon god of matchmaking and marriage.  The man explains to the boy that he is attached to his destined wife by a red thread. Yue Xia Lao shows the boy the young girl who is destined to be his wife. Being young and having no interest in having a wife, the young boy picks up a rock and throws it at the girl, running away. Many years later, when the boy has grown into a young man, his parents arrange a wedding for him. On the night of his wedding, his wife waits for him in their bedroom, with the traditional veil covering her face. Raising it, the man is delighted to find that his wife is one of the great beauties of his village. However, she wears an adornment on her eyebrow. He asks her why she wears it and she responds that when she was a young girl, a boy threw a rock at her that struck her, leaving a scar on her eyebrow. She self-consciously wears the adornment to cover it up. The woman is, in fact, the same young girl connected to the man by the red thread shown to him by Yue Xia Lao back in his childhood, showing that they were connected by the red thread of fate.

Choice capital is a real thing, and we only have so much mental power to engage in effective decision-making each day.

Learning how to make better choices is a matter of allocating choice capital to the important matters and systemizing the rest to a process that requires little if any effort on our part. We can do this through routines, scheduling and planning, and limiting the number of superfluous decisions we must make throughout the day.

For instance, setting up your weekly wardrobe in advance, so that you don’t dig in and out of the dresser or closet looking for things that match. Even better, wear the same clothing items per day of the week. i.e. the Monday outfit, Tuesday outfit, and so on. Or best (potentially not from a fashion standpoint, but certainly from a choice capital one), have all of the same clothing items. Jeans and black turtleneck for instance, if you’re Steve Jobs. Then just wear a clean set every day.

Meal planning for the week as well, so that you don’t waste that precious pre-dinner time trying to decide what to cook, or splurging on take-out or fast food to get your fix.

Many of us have an abundance of extra time right now, not going out and engaging in the activities that we would usually do. If viewed as an opportunity to make changes to how we manage our home lives, this would be a perfect time to streamline some of those decisions that are constant drains on our choice capital.

I’ll go through phases of digital separation, which I enjoy for various reasons. If I’m on top of blogging, I can have a week’s worth of posts done in two days, schedule them to go, and forget about signing back on. Someday I’ll take every post idea I have scribbled in notebooks, compile them onto a master list, and just write one post (or more) for each until I’m done.

That said, there are plenty of other things that keep me connected. My daily practice of language learning. I use the duolingo app, as well as physical books, so I could miss a day. But the streak system is something the app uses to keep you engaged.

Email, television, eReader – it all adds up.

A few years back I read Pedram Shojai’s The Urban Monk, and in it he suggested doing a one day a week digital detox. Also, if I recall correctly, he didn’t speak on Sundays to further work on his mindfulness.

Google “unplugging” and you’ll come up with a number of articles, such as The Pointlessness of Unplugging, Unplugging Isn’t Easy Now, and by 2026 It’ll Be Even Tougher, and The Benefits of Unplugging from Electronics.

Of course, during the past six months it’s been easier than ever to be glued to our devices. Following the news, working from home, virtual schooling, and the list goes on. No matter how easy having these devices have made certain aspects of our life, it’s important to remember that there is a cost to their convenience. Don’t forget to get out and smell the roses every now and then. Listen to the bird song, or enjoy some sunshine and a good book.

There’s a whole world out there beyond the screens.

As I wrote back in April, the Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in America. Its beauty and grandeur is a facet of the natural allure of Alaska, an allure that calls people from around the world to visit its shores, towns, and landmarks. Alaska’s siren song has called to notable figures such as former presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Barack Obama; authors Jack London and Mark Adams; and naturalists William Brewer and John Muir, to name a few. Amid all the talk of oil and fishing in Alaska, one can forget about the history and controversy of logging. However, once again the current Administration is proposing further advances in permitting logging in the Tongass National Forest.

Tongass is a 16.7 million acre, temperate rainforest which is home to numerous species of flora and fauna. The narrows that intersperse the national forest are waterways that native peoples have used for centuries to fish and travel amid the Alaskan wilderness. Allowing logging in the protected lands could potentially pollute the land and sea, reduce the amount of CO2 that is converted (estimates are that Tongass cleans 8% of the Nation’s CO2 production each year), and be a bane for the wildlife, people of Alaska, and the tourism industry, thus, the economy. 

While admittedly I don’t know very much about the logging industry, I was able to find information regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the Forestry and Lumber Industries, as well as the job statistics for indicating the industry is in decline regardless of this ruling.

While it may seem like a quick fix to open up this logging, it could inevitably be cutting off the nose to spite the face, hurting the future attractiveness of Alaska to both visitors and potential residents. It takes a special kind of person to live in the The Last Frontier, and that person is most likely a lover of the wild and wilderness Alaska provides.

More on conservation of Alaskan forests can be found here, or watch the PBS News Hour coverage of the Administration’s ruling.

Early communications were face-to-face. Early humans had no choice but to relay information in this way. The advent of written language allowed the recording and passage of information in a relatively compact way. For the first time ever, thought could weigh something, as you can learn more of in this TED talk.

Now the weight of the internet, the most comprehensive collection of stored information on the planet, is estimated to be roughly the same as a strawberry (though it could be as light as a grain of salt).

The average weight of a book is 12 ounces. The average weight of the internet (estimate) is 1.7 ounces. The book, so tangible in our hands, has roughly 1 word per every 334 million words on the internet.

No longer needing to heave the weight of knowledge, we can pass on any thought without consideration or restraint. (Thank you, by the way, to those of you reading this blog…)

And thus our email inbox is a veritable cacophony of discordant thoughts all vying for our attention. The ones that matter, those that need a response, are simply the quick jottings of someone else passing off an item that needs to be accomplished.

Example a: “Give me a call when you get a moment.”

Why wouldn’t the sender just pick up the phone to give you a call? The obvious response is that it’s an effort of consideration. Perhaps you’re too busy to pick up right now. But that’s short-sighted. It’s okay. If I don’t want to talk, or I’m too busy, I won’t answer. I have voice mail. Leave me a message.

Example b: “Can you get this to the boss/your spouse or partner/ the janitor.”

Unless you’re a secretary or planning a surprise party, the person sending generally has the same access to the person they’re trying to get the email to. They can send it themselves. Or, better yet, call. “Hey, I’m going to be sending this over. Can you look at it for me?”

Example c: “Good job on the project/report/performance review/whatever.”

On the surface, this seems okay. But really, it’s an acknowledgement of receipt and (if actually critiqued in some way by the other party) a notice that the task was met satisfactorily. If you want to give positive validation to someone, write two to three lines on a physical card, and mail it. Yes, it takes a little bite more time, a little bit of money – for a card, envelope and stamp. But, the appreciation becomes evident. Then you’re much more likely to receive an email back thanking you for your thoughtful card, or even a phone call.

It seems that most bad news comes over the phone, and the mundane and even good news gets sent via email. It’s as if we’ve let the internet messaging system take over whole chunks of our lives.

But how can we cut that cord?

A nonprofit must remain true to its mission. For some, it’s an easy proposition to maintain, even now. If your mission is to feed the homeless, then maybe you run a soup kitchen. If it’s to provide support to low income workers, maybe a food pantry, financial assistance, or transportation benefits is what your organization does. 

However, if you’re one of a number of organizations whose mission is to enrich the lives of the public through artistic means, you may be finding the need to shift how you do that to be insurmountable. Boards across the nation are investigating virtual experiences, trying to figure out how to remain viable when, suddenly, any arts group can be a competitor for the time and money of your constituents. 

In the race for money, it’s important to remain mindful of the mission behind your nonprofit. Enrichment is more than entertaining. Educating is more than childcare. Artistic excellence isn’t a buzz word to drive sales or audience development.

It needs to be deeper than that, and the groups have to dig down to find a competitive place to do their work. Is it possible there will be groups that don’t survive this pandemic? Yes. It certainly is. But if the whole interaction that organization has had in the past with every patron has been transactional in nature, then the group was probably failing to fulfill its mission in the first place.

As I continually reevaluate these Friday postings, I bounce back and forth on what to call it. And, truly, what should be shared. These are the things that I find interesting which popped up in the past week. Not all of the things, but a few.

For instance, album sales have surpassed compact disc sales for the first time in 34 years. While that may seem like an anachronism in the modern age, it demonstrates a return to a more conscious listening of music, rather than passive.

Then there’s this author’s review of her $700 coffee-maker she recently bought. I actually enjoyed reading it, though for that price, I could think of a number of other things I could purchase instead. However, about ten years ago I had a one shot espresso maker made by Mr. Coffee. I think I got it at Target for $40. I used it every morning for about four years. There’s a slow, conscious effort in making coffee like that, similar to using a pour-over carafe, which is a really nice start to the day.

Also about coffee, the BBC Science Focus reported on a report about the benefits of the caffeine, including lowering the risk of heart disease and cancer.

Darius Foroux, on his blog, shared a concept called Six Spokes Theory, suggesting that the good life if ample energy is applied to each of the six spokes: Body, Mind, Work, Love, Money, Play. This was reminiscent of something I read in Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way, which she called the Life Pie (Spirituality, Romance/Adventure, Friends, Work, Exercise, Play). There are other examples as well I’ve seen, taking different shapes and forms. The important thing is that, when there’s a massive imbalance in one, it can upset every aspect of your life.

And lastly, this week saw remembrances for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Two interesting pieces:

• MASH alumni Alan Alda tweeted, “In the 70s I wrote a piece for MS. magazine on why men should support the ERA. A law professor fact-checked it and said, “Whoever wrote this seems to know nothing about constitutional law.” So, instead, I interviewed HER. She was brilliant. And kind. She was Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”
• Brain Pickings shared the writings of a 13 year-old RBG, commenting on the creation of the Charter of the United Nations. “No one can feel free from danger and destruction until the many torn threads of civilization are bound together again. We cannot feel safer until every nation, regardless of weapons or power, will meet together in good faith, the people worthy of mutual association.”

The hardest fight to win is the one you in which you fight yourself. Every decision you make that goes against your beliefs, your feelings, your desires, or your motivations makes it a little harder to act. Sometimes it’s so bad that even getting out of bed is an enormous effort of will.

Conversely, it’s why that, in the face of great adversity, someone can keep going, even though it seems impossible that they should do so. Larger thank life examples exist, like Civil Rights leaders John Lewis or Martin Luther King, Jr.; Thomas Edison, again with the thousand-bald failure example; or even the soldiers during the American Revolution, fighting an established army and navy.

But it’s not always about the big battles. It can be the small ones. The daily ethical choices we have to make. The decision to pursue comfort or to risk that in the potential of living your best life.

These are choices you have to make for yourself, but they’re choices that matter greatly.

“Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. It sees no distinction in adding story to story upon the monuments of fame erected to the memory of others. It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief. It scorns to tread in the footsteps of any predecessor, however illustrious. It thirsts and burns for distinction.” – Abraham Lincoln

For all the exploration we’ve made into this world, there are still places unexplored. Even for those previously explored, it could very well be seen with a fresh set of eyes in an entirely new way.

Think of all the mold people had seen for thousands of years before Alexander Fleming discovered its use in fighting infections, thus bringing us penicillin. Or the countless failures Thomas Edison had in his attempts to create a lightbuld.

Sometimes, all that’s required to move forward in a situation is to embrace a sense of discovery and follow each new path to its inevitable conclusion.