The HBO Max documentary “Beanie Mania” is worth watching. Beanie Babies seem to be one of those things that hit at exactly the right time. Also a good example of mass psychology and the “greater fool” theory of investing.
In process: my first attempt at a zine, which will contain a few of my winter haiku. I was inspired to give it a try after seeing Austin Kleon’s.
What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and wilderness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wilderness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
- G.M. Hopkins
Final stanza of “Inversnaid”
I noticed my feet this morning….
One of the things I’m most grateful for this year is the opening of an independent bookstore nearby. Actually it is a re-opening: the owner was originally put out of business (as I recall) when Borders and Barnes and Noble came to town in the 90s. The Borders closed several years ago and the Barnes and Noble closed during the big wave of closing in the last couple of years. Now Morgenstern’s is back, complete with a cafe, lots of seating, and a clear investment in promoting the local community.
My family and I have had a lot of fun hanging out there weekly since it opened. I have discovered so many books that I never would have come across through my usual ways - and I’m a person who actively seeks out books! I’ve had to start a whole new book list to keep track of them. The joy of bookstore serendipity! 📚
I was reminded this week of Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley’s bonkers Evelyn Evelyn project. Webley described it as “like something the Andrews Sisters might have recorded if they had grown up in the circus listening to new wave music.”
I’ve been reading a bit about surveillance capitalism (Privacy is Power and a couple hundred pages thus far of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism) so I’ve been trying to disentangle myself from some of the worst offenders. My Facebook account was permanently deleted a few days ago. I’ve switched email from Gmail to ProtonMail. I’ve moved all my files from Google drive to Dropbox. Here’s where my question comes in: Dropbox is fine but I would like something privacy-focused with the ability to edit documents on my iPhone (as with the Google apps). Is anyone aware of something like that?
Several days ago I watched Bright Star, Jane Campion’s film about the final period of John Keats' life. While I enjoyed it, I didn’t expect it to hang around in my mind for very long. But it did. I even bought a copy of the complete Keats in order to get more familiar with his work. I also found a list of the best biopics about poets, none of which I’ve seen (apart from Bright Star). I’m most interested in the film about Oscar Wilde, since I like both Wilde and Stephen Fry. Anyone want to recommend a biopic about a poet, whether on this list or not? 📚
Look into the trees, gentle
your eyes, engage your ancient talent
for spotting movement.
Listen for the breeze to pick up.
You will see dozens descending,
an alien visitation, sinuous,
silent, sliding to earth
from hawk height.
They come to rest in dry creek beds,
amassing on mossened rocks.
The forest floor - always
covered in them - thickens.
They arrive dead
in certain obvious ways.
But to those who look along time:
Panspermia.
I’ve had my eye on this series at my local bookstore. They’re great books, obviously, but they also look good. I’ve read a few pages here and there when I’m at the bookstore and Fromm’s is particularly compelling. 📚
