9/11/2021
Mortality, newsletters vs. social media, art, fungi foragers, dumplings, James, Rushdie, Montes, Vartanian, Shotten, more manhole covers, and funk.
OUTPOST NEWS
I’m not going to say much about Sept. 11, today, because so many others are writing about it. The people who were there, the people who witnessed it from their apartment windows, or who lost family during the event, as well as in the aftermath, can say it so much better.
The Chinatown nonprofit I co-chaired for half a dozen years, and for which I now work, has recently lost three of its members, all whom I’d call “community historians.” They were all “older” (over 60) and did not die directly from Covid-19. Yet I imagine that, like all of us, they had experienced the stress of the pandemic. They were raised in or had strong connections with the neighborhood, and they worked hard at preserving its historical and cultural legacy, and educating the public about it. They were good people, missed by many. It’s been reported that yet another member, also a community historian, now has a terminal illness. To compound this, a handful of members are grieving for parents who have died during the past two years.
So I’ve been thinking a lot about mortality, about energy, and priorities. I guess that sounds like the preface to something, but not really. It’s something that’s on my mind, and lurking in my emotions and body.
I’m beginning to prefer reading newsletters over social media. I’ve noticed that some newsletters are focused on writing, others on images, and still others, like Austin Kleon’s seem more focused on curation. Here are a few reasons for my newsletter-reading preference:
The lack of brief, quickly changing, emotive/distracting news flashes in newsletters allows me time and space in which to contemplate what I’m reading.
Writers put more thought, both into what they write, and into curation; therefore, when I click on a link, it tends to be potentially more worthwhile than the crap that hooks me in on social media.
Newsletters are not always from only one individual, but sometimes from a community of guest writers, providing different takes on a topic.
I receive a newsletter because it offers writing that I’m interested in, and I’ve chosen to direct my attention in that direction.
William James’ take on “interest” and “attention” (quoted in Brainpickings) seems relevant:
Attention . . . is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought, localization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed, scatter brained state which in French is called distraction, and Zerstreutheit in German.
. . . Millions of items of the outward order are present to my senses which never properly enter into my experience. Why? Because they have no interest for me. My experience is what I agree to attend to. Only those items which I notice shape my mind — without selective interest, experience is an utter chaos. Interest alone gives accent and emphasis, light and shade, background and foreground intelligible perspective, in a word. It varies in every creature, but without it the consciousness of every creature would be a gray chaotic indiscriminateness, impossible for us even to conceive.
Looks like the Arizona trip we had planned will not happen; AZ has pretty high Covid-19 rates right now. Instead, we’re planning a trip up to “shroom” country (also cannabis country), California’s North Coast. Fungus pickings may be spare, since California is in terrible drought. But I can dream, can’t I? In any case, a bit of “forest-bathing” would be nice—if the Dixie fire to the east allows it (it’s now over 62% contained). I’ll be bringing along a fresh store of mixed-media paper pads, along with pens and markers for drawing.
ART
If you’ve read any of my posts about rule-based art, you may have noticed that I stopped posting about that for a bit. This is because I’ve been stymied, for awhile, by the figures that emerged from the last “divination.” I could not figure out how to make the elements work, compositionally, in a way that felt right (see the formula below). I think I have an idea that may work now. Hopefully I’ll have something to show for it soon.
In the meantime, one collage, one bedtime drawing (below). The first feels like a fragment of my childhood, much of it spent reading and re-reading L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz lengthy series of books. A friend, Annette Rosenberg (where are you now?), had introduced me to them in fifth grade. The second piece began with several red ovals that mysteriously morphed into peppers.
The small “Bedtime Drawings” just keep going, sustaining me even when I get “blocked” on other (usually larger) works.
LINKS
I’m still thinking about North Coast mushrooms; Gordon from “Fascinated by Fungi” recently found some “Lobsters” in a forest near the Humboldt Coast.
Alexis of “Black Forager” gets REALLY excited on finding Chicken-of-the-Woods in a forest and makes yummy vegan nuggets out of them.
I seem to be getting into a food thing here. My partner recently sent me a document about Richmond BC’s “Dumpling Trail.” Here’s a video:
And that started me thinking about my mom’s great steamed dumplings. She was Filipino, but her Filipino-style recipe is based on Chinese “Char Siu Bao,” or BBQ pork buns. Here’s video from Kawaling Pinoy showing how to make Siopao Asado (everyone seems to spell it differently):
Not food—but “nourishment” of a different sort:
Salman Rushdie has a newsletter on Substack, Salman’s Sea of Stories. Here, for example, is Jantar Mantar (“an assembly of stone-built astronomical instruments,” about the stars and sky as fiction.
Veronica Montes’ newsletter, Nesting Ground 2.0, #27 (tinyletter.com); on losing and finding a very special book.
In the last (abbreviated) issue, I posted a few photos of manhole covers found in my Old Town Monterey neighborhood. They were pretty utilitarian looking, although not without some sense of design. But in some areas of the world, they can be downright beautiful works of art, as found in “The unexpected beauty of manhole covers.”
Hrag Vartanian’s scathing critique of KAWS. Honestly, I’m not completely sure if I agree with him, but I like how he approaches art criticism with humor, and how his writing blurs the line between criticism and art.
Martin Shotten’s Fragment Scenario website. I found Shotten’s experimental work on Mastodon.art. His “playground” may seem a little puzzling. You have to wander all over his fragmented “backyard” and “front yard” in order to get a sense of what this is about. But I love how it’s so NOT optimized for the commercial web.
SOUNDINGS
Pre-Covid and during Covid—Two versions of Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now,” same band (more or less), different lead singers (with very different approaches):
Nataly Dawn singing “Don’t Start Now” with Pomplamoose (of Scary Pockets):
Kenton Chen singing “Don’t Start Now” with Scary Pockets. The whole band is encased in plastic containers, thanks to Covid-19.
That’s it until next week.
Hang in there, friends.
I love the way newsletters slow everything down and offer a respite from feeds. One of my tiny letter readers told me that she saves mine when she has a quiet moment to settle in, and she thanked me for "tiny bits" of peace and reading. It was the nicest things to hear. I feel the same way about Eulipion! Also...I hope one day you have a showing of your bedtime works...
So, I found the pepper drawing kept drawing my eye up and to the right. There's something comforting about the colors and the curves of these forms.