True(ish) to the Field Notes tagline — “I’m not writing it down to remember it later. I’m writing posting to remember it now:”
I know this means I’ll never have a complete set, but I’m okay with that. I don’t need to be able to say, “I have them all!” I’d rather say, “I’ve used them all” – but that’s a different sort of challenge.
— Andrew @ Pens and Junk
Austin Kleon FTW:
The entry for “Contrary” is several paragraphs long. My eyes glaze, not over, but above — to the entry for “contrarian.”
That’s a word that usually has a negative connotation, right? “Oh, he’s just being contrarian.” But let’s read the definition, anyways.“con-trar-i-an n. an investor who makes decisions that contradict prevailing wisdom, as in buying securities that are unpopular at the time.”
Contrarian as investor? Oh, I like this idea.
I don’t want to oppose the status quo just to oppose it — I was to invest in what I think is undervalued at the moment. (Like paper dictionaries.
Invest in what is undervalued — and maybe undernurtured?
Florida ain’t all bad all the time?
Maxwell Frost, organizer as politician:
Frost has also received a flood of letters from people, young and old, praising him and proclaiming, “You’re gonna save us!” He’s flattered, but thinks this is an idea our country needs to shake. “I’m not a savior,” he says. “There’s not one person, not one elected official, not one politician that’s going to save us all. It’s gonna take all of us banding together, building power, doing what we need to do.”
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Voters have long bought into the old ways of politicking where candidates say, Elect me and I will take you to the promised land. “When nothing changes, people are like, ‘Guess my vote doesn’t matter,’” Frost says. So he’s committed to continue being transparent with his constituents, not to lower their expectations, but to tell it like it is: “I’m not gonna promise a bill is gonna pass next year — I’m one out of 435 votes. But what I can promise is what I’m going to fight for, how hard I’m going to fight for it, how I’m going to interact with the community, and the way I’m going to be a member of Congress.”
The only people who would react to this history [of lynching Black Floridians] with a sense of guilt and shame are those who identify with the oppressors.
Most people, I think, would identify with those who were brutalized, commiserating with them as fellow human beings subjected to inhumane treatment.
The whites who want to hide, purge, and suppress this history identify with the oppressors.
The arc of history bends toward justice.
My lasting memory of the Middle East — besides drinking w/ co-workers — is seeing Hot Water Music upstairs in probably 1997 just after I moved to Boston. I figured there’d be 50 people there to see this little band from my hometown — but I opened the door to a packed house of ~300!
I ran into an intern from CCO and we both reflexively said “what are you doing here?!?” Me thinking “how do you know about this band I though only folks from Gainesville knew about” and her thinking “you are sooo not cool enough to be here.” The show was out of this world.
I feel like I saw more shows than this but know (via Listcore 008) that I saw Gritkisser, Yo La Tengo (one of the few shows I’ve ever fallen asleep at (not totally their fault), Bettie Serveert and Lucero either upstairs or downstairs.
Small, great pleasure is after A walks across the street to school is to see him do a walk-run to catch up with a friend. Feels like he’s more his full self then, a friend, a buddy.
Fascinating and sad read and beautiful NYT online layout.
This iteration of 10thumbs took inspiration from Rhoneisms. Fittingly he captured my thinking better than I could articulate:
When the mask mandates end, you’ll likely see me still wearing one in most public situations. There are many reasons. Here’s some off the top of my head.
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Respect. When I enter a store, restaurant, or even a private home, I may not know what the owner’s preference is. Therefore, out of respect, I’ll default to wearing a mask unless I’m told it’s OK to do otherwise and then I’ll make my own choice based on my level of comfort. It’ll likely be the case that I’ll opt to keep mine on and I similarly expect the same respect in return.
What started as an odd joke between a couple co-workers with a plastic army man has evolved — since Russia invaded Ukraine — into a kind of Layer Tennis in 3D Art Installation outside the bathrooms on our floor. There was something apolitically simplistic about each addition: First a Ukranian flag, then “Liberty!” quote bubble, etc.
This has dovetailed with what seems like a greater focus on the invasion — and it’s unjustness — and expressions of compassion for the Ukranian people (see SNL opening w/ the Ukranian chorus). This is good because war is bad. But the difference is striking from when the U.S. invaded Iraq or Afghanistan. Where were the Iraqi flag emojis or Afghan artists on network TV then?
So this Layer Tennis thing struck me as part of that mixed with needlessly playful — or at least tone deaf to the horrors of war.
So my contribution was to print out lyrics from Phil Ochs’ “I Ain’t Marching Anymore” and Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War”.
I have Mark Arm’s version as a 7″ and remember vividly Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready’s rendition as part of Bob Dylan’s bday celebration.
In looking for Arm’s version on Bandcamp I came across a bunch of covers — which is a great thing!! Here are some of the most interesting to me.
