notebook / @tww

Running partner turkey update: he was having a rest in a driveway, basking in the sun, watching cars - and myself - go past. This is his world; I only lease a sliver of space in it.

Vaccine appointment scheduled. Had the choice between the Moderna two-dose starting this afternoon or the Johnson and Johnson one-dose on Saturday morning. Went with the latter, even though I’ll lose one running day. Judgement was that the one-day loss (instead of trying to schedule two) and potential side-effect (noteworthy that only my wife has had any side effect; in-laws, parents, and grandparents, have had zilch) was worth it for the long-term benefits. With T1D management, a variation of five to fifteen minutes can be transformative.

Continuing afoot with my percussive re-education. Not as structured as I’d like, but I’m getting there. Biggest symbolic change from my formal/conservatory education of decades past: I’m teaching myself traditional grip, having been forced into matched grip for the duration of my musical becoming and ending.

T-minus two days until newsletter-exclusive re/emergence0002 early launch; you can sign up here if so inclined. Available to all next Weds, 17 March.

A Van Gogh Painting Has Been Unveiled for the First Time Since It Was Painted in 1887, via Colossal.

An animal that can regrow its entire body, via The Economist.

Rare trial of U.S. journalist arrested on the job begins in Iowa, via The Washington Post.

The new era for long-form journalism, via Axios.

A Canadian Company Upcycles Millions of Disposable Chopsticks into Sleek Furniture and Home Goods, via Colossal.

FX Orders Pilot Based On Octavia E. Butler’s ‘Kindred’ Novel, via Deadline.

Groomed Morkie.

Vaccine (single dose J&J) appointment: scheduled.

Wrapped up Rian Hughes’s XX yesterday: still formulating deeper thoughts, not sure if it’ll become a full thing or not but, first impression: undeniably beautiful, undeniably moving, and undeniably overlong – but it didn’t wear out its welcome (though it did come close a few times.)

Back to writing these in the breakfast interregnum between morning workblocks. By the time those are done, my brain is likewise. Still adjusting back to the all-morning return: the postprandial-dinner chunk of the day, the purposeless or available for the purposes of others can be trying, but I know those moments will increase in rarity over the next few months as yardwork/outdoor projects kick into gear.

In my creative practice, I value repeatability and constancy above all else. Let it become habit; tis the season mornings-only are the sole method by which I can achieve this:

“The wisdom of the journeyman is to work one day at a time and he always said that any job even if it took years was made up out of a day’s work. Nothing more. Nothing less. That was hard for me to learn. I always wanted to be finished. In the concept of a day’s work is rhythm and pace and wholeness.” - Cormac McCarthy, The Stonemason

Reminding myself: I wrote my first book, 300 pages, in five months, working mornings-only. Back to work.

Reading:

When you clean out your car and learn that you have to go to the dentist in two weeks.

Monday.

Mucking about a bit with when I write these. Think I’ll settle on when the day’s work is done (I start at +/-0445). Just a bit of a change, a small one, nothing grand. A useful break between the day’s work for myself and the day’s run, and subsequent availability for others. As I’m fond of saying, AM is mine, PM is yours.

Still nursing the wounds of defeat with the balm of victory: while my niece laid waste to me in MARIO KART, I managed to eke out two victories – both, however on account of her tactical errors. In one ray of hope, I figured out how to pull off that start-line-boost thing she was doing to break out to the front of the pack; this “discovery” has yet to translate to a personal victory for ShyGuy and myself of any regularity or sustainability. That said, I MARIO KART’ed her in JEOPARDY, finishing with $66K to her $480, in what can only be described as victory’s balm for the burn of my perpetual MARIO KART defeat.

A special morning of following the dog children around with plastic bags, pacing in wait of vet-bound treasures.

Tim Wu, the ‘father of net neutrality,’ is joining the Biden administration, via The Verge.

Zack Snyder’s Plans For Justice League Sequel, Illustrated By Jim Lee, via Bleeding Cool.

Attack on Titan Manga is Set to Release the World’s Biggest Comic Book, via CBR.

Kelly Macdonald: ‘I’m beyond sex scenes now. I just play detectives’, via The Guardian.

Cracking the security in a trove of 17th-century letters, via The Economist.

(Filed under better late than never / fixing comics reading sin): finally reading this.

Sunday visit.

(Welcome back, Micro. I missed you.)

The shelf of good memories.

Good morning: it’s currently 21ºF under sunny skies and this is my first Sunday in ages without sending a newsletter. In the long run, I know that taking Macro monthly is the right move: more time for extras, more time to make exclusive things, less bombardment, less boredom for the reader.

When I started writing these daily things last week. I thought it might be withdrawal from the newsletter. Doesn’t look that way: having penned a week’s worth now, I genuinely enjoy these post-breakfast, pre-Work2 dispatches into the ether. (Are you there this morning, Micro? It’s me, Tyler. Hope you’ve solved your server/whatever issues.)

Wednesdays and Sundays now being side-project days, I’m working with comics this morning, trying something I’ve never done before. Terrified and loving it, David Bowie’s words ringing true…

“I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations. If you feel safe in the area that you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being. Go a little bit out of your depth and when you don’t feel your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”

Sluggish Pixelmator on the little MacBook Air (Error) but it’s doing the job. Churn, little MacBook, churn.

Running partner turkey, a fleeting glance, Loch Ness Turkey-style.

Good morning: it’s currently 25ºF under sunny skies and Micro.blog seems to be having problems. Posts are showing up on my Micro site itself, but not in the timeline nor are they cross-posting to Twitter. Probably best if I just post @help on this one, but since the delay of important Morkie brushing updates is on my mind this morning, it’s found a scrawl-home here. Little doubt, however, that a fix is already being crafted and deployed: such is the quality of the developer’s receptivity and response time.

In other news, WANDAVISION’s finale was an excellent conclusion to a remarkable series (right up there with the two ANT-MAN films as my favorite Marvel Cinematic offerings) and “The Joker’s Favor” episode of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES remains a favorite. Two more episodes to go on I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE – a must-watch. Between WANDAVISION and I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE, Kathryn Hahn is finally getting the attention she deserves. One of the best actors working today.

MARIO KART defeat awaits me this afternoon. For now, though, back to work.

Just a test, nothing to see here, just a test…

Brushed a Morkie. Have all ten fingers. Success.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be adding short reviews, progress updates (on books, etc) and more, in addition to the daily SitRep posts and the usual stuff. Switching my rambling and writing over here was a wise move.

EarBliss, 05mar2021: CEDARS, by Field Works.

Good morning: it’s currently 20ºF under sunny skies and re/emergence0001 is in the vault; re/e0002 drops 17 March. Newsletter subscribers get early access next Friday, 12 March; you can sign up here if so inclined.

(Many thanks to all who dug re/e0001; we had a great time putting it together and look forward to sharing more soon.)

In other news: Reasonably sure that both my wife and I had covid back in late Feb-early March of last year (while my wife was definitely knocked on her ass by it, I was one of the largely asymptomatic types) – early adopters FTW. More convinced than ever that I’m one of the “long covid” types. Blood sugars been nuts ever since around then; have had to double the insulin dosage over the last year and haven’t felt fully myself in a long time. Verge article on long covid sufferers feeling better after vaccine gives me hope: maybe it’s just my immune system still struggling with lingering remnants of my theorized bout and the vaccine, whenever I get it – soon, hopefully – will help eliminate those remnants. But who knows. Maybe it’s just the way it is. I’ve begrudgingly accepted that T1D is a fight I won’t win. All I can do is put one foot in front of the other and move along.

And so it goes; the day awaits.

Incoming: re/emergence0002 arrives on Wednesday, 17mar2021. Sign up for early access to this and all future releases.