Bureaucrats

 

Dutch photographer, Jan Banning, captures bureaucracy's poetry in this series of portraits from eight different nations.

Not the work humans were built for, and yet here we are. Wild times.

The Writing Tho

 

Recently, I picked up books by two authors who were new to me and was delighted to discover their way with words. Both capture the sacred in contexts easily dismissed as profane or mundane.

Laurie Colwin died four years after writing this slim novel in the 1980s. It's an unexpectedly lovely and refreshing take on an affair.

 Niall Williams' subject is a forgotten (and imaginary) Irish village. His work steeps me in the unfamiliar while stopping me in my tracks with descriptions of the universal.

Our Story

Dr. Roy Casagranda plays loose and fast with history in this lecture and doesn't completely nail the details, but I like his message.

And, big picture, I don't think he's wrong. In fact, the story he tells makes SO MUCH SENSE.

He highlights two human tension points:

We are the only species we know of experiencing menopause in a patriarchy. He believes widespread cultural misogyny is a recent development brought about by the advent of agriculture and war. 

Primates are primarily prey species and yet we find ourselves in the role of planetary apex predator. Our fears coupled with our tools have made us uniquely dangerous.

In both cases, our innovations have outpaced the evolution of our wisdom.

"The world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder." -- G. K. Chesterton

My Cat Era

 

I mean. They are perfect. Just don't tell my twelve year old self who really, really wanted this dog:

These days I am simply charmed by the self sufficiency of cats. Their purr. That soft fur.

Wouldn't have called it for myself, but so glad I'm here for it.

Autumn Leaves

 

            this season

            in a woman's life

            is vivid

            beyond repair

Wonders

 

Legit found in a London sewer.

Relevant

 

This is a beautiful documentary about being human:

What it means to be completely honest about who we are and share with the world the parts of ourselves we fear are unloveable. What it means to be trustworthy and support those we love as they risk the profound vulnerability of fully revealing themselves. What it means to wholly love ourselves.

Shiksa Meets Rabbi

 

I can't tell you how refreshing it is for me to watch something slightly Jewish in rural Wyoming...

So there's that, but then the show's center has chemistry and its periphery slays. Gah! It's good.

Postscript: 

In the same vein, but far deeper, is this gift of a book. I hear my grandmother's voice in Bess Kalb's matrilineal memoir. 

Emergence

 

who knew

who even knew

it was possible

to reach this

to be so

Rise Of The Pissfish

Let there be glitter. Let there be blood.

So fun. So murdery.

Moms Be Momming

 

These two biznatches got it right.

Work Portraits

 

Irving Penn took these portraits of tradespeople in 1950 and 1951.

Not that long ago, and yet a different world.

Leading Ladies

 

Madame President

Going Slow In The Fast Lane

 

There is genius in this recasting of a traditional heist comedy-- the lead actress is ninety five years old and her partner-in-crime appeared (as an adult) in Shaft in 1971.

There is suspense. There is action. All with a delightful twist!

Coach Walz

 

First, Biden dropped out of the race. Then, Kamala chose Tim Walz as her running mate.

I can't remember the last time I was this pleased with political decision making. When Obama won the first time around?

A genuinely good human being with an admirable track record-- count me in. I love this dad.

The Athletes

This...

To this...

To this:

I clearly don't understand physics...

...but YES!!!

2024 Olympics

 

Who knew the most wholesome fans at the Paris Olympics would be Snoop Dogg and Flava Flav?!

 

These two are DELIVERING the hype-- the ultimate girl dads (now grandpas) and I love it.

 

I mean, come on. These are images I didn't know I needed to see.

Two masters of style, always and forever.

Let's Hang

"I have to drop off my tax forms... Want to make a day out of it?"

 

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Summer Lifeline

 

Flips flops are heaven. Heel cracks are hell. A pumice stone plus urea cream equals happy feet.

Propitious

 

This is a (small) pear. It's the first fruit (ever) from the three saplings we planted years ago in our shady garden. Thrilling.

Human Origins

Ben and I have been engaged in a deep geek out about human evolutionary origins. The best resource we have found so far is a wonderful educator on YouTube named Stefan Milo.

 

He asks and answers really fascinating questions about our ancient ancestors and the worlds they inhabited with humor, curiosity and humility.

What's wild to me is how much better these videos are than anything else I have found in my cursory searches online. They are digestible, nerdy, and (perhaps most importantly) recent. Maybe his children's book is too?

[Spoiler: It totally is.]

Carpoolers

 

The photographer, Alejandro Cartagena, documented construction workers hitching rides to work in the back of flatbed trucks from an overpass on Highway 85 outside of Monterrey, Mexico. He published these photos in a book series titled, Carpoolers.

A War Zone In The Best Way

 

for those whose trauma isn't 

linked to loud explosions

welcome to lander on the fourth

specifically, the deep north

land of the free

land of the brave

ear protection (truly) required

be prepared to rise the next day

to the smell of gunpowder 

lingering in the morning air

spent firecrackers lying in the streets

folks slowly clearing away the debris

snow shovel or broom in one hand

coffee mug in the other

Gym Rat At 46

Today at the gym, a woman I didn't know turned to me and said, "It looks like this is the place to be for women of a certain age [our age]." I grinned. Not wrong. 

To be clear, when I say "gym" I mean Elemental. There was a blip in my twenties when I tried somewhere else. I can't remember why and it didn't last long. Years later, the owner of that other gym overdosed on vitamin supplements. My god. 

I started training with Steve many moons ago, when he was working out of the frame shop (before it became the frame shop). I went with Heather. I wore cowboy boots every session. 

Steve still gives me shit about that. Rightly so. The enduring truth is I can't be bothered to wear appropriate clothes to the gym. Today, I was on the elliptical in a corduroy jumpsuit. Not a summer corduroy either.

Luckily, sporting fall leisure wear on the cardio machines is just fine at Elemental. It's a homey place. Safe and non-judgmental. Filled with people I love, or would love if I knew them. No mirrors. Room to chat. There is humor, ease and connection, respectful spaciousness for private work. Kids. Grandparents. Fit. Not so much. All feeling genuinely welcome. 

Long ago, Steve began calling the people he trained athletes. The tradition stuck, became part of Elemental's gym culture, and remains. Initially, I was startled in a "Who me?!" kind of way, but then I liked it. I like it.

From the coaching team advertised on Safeway shopping carts to Charlie and the climbing club kids. From Anne teaching core class to Mei filling a new role in a familiar space. Seeing Steve and Ellen's teenaged kids milling about the periphery, remembering when Annabelle was a baby in a carseat on the gym floor or when Sam was obsessed with vacuum cleaners. 

Every bit of it pleases me. 

There were times in my life when I primarily shuttled between three places: home, NOLS' big house (two blocks away) and the gym (three blocks away). I left HQ eight years ago and got pregnant a year later. After Ben was born, my abdominal wall had a crevasse running down the middle. I didn't have capacity to work out. Time passed. I still didn't have capacity, but for different reasons. Now I do.

What a miracle! Not taken for granted. At all. 

I go to the gym. I do my physical therapy exercises (Erin, may Lander bless and keep her, is a Vacation Club gem). I get on the elliptical for half an hour. I do this more often than not these days.

That's it. Momentous. 

Japanese Textiles For The Win

These hand towels

 are just a few

of the treasures

available at Musubi.

My Lady Jane

 

A Knight's Tale meets Princess Bride meets Pride & Prejudice meets Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Great meets Bridgerton.

A show that transmutes brutal history into fun herstory? I'm so in.

Crone On Fire

I have been recommending this book to literally everyone I know. It resonates with force. Or is that just because I am a menopause-adjacent mother, married to a cisgender man? 

Regardless, I love Catherine Newman. She is the greatest. Mos def a veritable