Had some intense rain all day and into the evening, which made for a lovely backdrop for hunkering indoors.
The photo’s a dud, that’s on me. But I’m remiss to skip the post, even if it’s late.
All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
This movie begins as a look into the life and career of photographer and activist Nan Goldin.
I knew of her documentary-style photographs of the LGBTQ+ community, counterculture of the 80’s and 90’s and AIDS epidemic, but didn’t know of her incredible activism.
The final third of the movie illustrates her actions to raise awareness about the pharmaceutical industry’s role in the opioid epidemic.
It stuck with me.
I think back to the work we made with the Public Service Artists here in Cincinnati… Part of our existence was the process of thinking about issues and coming up with ways to address them, but we lacked a clear, defined purpose.
I’m inspired by the single issue focus of Nan’s P.A.I.N group and the impact they’ve achieved.
Fresh air plus tacos
The day was so nice I walked to the gas station to grab lunch at the taco truck I keep meaning to try. This first visit will not be my last — it was SO. GOOD.
They don’t have a website but their Facebook page has some excellent photos. Looks like they travel around the city a bit too.
In other news, I saw someone mowing their lawn today.
What’s your favorite color?
“What’s your favorite color?” My great niece asked.
“Green and brown, I guess?”
My regular (but also great) niece jumped in, “I thought your favorite color was orange!”
I think she’s right judging from all this stuff around my desk.
Stuff that includes a trying patch and a bracelet my great niece just made.
Arby’s roulette
There’s the Arby’s you have in your mind, and the Arby’s you get.
Time capsule
I’ve been pulling out boxes of things in the basement that should be sorted and no longer stored.
I found this old iPhone 3GS and wondered if it still worked.
As long as the 30 pin connector is seated just right, it operates dandy — and what a time capsule it is!
Old texts, voicemails, the camera roll — all of it a snapshot in time. Many of the apps worked and still had data cached. I would fathom modern apps would rely on a network connection to draw anything on the screen.
Where things left off in May 2011:
- Text – I was coordinating a cocktail at PF Changs
- iBooks – still had a lovely page turn animation
- Flixter – Bridesmaids was about to come out in theaters
- iOS4 – That dark linen background of those new folders was delightful
- Frenzic – still works (and you can still get it today). Wait… ALL the games work, including Wurdle.
- Twitter – was super simple but enough to convey SwissMiss’ enthusiasm
- Hello Mr. Smith
- Birdhouse – Worst key party ever.
- Foursquare – I was mayor of exactly one place, Tiny Tina’s Barber Shop
There’s so much more packed in those 320×480 pixel screens… music Shazam’d, articles Instapaper’d, random notes, attempted drawings and a long list of AIM friends offline. But my favorite part was listening to an old voicemail from mom.
I don’t think this is an object I’ll be able to part with anytime soon.
Paula Poundstone at the Taft Theatre
There was no parade or green beer this St. Patrick’s Day, but there was a delightful night out with friends. The first stop was eating inside a restaurant… It had been 1091 days for me — a streak I’m glad is broken, but not yet my new normal.
Dinner was at 5:30 so the dining room was empty. It filled up by the time we had a tableful of desserts.
Baby, intentional steps.
And oh my goodness is was lovely to enjoy a meal not made or delivered. (I’m over-selling the experience as there have been oodles of outdoor dining adventures along the way.)
After the desserts were cleared we headed to the Taft Theatre for an evening of comedy with Paula Poundstone.
She was fine and all, but large chunks of the set felt re-hashed or flat. My favorite bit was some repartee with a Veteran in the front row during the closing minutes. All that said, I still dig Paula and super enjoyed an evening out.
Today’s track lifted from Seth Werkheiser’s Goodnight Metal, Friend Mix #40 (which is excellent for working!)
Tom’s Shopcast
Tom pulled together a handful of folks for a big test of the recording set-up to share “an album that had a big impact on you.”
I totally get why folks have round table podcasts now — it’s like hanging out, but there happen to be microphones present. It was delightful to hear stories about the music that influenced friends old and new. I picked the first Violent Femmes record and in hindsight all of my facts were wrong. If only I had started this digital garden back in middle school!
Tom’s got over 2 hours of audio in the editing bay — as soon as he has it in the can I’ll update this entry.
Hoping the cold won’t mess with the plants
Been editing video of late and I’m so not geared for such a workflow — source footage is in 4K and demands oodles of memory. I’m downloading tools to find caches to purge and discover other culprits hogging drive space.
Copying files can take over an hour. Rendering allows enough time for a nap. And this is all technical — the real challenge is to piece things together into a cohesive story.
I admire whatever efficiencies and magic happen inside video production houses.
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Between renders I went out for the mail and enjoyed a brief sliver of sunlight before the gray returned.
We’re entering a cold spell and a lot of plants have already started to blossom for spring. 🤞
Hat tip to Yewknee for today’s music
Another Charley Harper piece I didn’t know about
Back when I turned 48, the Duvalls gave me a Harper print of the Blenko Glass Factory that I never knew existed, combining two favorite things. Mom would have flipped her lid over it — she passed a love of Harper and Blenko down several generations.
Fast forward to my 51st and Heather surprised me with this cat that looks much like Edie (and any domestic shorthair) — another Charley Harper piece that is new to me!
It won’t live next to that light switch, I just hung it on an existing screw until I can find a proper place.
In other news, the grocery store is moving a bunch of stuff around and I forgot it was International Potato Chip Day.
Even more taxing
Taxes have been sent over wires and receipts issued. I made the entire process incredibly difficult by forming a company the last quarter of 2022. (In hindsight, such things should happen at the start of a new year.)
This year I’m going to stay on top of things and spend a day at the beginning of each month to sort expenses, reimbursements and whatnot.
March 14th is International Potato Chip Day
Casey showed me the Jungle Jim’s circular and pointed to the potato chip holiday coming up. I already celebrate the potato chip more than I should, but it was fun to peruse all the items on sale. Recently we’ve been getting coupons and flyers like these wrapped up in a bag on the lawn. If they’d throw some funny papers in there I’d rush out to grab it.
Watched the Oscars® this evening. Was pleased to see Everything Everywhere All At Once win so many awards, if only to inspire production of more movies that fall outside the usual.
