Greetings from the Mesa
A little behind schedule this week. It’s unseasonably warm right now. It was 78 yesterday and is supposed to hit the mid-80s for a few days. This is ridiculously hot – it usually is still snowing and cold right now. Outside the plants and birds are loving it though. Ornamental Allium is popping, garlic is going kookoo, and all of our starts except for chives have come up. I’m responsible for the jalapeños and habanadas this year. Pepper palooza – keeping my fingers crossed. We would be taking advantage of the excellent weather to go adventuring except it is spring break and the hordes of tourists from TX have descended. Thickly accented “Do they have Door Dash in this town?” is overhead in the grocery store. LOL. I think there are maybe 3 restaurants in town that deliver. We have learned to move around the high tourist seasons for the most part. April is dead around here – it’s the worst month weather wise – windy and cold usually. So that’s when we will emerge again. Until then – more create less hate.
Curiosities
- ‘The world’s memory’: why Nigeria is burying its history under a mountain in Svalbard. (Guardian) If you don’t know what/where Svalbard is I suggest checking out Cecilia Blomdahl’s Youtube about life in Svalbard. Besides hosting artifacts Svalbard also is the location of the global seed bank.
- Speaking of Nigeria I am finishing the final book in Nnedi Okorafor’s (her cats are super cute) She Who Knows series. Nsbidi script plays a role in the final book (she also has a Nsbidi script YA series as well, haven’t read those yet). “Nsibidi has a wide vocabulary of signs usually imprinted on calabashes, brass ware, textiles, wood sculptures, masquerade costumes, buildings and on human skin. Nsibidi has been described as a “fluid system” of communication consisting of hundreds of abstract and pictographic signs.” (Wikipedia)
- How to Refuse to Pay for War (NWTRCC) “NWTRCC is a coalition of local, regional, and national groups and individuals from across the United States who support war tax resistance. For everyone interested in or actively refusing to pay taxes for war, NWTRCC offers information, referral, support, resources, publicity, campaign sponsorship, and connection to an international network of conscientious objectors to war taxes.”
- In the vein of Tiny Desk, Allie Sullberg takes us on more Tiny Desk Tours of artists. (Substack) I dig it.
- I’ve been battling several nights of insomnia. The first night I was spinning about a movie I had seen in the past but couldn’t remember the name or timeline of when I saw it. I could picture scenes from the movie and knew that it was Japanese and based on an Anime cartoon. The next night I found it… Why Casshern Is the Sci-Fi Cult Classic You’ve Probably Missed (Rotten Usagi) Thankfully someone has put the whole movie on Youtube – watch it here Casshern (2004).
Consuming
Currently Reading: Daughter that Remains (Okorafor), A Gentleman in Moscow (Towles)
TV/Movies: Dark Winds continues. We finished the series Unfamiliar which was decent. Moving on to more Bond movies.
Music: Vienna Teng’s creation is called “We’ve Got You.” What she did was create *2* different songs with the goal of being able to overlay them into a single song. The premise is that “Two Truths” can exist together. Here are the links to all 3 songs (the original 2, and the final product). Cool concept even if I think the lyrics are a tad didactic. The animation is awesome!
Vienna Teng – We’ve Got You (i – Spark)
Vienna Teng – We’ve Got You (ii – Comfort)
Vienna Teng – We’ve Got You (∞ – Two Truths)