interspersed with significant breaks

Oliver Burkeman reviews Daily Rituals by Mason Currey, which looks at the daily routines of famous creative people (benjamin franklin, georgia o’keefe, proust, etc.). the common patterns among them:

1. be a morning person (though in theory i am more into the proust model: “Marcel Proust, for one, rose sometime between 3pm and 6pm, immediately smoked opium powders to relieve his asthma, then rang for his coffee and croissant.”)
2. don’t give up the day job (<– not sure about this one)
3. take lots of walks
4. stick to a schedule
5. practice strategic substance abuse
6. learn to work anywhere

burkeman tries to adopt these rituals and two insights emerge:

One is how ill-suited the nine-to-five routine is to most desk-based jobs involving mental focus; it turns out I get far more done when I start earlier, end a little later, and don’t even pretend to do brain work for several hours in the middle.

Another technique I couldn’t manage without comes from the writer and consultant Tony Schwartz: use a timer to work in 90-minute “sprints”, interspersed with significant breaks.

imma go home and put on every chain and also order some blush

The Treat Yo Self Pie – The Hairpin

wake up and go back to bed

elaine stritch discussing her move from NYC to birmingham, michigan with alec baldwin on wnyc’s here’s the thing. later she calls alec “alex” and says she didn’t enjoy doing 30 rock.

Elaine Stritch: I called up my nephew who is a great buddy of mine in Birmingham, Michigan and I said, ‘I’m coming home.’

Alec Baldwin: What do you think you’re going to do there?

Elaine Stritch: Oh, you have no idea.

Alec Baldwin: No, I’m just saying. You’ve got a very active life.

Elaine Stritch: First of all, nothing. I’m really going to do nothing. I’m going to wake up and –

Alec Baldwin: And go back to bed.

Elaine Stritch: And go back to bed. That’s exactly right.

Alec Baldwin: Yeah, that’s what I want to do.

Elaine Stritch: I want to do it. I want to sleep a lot.

Alec Baldwin: What’s wrong with us? I would like to wake up and have my oatmeal and read the paper and go right back to bed until about noon.

Elaine Stritch: And go right back to bed. Who wouldn’t?

rolling solo at ACL

here’s me during wilco’s set, which technically i should not have gone to, as i’ve seen wilco, no real surprises, but i just gave in and sat in the way back and watched the screen and got emo when they played “shot in the arm.”

VIDEO OF WILCO, YOU CANNOT EVEN SEE SCREEN THAT WELL, I WAS THAT FAR BACK

balmain

offering yourself on a plate to a collection of the world’s lonelies

from “How Tinder Solved Online Dating for Women – NYmag.com /The Cut“:

Perhaps most important, Tinder is a far cry from the exercise in self-flagellation that online dating has come to signify for many women. “It didn’t feel like offering yourself on a plate to a collection of the world’s ‘lonelies,’” says Natasha Bird, who lives in London. “It also allowed for the more casual type of connection without seeming totally sleazy.”

this was my experience exactly, when i dipped into the world of online dating, shortly in NYC in 2004 (never went out with anyone, but came close with a guy whose email address was mike@upthebuttandaroundthecorner.com) and portland in 2009, where i went on two dates, one with someone who had lied about being divorced (? why?) and one nice guy who looked like a youth group minister (but wasn’t), had a daughter, sang sacred harp, and who tried to give me a hug but instead fell on me from behind.

leyley matine-daftary

portrait lydia sitbon
by leyley matine-daftary

courtesy of xerxes art and maryam nassir zadeh instagram

bee stang

yesterday a bee stung my right hand while i was just standing there!!!!! SEE PICTURE FOR GENTLE SWELLING PROOF

“a rubenesque hand,” as ross said
“so smooth,” says me

likes/dislikes, october version

LIKES

• free drinks like, sodas, waters, etc. and also free drinks like, champagne
• the smell of cedarwood sage soap (with goat milk & almond dust)
• packing things
• mailing things
• doug sahm concert footage
• cleaning the house 80%
• my suede boots

DISLIKES

• conflict
• power plays
• eating too many cookies

river living

CONCAN