First things first: With my employer match I was able to donate $400 to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota! Thank you to everyone who came to class this month and helped bump that total up š
Ok, letās do some rounding upā¦
Reading
A Philosophy of Walking, FrĆ©dĆ©ric Gros. I havenāt had such an agonizing experience with a book since The Creative Act. Iād heard it spoken of highly and it seemed so up my alley. Idk if itās the translation or what but this was such a slog. I will be blighting a little free library in my neighborhood with this asap.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami. This was the first Murakami I read so it holds a special place in my heart. It broke me out of a reading slump then and Iām hoping itāll do the same now. Iām about halfway through and, thankfully, still enjoying it. As luck would have it, I had a copy with an absolutely atrocious cover in my bag when we stopped into a bookstore in Vancouver (The Paper Hound) and the owner let me trade it in for a deep discount on a new copy with a much better cover. What a mensch! They also had a repurposed old cigarette machine that dispensed poems. I got an Old English Riddle that Iām still trying to figure out...
I subscribed to Poetry magazine and the first issue came with what has become my new favorite tote.
I was SO PUMPED to get JAKE MIKE BOYās fantastic GUTS MAGAZINE in the mail! More print please!
The Folkloric Necessity of āGetting Amongst Itā by Lizzie Bickerstaff. I love the idea that this ancient stone circle refused to be found until the moment was right.
Advice for Men: Read Tarot Cards by John DeVore. In my life, I will overcome monsters and be reborn multiple times. My heart will break. My heart will bloom. My heart will glow like lava and then cool. I will stumble in the dark and fall to my knees before the light. I am a skeleton wearing a coat of many myths.
Whiteness as Enemy: Irish Assimilationism and Sinners by zombie grrrl āļø . Lots of great writing on this movie going around, this is one piece I read recently that Iāve been thinking about.
Watching
No Country for Old Men (2007). Itās amazing how you can watch this 5000 times and it just keeps getting better. I will never, ever tire of this woman. Or this scene.
Peter Hujarās Day (2025). A perfect mid-week watch, when you just want something quiet that feels like hanging out and talking shit with your smart, talented artist friend.
The Secret Agent (2025). Rewatched as soon as it hit streamers! My love for Dona Sebastiana only grows. The hairy leg scene should probably have been cut but whatever, the rest of it is just so immersive. I want to watch it again already.
This PBS Edmund Fitzgerald documentary. Still patiently waiting on my Gales of November library hold to come through. I will never got over the phenomenal, devastatingly bad luck here.
The Last of the Nightingales (2025). A mini-documentary from The New Yorker about a soundscape ecologist and the devastating way the world is changing around us, because of us. Totally by chance I watched it the same week I read this 2014 essay by Matt Briggs about Twin Peaks and clear-cutting forests. One thing weāve noticed (and a few visitors have commented on too) since moving to Bellingham is that thereās an eerie lack of sound in the forests around us, even though they seem so abundant and bursting with life. Thereās just a hush. This documentary/essay combo was a real gut punch and I havenāt been able to stop thinking about them.
Listening
Music
I was jamming to my February class playlist a LOT this month. The Neil Young song on here is a secret gem. At least one person asked what it was after every class.
Teeth of Time, Joshua Burnside. Last month the song on repeat was āUp and Downā. This month itās āSycamore Queenā.
Well the rain gently falling is no trouble to me man
As Iām of the river and Iām of the sea
And the water falling it is flowing through me
They cut up the old land to keep āem under the cold hand
And keep the oil flowing right up to our waistbands
So thereās only one queen that I would kneel for
The gray barked maple, the noble sycamore
My Body is a Cage, Arcade Fire. Rediscovered while working on my class playlist for March. Bring back organs in anthemic indie rock!
Iām living in an age
Whose name I donāt know
Though the fear keeps me moving
Still my heart beats so slowGethsemane, Car Seat Headrest. Idk whatās wrong with me but I canāt stop listening to this. (More organā¦is this my Achilles heel?) I had a really hilarious moment listening to this that involved cruising down a deserted street and hitting every single green light while a flock of seagulls coasted alongside my car, against the backdrop of a gorgeous sunrise, while the song reached its final crescendo. I wasnāt high but I felt like I shouldāve been. (Iād also like to take this opportunity to mention that their cover of Running Up That Hill is so good.)
YOU CAN LOVE AGAIN!
IF YOU TRY AGAIN!
[drums drums drums drums drums]Do Your Thing, Moondog. Emma Withers put this on her Capricorn playlist and I am SO delighted by it.
Stand your ground
And while youāre standing there be duty-bound
Learn to wait
And while youāre waiting learn to concentrate
For The First Time, Tyler Ballgame. The whole album is sweet, but the opening track? Swoon!
Shook the hand of unbound desire
Leaned in close and love made its fools
So many lives never surrender
When itās over and done, we tried
Canāt wait to meet you for the first time, again
Podcasts
Iām in the thick of Cameron Steeleās EXCELLENT course on the Major Arcana so Iāve been listening to a lot of podcasts on specific cards as we come to them. A lot of HIEROPHANY and Weird Studies. If you see me at the gym with headphones in just know Iām probably listening to a man whispering esoteric wisdom over ambient music as I get my reps in.
Another one I came to through Cameronās course: Against Everyone with Conner Habib. Iāve been making my way through the more recent episodes and itās extreeeemely my shit.
I know I opened this post saying The Creative Act was an agonizing read, but I actually really liked this Rick Rubin interview with George Saunders.
This Search Engine episode came out just before all the DoD stuff came to a head so it doesnāt go into that but it was an interesting glimpse into Anthropic.
Eating
Iām still on my post-sauna salted/spicy mango game and Iām officially back on my wheatloaf game with seitan gyros back in the regular weeknight rotation.
I unfortunately neglected my sourdough starter for too lang and have to start anew. But on the plus side Iām getting better at homemade naan.
We had a food-filled 12 hours in Vancouver and wept into our fancy coffees, our ramen (not pictured, too eager to eat it), and our curry. We were overcome with flavor and sensation.
Not pictured, but a rising star in our household is this ice cream with olive oil and dates I came to via Aja Frostās newsletter on her favorite recipes from last year.
Bits & Bobs
If Iām not being harassed by the dogs Iām likely sitting in the sauna.
About an hour from us thereās an old growth forest ā the Shadow of the Sentinels (what a name!) ā so we took a drive to spend the afternoon out there amongst these 700 year old giants. And we finally got a little snow in Bellingham!
Aside from the glorious, glorious food we ate in Vancouver we also went to the aquarium and spent some quality time with the ornery sea lions and ethereal jellyfish.
Thatās a wrap. See you next month <3
Thanks for the shout out Cat! Just reading your mention of No Country has got me feeling like throwing it on... again. But I think I'll finally watch Peter Hujar's Day instead.
It is a delightful song! xxx