Fran Dominguez, AKA Forest Robots, joins me on THE SOCIALIZED RECLUSE to discuss his birthday weekend adventure in the wilderness, the perils of sand, the utility of data to ameleoriate misery, and his stunning new album, HORST & GRABEN. You can listen to the full episode here, or via Apple Podcasts/your preferred podcast player.
The sound-dampening / light blocking curtains are hung and the Sanctum feels even more like a cave which is the way I've always wanted it to be. Wrote the first book in a similar space and have, I think, been trying to get back to a semblance of that space / bring that space into the current iteration of the Sanctum ever since. Next task is to attend to the details, make it look better. Eye hooks are my friend.
Part of my frustration with The Main Thing comes from a desire to find a different rhythm for this one, to feel it in a different way. This desire – like all of them, really, is probably a mistake: as with (final) form, I need to let the story tell me how it's going to sound, the design of its house that will make it feel at home.
You were right, Scott. PICARD got better in episode six. But still: there's only four episodes to go – bit of a pacing issue there.
THE SOCIALIZED RECLUSE, Ep0007, featuring Fran Dominguez, AKA Forest Robots, is on its way. Should be live by 1000.
All four of RKO’s DICK TRACY films are available on Paramount+. This makes me ridiculously happy.
The Art of Drones: A document of three Takeyuki Hakozaki installations, via Disquiet.
Alan Wake Remastered is coming to PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, via The Verge.
The Mandalorian: Police Drug Bust Nabs a Fentanyl-Filled Baby Yoda Doll, via CBR.
A Treatise on Artificial Limbs (1899), via The Public Domain Review.
Pickax-wielding yakuza member ambushes movie star Beat Takeshi in Tokyo, via SoraNews24.
I need this: LEGO Ideas Fender Stratocaster (21329) Officially Announced, via The Brick Fan.
New desk friend.
WIP remains, at this early junture in its new/old existence, an exercise in patience. Remembering what Nick Cave said: "When something's not coming, it's coming." Learning to be ok with fuckall showing up on the page... or at least trying to be ok with fuckall. (Easier said and all that.)
Like its plodding pace, I'm slowly falling out of love with STAR TREK: PICARD's first season. Something of a shame – but, on the other hand, to be expected: whereas DISCOVERY was a jolt of electricty to the franchise, a bold new direction with new storytelling forms, PICARD is a wistful exercise in nostalgia – effective wistful nostalgia, but wistful nostalgia nonetheless. Still, Raffi needs her own spinoff. Awesome character.
(But, patience?)
More on the WIP after breakfast / dog sustenance, then the day's run, and final edits on TSR 0007, featuring Fran Dominguez, AKA Forest Robots. On track to arrive tomorrow morning.
If you’re into that sort of thing, here’s a current list of my writing / creating tools and implements.
Chainsaws to wayward and overgrown wisteria between getting TSR Episode 0007 to its first assembly: think I'm starting to get the hang of the Ferrite / iPad / Podtrak workflow. Apple Pencil acumen growing with each use: always find something new and interesting to do with it, biggest surprise being how fantastic it is for pod editing (though a little finicky). The Jorkie's recovery continues. How long until I get to go to bed?
Equal parts NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and Bergman (especially 1963's THE SILENCE), THE TURNOUT is a triumph from Megan Abbott: a dark, twisting journey into the full-contact world of ballet to examine the calloused fragility that is the dance of life. Pair with Abbott's essential article on perfectionism from The Cut.
Weary. Exhaustion: pervasive.
Such is the way in the hangover of a weekend (same as every other fucking weekend) consisting of parental "visiting" and caretaking aka small talk and endless discussions of people I have no memory of–including my younger self–and yard work and not getting anything done except reaching this morning without killing anyone. Throw in the fallout from a Morkie/Jorkie tussle (The Morkie is fine but The Jorkie, while on the mend, is in rough shape – she's eating and drinking but generally sore and scared but that'll dissipate over the day) and having to chase Kirby across a hill and field when his leash broke on his first walking training day (this will be a long process to getting him ready to run with by February)while breaking up the second Morkie/Jorkie tussle (see note above) and you have a potent exhaustion cocktail.
I hate weekends. Longer weekends even more so. This is all I've got for you. The dog-children require sustenance.
Fleshed out the Newsletter navigation page to give you more info on what you get if you sign up for MacroParentheticals, my monthly – more or less – newsletter. A few of the areas are still a work in progress, but they’re getting there. If you’d like to sign up, either visit the Newsletter page or shoot me an email, tww(AT)parentheticalrecluse(DOT)com, and I’ll get you set up. (Happy Sunday.)