Tag: 2021

2021 In Lists

No quieter time than Christmas Day for looking back at the year. This time, I honestly thought that I’d do without the category “best of”, but I have a known weakness for lists, and for books and music. Movies were to scattered to write about, but for my reading an listening habits, I sometimes like to go back to a certain year for the “feel.”

Books that I enjoyed (old and new, mostly old)

“A Pattern Language” Christopher Alexander
Monumental work from 1977. During and after reading, you walk around noticing patterns on the streets, and looking at your own home with “pattern eyes.” I quoted Christopher Alexander here and here, I was really impressed by how structured and timeless the book is.

“Summer Snow” Robert Hass
A poet I really enjoyed.

“How To Cook A Wolf” M.K. Fisher
And old classic, unknown to me before. I really enjoyed it, not strictly as a cookbook, but as a sign of time (1942) and a nice retro guide to the modern-day quarantine problem.

“The Code Breaker” Walter Isaacson
Anything written by Walter Isaacson will get to my top list of the year. And a book written about people who worked on CRISPR technology is hard to miss.

“Antkind” Charlie Kaufman
A big novel by Kaufman — he goes beyond movies.

“Klara and the Sun” Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro writes brilliantly, this one is about a future in which kids get an AI-friend.

“Downfall” Inio Asano
Graphic novels — a new genre for me in the past couple of years. Asano’s works are sad and beautiful.

“Noise. A Flaw In Human Judgement” Daniel Kanehmann
Like Isaacson, this author is one that I’d never miss, for non-fiction. Why people make bad judgements.

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” Rebecca Scoot
Fascinating story about immortal cell culture that has done a lot for science in the last decades — and a story of a person and her family, and her doctors, behind it.

“Binge” Douglas Coupland
One of my favorite modern authors published a new books — an easy read, of 60 connected stories. Something to really binge on.

“Crossroads” Jonathan Franzen
Another instant classic from Franzen.

Memorable music (released in 2021)

This will be without descriptions, just something that I really liked this year. I’m sure I missed something, but I don’t treat the end-of-year lists as seriously as I once did, so here goes:

  • Skarbø Skulekorps – Dugnad (Grappa Musikforlag)
  • Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, London Symphony Orchestra – Promises (Luaka Bop)
  • Nils Frahm – New Friends (Leiter Verlag)
  • μ-Ziq, Mrs Jynx – Secret Garden (Planet Mu)
  • Space Afrika – Honest Labour (Dais Records)
  • Madlib – Sound Ancestors (Madlib Invazion)
  • Flying Lotus – Yasuke Soundtrack (Warp)
  • L’Rain – Fatigue (Mexican Summer)
  • Tricky, Lonely Guest – Lonely Guest (False Idols)
  • Sons Of Kemet – Black To The Future (UMG)
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Tricky — Lonely Guest

Here’s to my immediate current music obsession.

Tricky – Lonely Guest (universal music link)

Such a perfect time for album release. It would be a dishonor to Tricky to match his music to a season. But in autumn, it’s really something to make peace with cold and grey. “Lonely Guest” is a real gem. How this guy keeps making music that is relevant and modern sounding today, and yet the trip hop that we know and love — is beyond me.

Last year’s “Falling to Pieces” was grief-laden after the death of his and Martina’s daughter. This one — I can’t even describe in terms other than pure Atmosphere (by the way, one of the jewels on the album, featuring a late Lee Scratch Perry). This one is filled with collaborations, and still a distinctly ‘Tricky album’, so gentle and piercing and brutal and soft.

Additional fun thing: on “Christmas Trees,” Paul Smith of Maximo Park, sings “I hope I’m still alive next year”, from their old “Apply Some Pressure.”

I’m wondering if the album would be a soundtrack of heartbreaks today in the same way as Maxinquaye was… Or is asking this like wondering if Beatles comeback album would cause hearts to break.

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Reinventing traveling

A lot of things are getting “reconsidered” and “reimagined” during or after the pandemic. If limitations make artists more creative, then the constraints that we face also can have this transformative power in our lives. Maybe a reminder that we need less, or different, to be happy.

The first trip that involves a flight and going to another country since what feels like forever. I find myself re-learning the essentials. The airport felt very new. It is new, technically — and old, also technically. First time I was flying from Berlin Brandenburg Airport, thirty years in the making. It’s not as bad as people try to picture it, but nothing special in terms of architecture either. Probably more comfortable than both its predecessors. The airport procedures felt somewhat foreign, like maybe the first times you were flying, all by yourself, and you know the theory, but are going through the practice for the first time.

I’m now in Venice, the city that’s very dramatic all in itself, it’s as if there’s no border between the museums and the streets. I’m learning to take in a foreign city, and enjoy the things that are not available to me at home — water public transport, and the general closeness of water, one of them.

How to vacation? I’m used to overdoing it. Some people (and I was one of them) think that after a proper vacation you come home needing a rest, and using your everyday to unwind. That might be the case when we talk about a trip full of nature: hikes, yachts, mountains… And while I agree that one needs to come back un-tired from home, a city vacation should not be a perpetual hunt for activities. At least, for me. I want some of the habitual, pieces of home, with me. Like now, I’m typing this up sipping sencha that I brought with me. And I don’t want to always be on the run. For sure, I want to see some things that the new area has to offer. But I don’t want to be exhausted by the end of my trip.

Today, I was in Accademia Gallery — without trying to take pictures of art (they are pointless), and without trying to grasp everything. I skimmed through most of the exhibition, and really took in a few things: Titian’s “Pietà”, and works by Hieronymous Bosch, that were of course different from the rest of the collection.

What I want to remember for city travels in this and future trips is to focus on what’s essential for you, and not hunt everything else. Food, sights, experiences. Make it fewer and increase the intensity. After all, you’re not going to remember everything, but some things you’ll keep dear.

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Running. Four months in

When someone just started an activity or picked up a new hobby, and is now talking about it like they are an expert, giving out unsolicited advice — it’s so… lame, for lack of a better word. And yet here I am, with my freshly found running, writing about it. This is no advice, really — I hardly even have advice for myself at this point, other than, take it easy and keep running. The idea that I started something that I never thought I could, and it makes me feel great — it still is quite incredible. Maybe I need to see it in writing, to believe.

I dipped my toes in running last year, and it didn’t take. I enjoyed it a little, but also couldn’t run much. My consistent effort came about four months ago. In the February, I had five runs, for a total of 13 kilometers. My starting distance was a bit over two kilometers per run. March wasn’t better — four runs and ten kilometers total. Two months ago, in April, things started to pick up. I covered 30 kilometers, and in May, 45 kilometers. May also saw me run a 5k for the first time — completely unexpected. Now, my average, my “normal” run is about 30 minutes. Not always. Today, for example, I did a 25 minute run, and sometimes I run for 20 minutes. Depends on how much time I have and how sleepy I am in the morning. I can run every other day, and then not run for a week. In other words, it’s not like I’m training for anything, or getting a consistent effort. Yet, on a monthly scale, I’m getting what I want.

“Results” is not the best word to define this. Results are very much linked to goals. When there’s no goal other than enjoyment, it’s better to talk about “effects” rather than “results”. Effects that I felt from running so far are:

  • Increased energy levels. I’m less sluggish, and on most days, don’t tend to get sleepy after lunch.
  • Fun getting moving. I really enjoy the simplicity of it — repeated motions, getting the body moving, breathing, flying for those milliseconds when feet don’t touch the ground. The ease of starting a run. You put on your clothes, and shoes, and you use some sunscreen, and you go out. Everything else is optional.
  • (There’s definitely more than simplicity in the choice of running attire. It was also fun for a while: figuring out what shoes to buy, and getting amazed at the level of technological advancement that sports fabrics illustrate.)
  • The sweet feeling of being able to do something that until now has been a closed door. The sense of wonder and possibility.
  • I haven’t dropped any weight. But my form is changing, and I like it. Toned body just… feels great.
  • My nighttime heart rate is down, and my heart rate variability is on the upward trend. I guess, in many ways, my body thanks me.
  • Since I started running, I think I’ve become calmer, less reactive to the little everyday annoyances.
  • Another thing I run for is this feeling after a run — a mix of tired and energized. Taking a shower post-run is very different from just taking a shower.

I’m very far from the thought of running a marathon, or anything like that. There’s also no desire to always raise the bar. I am looking forward to uncovering all the lessons that running can teach me, that’s all. It’s a new side of life that I quote enjoy. And it made me pick up Haruki Murakami’s brilliant “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.” I love it not for the running part, but for the brilliance of observation and thought. Now, also for running.

Getting yourself introduced to something not experienced before, starting something from square one, doesn’t make you a different person. Yet, it has a capacity of showing you that maybe you don’t know everything about yourself. Maybe the way you are used to thinking about yourself is not all there is to you, and to your life. With running, there’s always a new starting line to cross, and it’s always a little bit of dive into the unknown, that is exciting.

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Challenges instead of resolutions: Swapping pressure for fun

In December, I was looking at patterns that work for me, and those that don’t (or lack of patterns, actually). In other words, I was trying to find a way to consistency in what I do. Replacement of willpower — as I found myself again and again facing the fact that I set out with an intention, and didn’t follow through. This blog would be one of such cases, actually. I started it with the sole idea of “I want to write more”, and I didn’t write more. I started it after not being able to come up with a clear plan or goal in mind, I just wanted to give myself some space where I could write. There are other examples too, which I won’t bore you with. The usual things, maybe not too important or not too big, the things that I wanted to do, and didn’t. That didn’t stick.

And yet, there are other things, where I’m good at. Or different settings that enable that consistency. I was quite haughty about the concept of 30-day challenge. Like, I’m not that person who resorts to these measures, I’m better than that. Yeah, I’m not. Actually, I tried 30 (or insert-your-number) day challenges a lot of times, when I was feeling as a beginner in something. As soon as I was past that newbie feeling, I thought that I should be able to do better than that. Not exercise, or meditate, or not eat sugar, or (insert your usual suspects here) for the sake of numbers and putting checks in boxes.

You know what? Looking back, I figured out two things:

One. 30-day challenges, even with corny printouts and physically crossing out the days, they work. Yes, they can be crutches, but also, they are simple, visual, and kinda-dorky-kinda-fun. In November-December, I did this pushup challenge, and I was quite happy with my results. I did it just for fun, because I thought it would be interesting to do — and it was.

Two. Don’t try and do everything at the same time. This is a simple thing that, hopefully, everybody knows. Pick one thing to focus on, and do it. Not five things, even when you have fifty things on your list of habits to build or challenges to take.

For this year, as usual, I’m not doing any New Year resolutions, but I’m going to try monthly challenges for myself. Swapping pressure (resolutions) for fun (challenges). On the last day of the month, I’m going to think of a challenge to do the next month, and I’m going to do it for the whole month. On the months that have 31 days, I might take the last day off, or do 31 days. In February, sorry, it’s going to be 28 days.

If you’re interested, for January I have two things, one that I want to do and one that I don’t want to do:
– Write with a pen and paper every day. Nothing specific, just a scribbling type of activity that has the value in the process itself rather than in the result. I don’t even have an aim in mind, will see where it gets me.
– Don’t drink coffee. I’m not a big coffee drinker anyway, I’m focused on tea. So this shouldn’t be difficult, I only need to remember when I have an option to get a coffee — not to do it.

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