Hollywood masculinity, things, washing dishes, no true Scotsman, and more
Seven thin(g/k)s I explored this week
Dear reader,
Hello from my pregnancy bubble, where creating a baby registry is on the agenda this weekend. But luckily, for me and for you, not all was seen through baby-colored glasses over this past week.
Here are seven links to bits of the world I explored this week, shared with the hope that you will find them to be an inspiring springboard for deeper thinking.
Goodbye, Things — a book I finished via audiobooks through the free Libby app, which let me borrow using my NYPL library card, and whose shelf-life limitation before the book was due pushed me, annoyingly at first and then thankfully, to finish the book in less than two weeks’ time. I have some thoughts. Thinking of sharing via a podcast episode tomorrow, so stay tuned.
By pure coincidence, as I contemplated the use of minimalism alongside its hype and disdain for, say, keeping things for memory’s sake, I chanced upon this article that provided a solid counterargument — Should Artists Shop or Stop Shopping? — in which the writer notes, “We should see the things we own as having more and more value, as their color mixes with the color of time, as the things we own become time. Part object, and part time.”
A moment of reflection, and ease from the anxiety of things piling up, by way of this observation from Dale Carnegie: “I was trying to wash today’s dishes, yesterday’s dishes and dishes that weren’t even dirty yet.”
In my ongoing battle to try to make my home smell great (cooking smells aside, I don’t necessarily want to settle for the ‘open windows, fresh air, neutrality’ varietal of home vibes), I rediscovered the following papier d’Armenie burning paper trick. Except that for me, it barely has any staying power. My ears are open and attentive if you happen to have any insight into making the house smell amazing (and non-toxic)!
Analyzing Bradley Cooper’s public image, and Hollywood masculinity. I’d so love an analysis on Cillian Murphy. His placement in the celebrity actors world, and I suppose the resulting no-man’s-land zone he finds himself in post-Oscars season, randomly reminded me of singer Leonard Cohen’s lyrical observation, “I found that things got a lot easier when I no longer expected to win. You abandon your masterpiece and sink into the real masterpiece.” I think we’d all do well to remember that from time to time.
Have been enjoying sifting through fallacies in how we think and thereby communicate, and this one was fun to spot, courtesy of Wikipedia to the rescue: No True Scotsman.
A reading of TS Eliot’s Four Quartets, whilst doing laundry and dishes.
Catch you next time.
Yours, ever lovingly, - A