2025 Week 3: January 13-19

I'm not really sure where the week went. Things will be almost unbearable busy at work until March, so this is probably close to what I'll be consuming each week for the near future. I'm struck by the lack of music this week; I listened mostly to the Apple Music channel that was built on my listening habits and it kind of feels like it. It was a disjointed and disjoining week, and maybe an album or two would have helped. Time put aside for thoughtful listening (or learning, which is also conspicuously absent this week) would have served me well.

It's no surprise then, as I look back, to see that my dreams of wood working dominate the week. To make something, to have a project, is the presumed remedy to whatever it is I've been feeling, I suppose. At heart, I want to learn something new, make something I can be proud of, and get out of my head (and into my hands?) for a bit.

Books
Lazarus Man, Richard Price (read): I loved Clockers, and liked Lush Life, though the latter left me a bit confused by what I found there. I have no memory at all of the plot these years later, and I don't remember the characters I'm afraid to say, but it was immersive nonetheless. That much I remember. The same is true of Lazarus Man, which I loved every minute of. I know Price is rightfully acclaimed as the master of dialogue, but there's something more at work here. Outside of the collapse of a tenement building in Harlem, nothing major happens in terms of the plot. The characters circle around that event, or perhaps emerge from it, and live their lives and a deep understanding of the complexities of modern loneliness and hope emerges. It's like an Old Master putting down layers of paint after layers of paint, leaving a smooth, luminous surface that seems to shine all on its own. And it's pretty remarkable.

Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living, Nick Offerman (finished): I'm usually cynical about anything that purports to offer life lessons, but this hit me at the right time.

Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Workshop, Nick Offerman (read): Dreaming of setting up my wood shop, I picked this up to start planning some early projects. My plan is to start small and get the basic hand tools I need for each project and go from there. Where, exactly, will this all take place? No clue. My plan to insulate the room in our detached garage seems less and less viable with each passing snowstorm (a predicted 6" coming down as I write this today)...

The Anarchist's Tool Chest, Christopher Schwarz (started): This is exactly what I've wanted. It walks through the basic tools that you need to get started and explains the parts of each and how to choose a good one. Schwarz's definition of an anarchists is they are those who recognize the destructive nature of modern capitalistic institutions, so a woodworker who uses hand tools is an anarchist in that he or she is alone with the materials, their creativity, their skill, and their output. That's not me yet, but I want it to be.

The advice here is practical and clear, thorough and insightful, and its offered in a smart, compelling prose. I know which planes I need to get and what to look for in each at this point; now I need to figure out where I can actually find this stuff near me. Woodworking is all about problem-solving, right?

The Heart in Winter, Kevin Barry (started): I'm reading this with my bookclub, and I'm just started it on Sunday night. It's a western written by an Irish writer whose work is new to me. I'm really looking forward to catching the rhythm of this and diving in more deeply.

Episodes and Articles
Handmade S03:E01-4: TV comfort food for me right now. The lamps that get made are pretty incredible, and the coffee tables and bookshelves are exactly what I want to make for the house some day, so these episodes were right up my alley. This season is all about Wolfgang, and I'm here for it.

The Muppet Show, S04:E17 (Mark Hamill) and S05:E20 (Buddy Rich): My kids opted for episodes of The Muppet Show for this week's movie night. (Since my son, an absolute popcorn fiend, got a popcorn machine for Christmas, movie nights have become a more regular part of our lives/excuse to make popcorn.) They were cranky driving home from school the other day, so we played Sing Along to the Top 40 Radio Station as Your Favorite Muppet, mostly so I wouldn't have to actually listen to those particular songs or exhausted sniping at one another. My 8 year-old son sang as Beeker while my 6 year-old daughter opted for Animal, and, reader, both choices are perfectly on-brand for each of them. (I brought the house down as The Swedish Chef, of course...)

Somehow the Muppet spirit stuck with them, but so did the fatigue that led to the crankiness, so we opted for some episodes of the show rather than one of the movies. We picked the Buddy Rich episode so the kids could see the drum battle between Rich and Animal, and we went with Mark Hamill because Star Wars is very popular in the house (and because if we're going to relive some of myh childhood we might as well go all the way). Hamill played Luke Skywalker for a good chunk of the episode, but he also showed off some pretty good Muppet impressions that hinted at the incredible voiceover work he'd come to do outside of the Star Wars universe. It was pretty cool to see.

"Lorne Michaels is the Real Star of 'Saturday Night Live'", Susan Morrison (The New Yorker): There are a few topics that will get me to read/watch every time: heist movies, any story about art theft and forgery, getting the gang back together movies, and Saturday Night Live - to name a few. This profile of Michaels tries to both explain and maintain the mystery around him simultaneously, but it's a good read nonetheless. As I said, though, I'm an easy mark for this one.

"How Do You Know When a System Has Failed?", Joshua Rothman (The New Yorker): This one really hit home. Despite everyone's claims that everything is broken at this historical moment, Rothman points out that:

"Systems need maintenance because they are always failing, just a little; that is, they are failing and functioning at the same time. ... The elements often work against one another—that’s how a system keeps itself in check—and so their connections always need tuning up. But just because a system needs adjustment doesn’t mean that it’s failed. In fact, if a mechanic looked at an engine that needed a tune-up and declared that it was irrevocably damaged, he’d be the one failing. Failure is not a binary state."

I suppose I needed to hear that today.