I honestly don’t have a lot for you this week! I was in Mexico with my family so was hashtag living in the moment. Look at Frida Kahlo’s dresses!!!!!
It really was astounding how much work she was able to do, amidst the chronic pain that clouded her life. I’m laid low if I get a mild sore throat (which I do with concerning frequency), and here she was producing epochal, century-defining artwork while undergoing immense physical hardships.
The art was what helped her survive, of course. But I got the same sense of itchy guilt contemplating this as I do when reading about the physical hardships which polar explorers took on. God, I’m so lazy!!! I’m so weak!!!! I could never!!!!!!
On the basis of recent health struggles I have been extensively contemplating my meat vessel and its fragility. It is no longer adequate or useful for me, I think, to keep on letting it do its own thing, with little regard for its future. Don’t worry, I’m probably not going to become an ultra-marathoner—but I did just spend an hour today making a Notion habit-tracking template so I can cajole myself into doing some strength training every day. I really would like to have more stamina, even if it’s just so I can imagine myself in all sorts of dramatic frozen scenarios without them automatically self-dismissing as completely unrealistic.
This week in polar exploration
I really enjoy the Brr.fyi blog, written by an anonymous IT technician stationed in Antarctica. It’s great look into the day-to-day operations of Antarctic research stations, covering everything from the exigencies of showering to snow accumulation management.
This week they wrote about the beginning of winter isolation at the South Pole:
Winters in Antarctica are slower-paced. The population drops. There is less frenzied energy. Empty tables in the galley. Shorter lines. Empty hallways. Time to work on longer-term projects, both professional and personal. Time for introspection, deliberation, binge-watching shows, and maybe picking up a new hobby or two.
At the same time, we’re acutely aware of the risks that come along with the long isolation. The unrelenting bitter cold. The total absence of sunlight for several months. Being cooped up with the same people for 9 months straight. The lack of stimulation, novelty, fresh food. Slow and intermittent Internet access.
And, of course, complete and utter dependence on our critical life-safety systems – fuel, electricity, heat, water, wastewater, communications, food service, medical care. None of us will last long in the Antarctic night, and our preparations reflect that. It’s been a unique experience getting up-close with the systems that sustain us. Infrastructure is truly front-and-center, because how well we maintain these systems is, quite literally, a matter of life or death.
How fucking cool!!!!!!
Things I read this week that I liked
Tiny notebook by ‘first Shakespeare geek’ to go on show in Stratford by Dalya Alberg
For example, Stern said the notebook’s author overlooked Hamlet’s “to be, or not to be”, preferring a description of kneeling: “‘And crooke the pregnant Hindges of the knee,’ which he rendered ‘Crooke ye pregnant hindges of ye knee’.”
She added: “He likes metaphors and is fascinated by pregnancy, so this really works for him. The image is of a knee getting more and more pregnant – bulging – as one goes down on it.”
She Spent Two Years Writing for an Acclaimed Album — and Made Only $4,000 by Brian Hiatt
Songwriter Warren “Oak” Felder, who’s written for Usher, Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj, and Demi Lovato, was recently in the studio with a talented fellow writer who announced that he had to leave a session after three hours of work. He mentioned the name of a restaurant, and Felder assumed he had a reservation. “He’s like, ‘No, no, I’m going to work,’ ” says Felder. “He’s like, ‘I work in the kitchen.’ I’m like, ‘Holy crap.’ What happens when he’s no longer able to afford to come to the studio, right? We lose that guy. If I named you some of the songs that this guy has written? You’d be like, ‘We can’t lose him.’… I can think of so many examples of songwriters that have gotten out of the game.”