Five Bullets 12.22.23
Best of 2023
Good morning and happy Friday everyone!
Welcome back to Circles in Space.
Earlier this week I published a mission statement which sums up the Circles In Space philosophy:
Mission Statement
“…the power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round.. The sky is round … the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind in its greatest power whirls, birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.”
For today’s newsletter I journeyed back in time to January 2023 and took a look at some of my favorite bullets from the past year. It’s interesting to see what was happening in the world and also what I was reading and listening to. I’m certain I’ll be revisiting some of these bullets in the future.
I’ll be pausing the newsletter next week. We’ll return in the new year on January 5th.
I wish you happy holidays and a happy and healthy New Year!
Thank you for reading and supporting Circles In Space - it means the world.
Today’s Bullets:
Books: Five of my favorite books this year: A Farewell to Arms, Hell’s Angels, No Country for Old Men (RIP Cormac McCarthy), Roadside Picnic and War of the Worlds.
Essays: Some incredible essays and reporting throughout the year: Trapped in the Trenches, The Squid Hunter, and Ghosts on the Glacier.
Movies: My favorite movies: Oppenheimer, The Creator, and Napoleon.
Music: The records I listened to the most this year: Lettuce’s Live in Amsterdam, Adam Deitch Quartet’s Egyptian Secrets (2019), Makaya McCraven’s In the Moment (2015) and Davka by Baklava Express (2023). [RIP Robbie Robertson, Ahmad Jamal and Harry Belafonte among many others.]
NYC: My favorite NYC news stories this year were about escaped (or lost) animals: the Prospect Park alligator, the Queens coyote, and Flaco the owl.
I'll miss this over the holidays and can't wait for its return in the new year.