Five Bullets 5.31.24
Two Year of Circles in Space!
Good Morning & Happy Friday!
We made it! Two years of Circles in Space.
Thank you so much for reading and for all of your support.
Week after week, our discussions on these topics as well as your comments, suggestions and recommendations keep me curious and excited to explore, learn and grow. When I started this newsletter two years ago, I was only two years into my writing journey. Looking back, I’ve learned so much and I am grateful for the many hours of reading, watching, and listening each week so I could deliver five fresh bullets to you every Friday. If you’re new here or are still wondering exactly what Circles in Space is then wonder no further.
So, what’s next?
I’ve thought about this question a lot over the past few months. I’ve delivered more longform posts on a variety of topics including New York City history, science-fiction, and album reviews. I’ve got more of this stuff coming down the road.
For all subscribers, I’ll be offering a special gift for hanging in there with me - the very first Circles in Space Zine (coming soon!). I’ve got a bunch of ideas of what the zine will include, mostly sourced from topics covered in the newsletter, but I thought I’d share this idea with all of you to get your input. Keeping with the spirit of Circles in Space, what bullets, notes, ideas, quotes, and other ephemera would you like to see in the upcoming zine?
Bullets this week:
Art: I love studio tours. Getting to see inside an artist or musician’s creative workspace is inspiring. In this tour of graphic designer Aaron Draplin’s studio, Draplin gives us a peek at where his projects come to fruition, from designing record covers to patches, hats, posters and more. I learned that Draplin is the co-founder of one of my favorite notebook brands Field Notes which sprang from Draplin’s collection of agricultural memo books.
Books: Summer is my favorite time of year to spend hours outside reading a good book. Moby Dick has been on my ‘to-read’ list for a while. I just downloaded an audiobook of Werner Herzog’s memoir to listen to. Last year I re-read The Great Gatsby during the hottest summer months. Austin Kleon has a great list of summer reads, including Dune which I read this past March while sitting on a beach in sunny Belize.
Music: My favorite band Soulive has a new record out, Cinematics Vol. 2! Catch them at the Blue Note NYC this week and next week.
NYC: In 1974, two high-school filmmakers took a rowboat to Ellis Island and made a 16mm film inside the abandoned immigration center. The images, combined with oral histories from New Yorkers who passed through Ellis Island, offer a lens for considering the city’s current immigration policies.
Science: What is the Double Cicada Brood event? This week’s Google Doodle featured a rare event occurring this summer - a 13-year brood and 17-year brood of cicadas will both emerge from the ground at the same time, which last occurred over 200 years ago. Cicada’s emerge when the soil temperature hits about 64°F and spend 5 weeks above ground mating and laying eggs before dying. When the eggs hatch, the cicada heads underground for another 13 or 17 years. Due to this underground brooding period, cicada’s have one of the longest insect lifespans despite being mostly defenseless. Here’s more on how cicada’s know when to emerge.
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Congrats on two years! Such dedication.
Congratulations on 2 years, I don't know what I would do without this newsletter every Friday! I would love to see more on the topics that interest you in the zine because your writing captures those topics very well and it helps me understand and learn new things that I wouldn't have known about otherwise.