Five Bullets 9.5.25
Steinbeck, Strangers, Trees & more.
Good Morning and Happy Friday Friends:
This morning is sunny with mostly clear skies and 70℉ here in New York City. The temperature is expected to be near 80 this afternoon. This weather this week has been beautiful - cool in the morning and evenings with warm but not hot afternoons.
Since Labor Day always feels like the end of summer, I hope the last few months were enjoyable and restful for you all. Now that it’s September I’m thinking about what I want to finish before the end of the year arrives.
At the moment, I’m in between a few unfinished projects which is when I usually lose the thread and get carried away with a new project. This week I’ve renewed a commitment to fiction writing after being unmotivated to practice over the summer and I’m reinvigorated by it. In true Circles In Space form I find there’s a certain rhythm to my creative practice which seems more or less tied to the seasons.
What’s one thing you hope to accomplish by the end of the year?
Five Bullets capturing my attention this week:
During my trip to Lake Tahoe last week I revisited John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley: In Search of America. Written during a 1960 cross-country roadtrip with his French poodle, Steinbeck takes one last trip before he’s ‘too old’ to experience America and write about the changes he saw happening in the country. The novel is a good travel companion and I usually read it while on a summer trip somewhere. I’m working on a future newsletter about the book.
When I landed at JFK last weekend I stopped to read a wall covered with anonymous handwritten messages. The Strangers Project asks: “What’s it like being you?” Brandon Doman has collected over 100,000 responses to that question, creating a “living museum of the human experience.” Visit the exhibit at the World Trade Center Oculus and follow The Strangers Project.
Rambling Roses, a Grateful Dead inspired cover band, released their version of “That’s All Right Mama” (Elvis Presley’s cover of “That’s All Right” by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup) with yours truly on drums. We had a blast recording this one and hope you enjoy.
Here’s 25 trees from the New York City Parks Department’s 120 Great Trees list featuring notable trees throughout the city. Who knew there were Redwoods in Brooklyn? You’ll probably guess my favorite: The Queens Giant, a 400 year old Tulip Trail located in Alley Pond Park only minutes away from my hometown of Floral Park.
“You’re alone in this dark room with no windows. The hours are brutal. But you’re producing these images, these visions, on the screen.” Check out this cool comic strip with film projectionist Carolyn Funk and accompanying Instagram reel. Funk is based in New York where film screenings still happen daily.
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Have a great weekend,
Keith