Things to learn, things to share
In cleaning out some files, I came across an intriguing artifact of the early days of blogging. At some point, the original blogger.com sent most of their early adopters (or maybe just those of us who asked?) a small drop of swag – some fine stickers.
I kept ’em in an envelope, which resurfaced during some cleaning recently. I memorialize here for your edutainment.
It’s difficult for me to get a grasp on Kanye. Some great work, some disruptive breaks, some need for space and patience.
GQ published a long interview earlier this year with him "Inside Kanye West’s Vision for the Future", which didn’t do much to help but did do much to flesh in the large outlines.
He’s a man who clearly thinks big and marshals resources effectively – but also so polymathematic that it seems hard to see them all coming to fruition. But the work described herein – a new buffalo – smacks of many references, not least of which to me was Arcosanti.
Still to watch.
Sadly (but promotionally!) hidden behind a paywall, but Tim Flannery‘s piece on Cities "The First Mean Streets" in a March NYRB is intriguing. Playing off two books against one another the piece effectively shifts this reader’s perception of early cities from post agricultural mercantile and social aggregations to maintaining something potentially more sinister. Were residents citizens or serfs? Were the walls to keep out, or keep in?
Further intriguing thoughts on how parlous the first cities were, what the options available to individuals may have been, etc.