Hobonichi has started their month of previews for their 2026 lineup of Techo planners. I’ve been an avid user of their Weeks planner for a few years now and I’m pretty excited to see what they’re going to come up with this year. Granted, it appears they will have a more limited selection available for US addresses due to (I would imagine) tariff hijinks, but we’ll see how it goes.
They posted an interview with founder Shigesato Itoi today where he goes over this year’s tagline of “YOU LOVE YOU?” It’s precious, and wow do we need some precious right now.
“if it comes across as something a child would scribble on a wall with crayon, that’s fine. I think it sounds kind of poetic.”
“Literally just… consider the messages and messaging you’re being inundated with, and what grooves and patterns and paths of least resistance they’re wearing into your thinking.”
– Dr. Damien P. Williams
This has been in my drafts folder for months, basically since Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show back in January, which really seems like years ago now. I was waiting for the inspiration to properly express my appreciation for Kamasi Washington, not to mention Patrice Quinn and all the other musicians that are in that glorious Los Angeles constellation.
I got tired of waiting. So, just… enjoy these. They’re amazing.
First, a lovely cover that I first heard on Kamasi’s 2018 EP The Choice. This live rendition is definitely worth the time.
Second, my favorite of his. This is one of those live recordings that make me wish I’d been in the room then. If you’re looking at the folks playing with him and asking yourself: “is that…?” then you’re probably right.
Our minds, our bodies, our feelings
They change, they alter, they leave us
Somehow, no matter what happens
I’m here
The time, the season, the weather
The song, the music, the rhythm
It seems no matter what happens
I’m here
Daylight seems bright
Because of night
It’s shade we need
So we can see
Our love, our beauty, our genius
Our work, our triumph, our glory
Won’t worry what happened before me
I’m here
I still have a lot of post ideas about what music has gotten me through the past few months. Here are some of those.
(General theme seems to be: my exposure to music as a child was at least partially “whitewashed” and I’ve been making up for lost time ever since.)
My first true taste of Donny Hathaway’s “Someday We’ll All Be Free” was from a FACT mix by Laraaji (an artist I first heard of through his Ambient #3 album via Brian Eno, and so on down the rabbit hole) and it’s… transcendent. Search for it and give it a listen. Hathaway’s voice is just fantastic and the wash of Rhodes arpeggios at the beginning locks you in.
This is a cover - single take, no rehearsal - by Corinne Bailey Rae and Jon Batiste. It’s a magic spell.
I heard a lot of Luther Vandross as a kid but he was mostly relegated to easy listening/the dentist office. I mean… “Here and Now” is a great ballad, and his collaboration with Mariah Carey on “Endless Love” was just everywhere in the early 90s, but… why did it take until I was an adult to hear this? (“Never Too Much”).
Now: Al Jarreau. “We’re In This Love Together” was a dentist-office staple growing up (and that song deserves so much more than whiny drills for accompaniment). It was much later that I was introduced to his other work (the gorgeous “touch the face of God” bridge on “Mornin’”, etc). This live performance of “Trouble In Paradise” from 1983 is a time capsule that deserves more eyes and ears:
Locally the current wisdom is to wait a few more weeks before planting anything, as we’re still expecting at least one more (mild) freeze. All the same, it’s a good time to start planning what I’d like to plant both physically and mentally.
On the mental side, it’s all about planting seeds of perspective, understanding, and above all hope.
Here are some links for that, and to remind myself: keep your eye on the ball.
“No, there is no terrible thing coming for you in some distant future, but know that a terrible thing is happening to you now. You are being asked to kill off a part of you that would otherwise scream in opposition to injustice. You are being asked to dismantle the machinery of a functioning conscience. (…) Forget pity, forget even the dead if you must, but at least fight against the theft of your soul.”
bookshop link
“Hello, currently I am the leader of my local boy scout troop and we want to focus on citizenship and community and the first thing that came to my mind was solarpunk. What are some cheap activities or things to discuss that relate to community that I could run at our next meeting?”
“…not all traumatic circumstances allow us to act with agency. Sometimes, harm happens to us, and taking control of our bodies or actions simply isn’t possible. But in other cases, it only feels that way.
The more often we have experienced true helplessness, the more likely we are to feel powerless in situations where action is possible. And the more we freeze or flail in response to threats, the more deeply ingrained those responses become.”
“And yet, as Le Guin reminds us, uncertainty is also the only thing that makes life possible. Without it, we would move like automatons through predetermined paths, unspirited, unaware, unliving.”
I have a few blog ideas in the queue about art (mainly music, who is surprised?) that has been sustaining me lately. Those take a lot more effort than a links post, though, so it may be just a bit longer before you see them. Until then, thanks for reading.
Several years ago, spurred on by a friend’s posting of the LiveJournal-spawned1 “50 Books Challenge”, I started keeping track of my own reading habits for the year. While she (and others) still post their yearly lists on social media, I figured the best place for my list would be here. So… enjoy?
Red Team Blues - Cory Doctorow
Be Useful - Arnold Schwarzenegger
Radicalized - Cory Doctorow
The Soul of America - Jon Meacham
The Lost Cause - Cory Doctorow
Fuzzy Nation - John Scalzi
Hands of the Morri - Heather K. O’Malley
The World We Make - N. K. Jemisin
Rise of the Gomeral - Jeff Pages
Prince: The Man And His Music - Matt Thorne
Chokepoint Capitalism - Rebecca S. Gilpin and Cory Doctorow
The Bezzle - Cory Doctorow
How Infrastructure Works - Deb Chachra
Termination Shock - Neal Stephenson [audiobook]
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. - Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland [audiobook]
Starter Villain - John Scalzi
The Death of Stalin - Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin
The Fund - Rob Copeland
Getting Things Done (Tenth Anniversary Edition) - David Allen
You can look at the date for this entry and see what the current events are. These links may only be tangential to the impending new-old administration, but I still thought they were worth posting.
This was written in the aftermath of the CrowdStrike bug this past summer. The lessons learned are relevant in so many areas, and the article name-checks Deb Chachra and her book How Infrastructure Works, an amazing read.
I may not be a software engineer, but my job title these days is 100% glue, so this resonated with me. It’s a good article for anyone who feels like the above-and-beyond bits are creeping into their actual work, especially those of you who are a different gender from me.
Yes, I’m linking to the NSA’s website. Grace Hopper was a glorious force of nature and a role model for so many. This lecture from 1982, that was finally declassified earlier this year, is a must-watch for anyone that’s been paying attention to the tech world. She predicted some of the missteps we’ve made, but much of her advice can still be applied. Best time to plant a tree and all that.
An exhaustive list of resources for learning about all kinds of stuff. It’s definitely a site to bookmark. Let’s keep our minds sharp and diversify our skills.