This past month, I spent a lot of time thinking about writing and distribution. Lawrence Yeo's piece, Economics of Writing, served as a kind of call-to-arms to increase my efforts in distribution and publicly sharing my work. Jake over at Polymathematics shared his essay Trying in Public, introducing me to the idea of The Gap, and further expounding on the value of putting what you make out into the world.
Taking a step back to how to synthesize good work, I enjoyed the essay research as a leisure activity, which describes the quality and essence of research and its relevance outside of institutional or scholarly contexts. Diving further into how to uncover useful "research", I came upon Exa.ai search, an AI powered search engine that, at least so far, seems to better capture the spirit of my search queries. It's been especially useful at finding small blogs and personal websites, where people are grappling with the same questions and ideas I am also working through.
As I continue mull over how to build a space for non-algorithmic recommendations, I was inspired by Taking an Internet Walk, a wide-ranging essay on various personal and collective internet projects that are bringing the human spirit back to the internet.
Speaking of recommendations, my friend Matt turned me on to the album Sacrificial Code by Kali Malone, a slow and methodical collection of droning organ pieces, that was a great segue from my last couple months spent with Bach's The Art of the Fugue.
Scientist and composer Ulkar shares a lovely collection of recommended music, in a largely classical vein. My personal listening has included repeated plays of Perpetual, by one of my most listened to artists, Ryuichi Sakamoto, as well as a jazz-adjacent, richly textural album Kaikoura from Girls in Airports.
If you've spent anytime playing music live, you know the inherent joy that comes with being fully dialed in to what you're playing. This live jam with Fred again.. & Anderson .Paak really captured that spirit.
And finally to highlight a book from this last month, Shantaram. At 900 pages, it's a significant investment of time. But as with any giant piece of literature, the extended length gives you time to deeply immerse yourself in the work, in this case, the chaotic and beautiful world of Bombay. This book may be the best testament for Hemingway's "in order to write about life first you must live it". The author's back cover bio reads "Gregory David Roberts was sentenced to nineteen years in prison for a series of armed robberies, he escaped and spent ten of his fugitive years in Bombay - where he established a free medical clinic for slum-dwellers, and worked as a counterfeiter, smuggler, gunrunner, and street soldier for a branch of the Bombay Mafia". It was compelling throughout.