Some Favorites From The Year
This is a new tradition. In addition to my yearly Pride posts and infrequent posts on other topics, I have decided to start my own reflective entry on some of my favorite things from the last year. I’ve come to this decision particularly because of Austin Kleon and his amazing Substack. This series will include selections on stationary, music, readings, possibly travel, and anything else I decide is worth sharing.
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Books
I managed to read a total of 51 books this year, exceeding my unofficial goal of completing 45. The books ranged in genres, including, political thinking , sociology, memoirs, fiction, classics, poetry, and much more. A majority were read hard copy, although about 1/3, or 17 novels, were completed through audio. I do not discriminate, knowledge is knowledge is knowledge— although I do appreciate the tangibility of paper and the ease of completing annotations.
Nonfiction/Politics: Material World by Ed Conway, and Let my People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard were both great reads on economy, politics, and globalization. Conspiracy: Why Rational People Believe the Irrational by Michael Shermer, Darkwater: Voices From Within the Veil by W.E.B. Du Bois, and The Vocation Lectures by Max Weber were each very informative on sociology and politics. While Du Bois and Weber are more dated, their critiques still feel very applicable. Hannah Arendt’s essay on freedom entitled ‘What is Freedom’ and Jacques Ranciere’s ‘10 Theses on Politics” were both valuable reads on politics and philosophy as well. I also absolutely adored Pultizer Prize winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen’s, Nothing Ever Dies on the industry of memory, war, and ethical remembering regarding Vietnam. Susan Sontag’s chapter “In Plato’s Cave” was a fascinating analysis of the implications of photography and felt particularly applicable for my upcoming film. I ended up writing a paper heavily influenced by this excerpt too. Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal was also very impactful and got me thinking about my aging mother sitting next to me on a plane flight to Panama.
Fiction/Memoir/Poetry: I read a lot of fiction work by Asian authors this past year but the ones that stand out are, Catfish and Mandala: A Two Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (A true classic), Stay True by Hua Hsu, The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston, and A Tale for the Time Being by Smith College Alum, Ruth Ozeki. I always have loved Kate DiCamilo’s books and re-listening to The Tale of Despereaux early this year just restrengthened my appreciation for her work. The Sand Child by Tahar Ben Jalloun, despite its inconclusiveness and sometimes unnerving depictions, was a surprise hit for me. The Lowlands by Jhumpa Lahiri was also surprisingly engaging. I don’t usually read YA but Looking for Alaska was amazing, which I suppose makes sense since it’s written by the incredible John Green. Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead was as good as people say it is too— a real rarity. In terms of poetry and memoirs, Kathrine Schultz’ Lost and Found was a truly beautiful piece of writing and Fransisco Cantu’s A Line Becomes A River was not far behind in terms of raw emotional power. Caitlyn Doughty’s morbid and slightly crass charm came across well in her memoir Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons From the Crematory. I have followed her work loosely for many years now and also loved her her other novel From Here to Eternity. Carvell Wallace’s Another Word For Love was a memoir that I thought a lot about, but I can’t decide if I liked. Finally, Andrea Gibson’s ‘You Better Be Lightning’ is the kind of chapbook that should live on your shelf and John Murillo’s ‘Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry’ has a similar effect but seeing him perform live is what really sold his poems to me.
Media
I seem to listen to the same music, even with the intention of checking out new artists every year. That’s ok I suppose, at least my taste is good (in my opinion).
Music: In terms of newer releases: Joy Oladokun’s Observations From a Crowded Room; Shawn Mendes’ self titled album, Shawn, particularly his live Clubhouse Sessions on Youtube. Chance Peña’s “Is What it Is” and Michael Mercagi’s EP, American Romance. The Good Neighbour’s “Home”; Bon Iver’s Sable; Hozier’s “Abstract (Psychopomp)”; Gregory Alan Isakov’s Appaloosa Bones. Maddie Zahm’s Now That I’ve Been Honest. Many of the songs on Fletcher’s In Search of the Antidote, and frankly some of her older stuff too. Some older music includes: Maggie Roger’s Heard In a Past Life, especially “Fallingwater”; “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s always hits just right; Noah Kahan still holds a special place in my heart with “Carlo’s Song” taking on new meaning since my childhood friend, Bailey, died; “Forever” is also often played for some free serotonin; “Moves” by Suki Waterhouse tickles my brain; Maneskin gets the blood pumping; The Halluci Nation and Nahko (Yes I am aware of his problematic behavior), bring me back to the land; José Gonzalez’s “Step Out” and “Crosses”; Hazlett’s “Blame the Moon”; Eddie Vedder’s “Rise”; and Noah Kahan’s “Maine” circulate on the same wistful and longing playlists; “Maine” by hey, nothing also produces a similar feeling; James Taylor’s “Shower the People” and “Copperline” are incredible. “Welcome Home Son” by Radical Face; Jame’s Blake’s cover of Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed”; The Lumineer’s “Stubborn Love” and that whole album is so, so good; “Coal” by Dylan Gossett; “Feathered Indians” by Tyler Childers; “Sun to Me” by Zach Bryan; “Never Love an Anchor” by the Crane Wives. Like literally anything by Olivia Dean, Hozier, berlioz or Nora Brown; Lord Huron’s Strange Trails; And, for a change of pace, “Roll over Beethoven” by Chuck Berry, “People” by Libianca, and “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke.
Art/People: Younes Rahmoun, especially his ghorfa’s and exhibit at Smith College’s Art Museum; William Kentridge’s charcoal animations— I actually wrote an object analysis on one of his pieces What Will Come (Has Already Come); Andrea Gibson and Austin Kleon of course; Blake Kasemeier and his instagram page blakeoftoday; similarly, liam.oce is doing some pretty cool and meaningful stuff; Tracy Schlapp and her letterpressing; My amazing film team with ByKids: Melanie Grisanti, Angalis Field, and Cat Papadimitriou— be sure to check out their work too.
Stationary/Writing & Drawing Materials
This is probably my favorite section. Stationary and Pens are one of the few things in my life I can confidently say I’m addicted to. But hey, I think that’s justified considering I managed to get to the bottom of 3-4 cartridges of ink for my primary pen since starting college— a real accomplishment in my opinion.
Most of the stationary/writing materials have stayed the same this past year, although I’ve made the major switch from the Black Pilot V5 precise RT to the Blue Pilot G2 0.38 as my primary writing pen. They are similar and yet very, very different. The G2 is a pretty popular pen but I hate it with a wider nib. A 0.38 though… magic. It is perfect for all things annotating and writing, and has surprisingly managed to hold up in my drawings too. It can be a big smudger though so something that one has to be careful of. The V5 and G2 both have cartridges available, making the pens at least slightly more sustainable, but one downside is that the ink from both pens will bleed and spread should it touch water. This seems a compromise often necessary for quality of writing experience, and that is why it is always good to carry a fine or extra fine black Sharpie with you as well. For pencils, I mostly use a Rotring 600 mechanical pencil 0.5. They feel expensive and write expensive because they are expensive, but having some around is always nice for a creative who also does visual media. I also occasionally use Blackwings which write smoothly but seem to dull quickly (I think I have a version with too soft lead). I also like the Staedtler lead holder and fineliners for drawing and shading.
For journals, Leuchtturm1917 seems to have a chokehold on me. The German’s and their affinity for thinking on paper and with the hand has got me hooked. I use their A5 Hardcover dotted notebooks as my primary journals, and, since starting college, for my reading notes too. I also have a soft cover A4 slim journal that I use for art notes and take to museums and such but I don’t think they make the softcover version of the A4 anymore, only the hardcover. I value a level of simplicity and uniformity that the German’s seem to reflect, so the Leuchtturm works for me. It nicely balances being robust without being unwieldy. They’re 250 pages, lays mostly flat, come with a sticker sheet of labels, and manage to hold up as I shuttle them to and fro, in and out of overstuffed backpacks, jostled at the bottom of suitcases, etc. They hold ink well too, which is one of the major reasons I don’t use the hugely popular Moleskines. They’ve always felt quite cheap to me and have never held up very well. I’ve got some Strathmore sketchbooks and paper that I use for drawing too, but frankly nearly all of it is done in a Leuchtturm now. I’ve also have two Zequenz notebooks (the ones Austin Kleon uses) on my shelf but they are both mostly blank and I find them significantly less enjoyable to work with. I do keep one on my desk to occasionally jot down any bigger philosophical concepts I have since I’m of the firm belief that if you have a journal, you should probably use it. I’m not positive what I’ll do with the other one yet.
Otherwise, my practice has stayed mostly the same. I purchased a bunch of clear sticky notes for book annotating only to be severely disappointed when i realized they can’t hold ink. Now all my college texts are covered in sprawling and messy blue ink from my beloved G2— Alas. Faber Castell’s compressed charcoal was my go to for drawing this past semester, and, despite its leaking, the MUJI fountain pen is still probably my favorite fountain pen. I used Golden OPEN Slow-Drying Acrylics in After Eve’s Betrayal, and they were vibrant and fun to work with too. One of my high school teachers got me some colored water based fineliners too, which I have surprisingly enjoyed experimenting with, but I’m not positive what brand they are— I think they’re from Target though.
