The thing about note-taking systems is that the functional ones are highly idiosyncratic and developed over years of trial, error, tweaking, and wholesale changes.
We can do the work that we do because of how our own mind operates. And the systems we build to support this must work with our own mind.
No two minds work quite the same, especially when you get down to the nitty-gritty stuff, so an à la carte approach works well when trying-on the habits of others.
It's so interesting to me that you see your blog /newsletter/ internet writing as your notes. I've been thinking about how Substack's "Notes" has become this gigantic collective commonplace book. And I love it! Also, thank you, for including Noted!
I've said this many times, but there are tweets that turned into blog posts that turned into blog tags that turned into book chapters. It's really no different than what Thoreau or Emerson were doing — journal entries to lectures to books...
I haven’t left a comment here before but that Spotify playlist is amazing and I am absolutely incredulous that someone just dumped those out to get destroyed. What a loss, except not a loss because of the playlist. But I treasure the physical copies of my music collection and rarely give any of it up.
I love the idea of play being important. Have you read Playful Parenting ? I saw him give a talk at a La Leche League Conference in SF when I was nursing my baby and he has the best stories and advice on how to handle hard things by playing. Brilliant! And funny!
Your city is not alone when it comes to heat; here in Portland (the Austin of the PNW) temps are going to be above 100 degrees for several consecutive days. Portland has 5200 acres of forest right in the middle of the city and we are all on edge about the possibility of an epic fire event. On that note, I am going to shut myself inside and listen to your groovy melted playlist, for which I thank you.
That Pete Drake clip is just otherworldly and the talk box almost feels like an anachronism, like if they dropped a synth in there.
As you lay out, he was such an important musical hinge from his Nashville session work, Dylan, Harrison, and Frampton (it feels sort of forgotten now but Frampton Comes Alive was an absolute monster of a record at the time—there was really no escaping it.)
Otherworldly is exactly the word — it doesn't feel real somehow?!? Also shows a sort of country/electronica route that I'm not sure many have explored...
I'm sure there's someone who did it well but all I can think of is that awful Rednex "Cotton Eye Joe" and I'll never forget George Jones's Terminator cosplay in "High Tech Redneck"
Side note after some Wikipedia checking: "Forever" reached 25 in the Billboard Top 100 and sold a million copies—which is huge!—but somehow never entered the "oldies" canon. (I was thinking about this too when we were discussing The Animals "Inside-Looking Out" which went as high as 34 in the US.)
I live in Stockbridge, Ma, and this area has a lot of tourists. In the next town, Great Barrington, there is a boutique that sells all kinds of hand made and lovely items, and they have a selection of interesting bowls, plates and trays. They are made out of old albums. Whoever makes them got them perfectly round for the bowls, and the little hole in the center is closed off. You can still see the label clearly of the multitasking album. One I saw was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. The little grooves for the needle are visible and palpable, but that's an interesting afterlife for an album. And last I looked, they sold for about $65 !!!!!
Your Huizinga mention has me here to recommend Game Studies Study Buddies (http://rangedtouch.com/game-studies-study-buddies/), a podcast from Ranged Touch. They have an episode on Homo Ludens specifically (https://rangedtouch.com/2019/06/29/13-huizinga-homo-ludens/). It leans a little academical, but if you're interested in how Huizinga gets used in ~the academy~ and how that use might present problems for how ~the academy~ thinks about play, it's a good listen. The next episode, on CLR James's Beyond a Boundary, is also very good.
Love the Melted Playlist--talk about eclectic! Reminds me of my Dad’s collection of records. He listened to anything and everything. The deep cuts from some of these musicians really scratches itch I currently have for music that is new to me. Loved Martin Scorsese’s documentary concert movie The Last Waltz about The Band.
The thing about note-taking systems is that the functional ones are highly idiosyncratic and developed over years of trial, error, tweaking, and wholesale changes.
We can do the work that we do because of how our own mind operates. And the systems we build to support this must work with our own mind.
No two minds work quite the same, especially when you get down to the nitty-gritty stuff, so an à la carte approach works well when trying-on the habits of others.
Well put!
Totally! Show me a person's notes, and I can tell you a little bit about how their mind works.
Is that an offer? 😀
It's so interesting to me that you see your blog /newsletter/ internet writing as your notes. I've been thinking about how Substack's "Notes" has become this gigantic collective commonplace book. And I love it! Also, thank you, for including Noted!
I've said this many times, but there are tweets that turned into blog posts that turned into blog tags that turned into book chapters. It's really no different than what Thoreau or Emerson were doing — journal entries to lectures to books...
Totally!
I haven’t left a comment here before but that Spotify playlist is amazing and I am absolutely incredulous that someone just dumped those out to get destroyed. What a loss, except not a loss because of the playlist. But I treasure the physical copies of my music collection and rarely give any of it up.
Same here!
I love the idea of play being important. Have you read Playful Parenting ? I saw him give a talk at a La Leche League Conference in SF when I was nursing my baby and he has the best stories and advice on how to handle hard things by playing. Brilliant! And funny!
Your city is not alone when it comes to heat; here in Portland (the Austin of the PNW) temps are going to be above 100 degrees for several consecutive days. Portland has 5200 acres of forest right in the middle of the city and we are all on edge about the possibility of an epic fire event. On that note, I am going to shut myself inside and listen to your groovy melted playlist, for which I thank you.
That Pete Drake clip is just otherworldly and the talk box almost feels like an anachronism, like if they dropped a synth in there.
As you lay out, he was such an important musical hinge from his Nashville session work, Dylan, Harrison, and Frampton (it feels sort of forgotten now but Frampton Comes Alive was an absolute monster of a record at the time—there was really no escaping it.)
Otherworldly is exactly the word — it doesn't feel real somehow?!? Also shows a sort of country/electronica route that I'm not sure many have explored...
I'm sure there's someone who did it well but all I can think of is that awful Rednex "Cotton Eye Joe" and I'll never forget George Jones's Terminator cosplay in "High Tech Redneck"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72jHhkApfi0
Maybe Neil Young's TRANS a little?
Yeah, that crossed my mind too but I don’t remember much about the record outside of the “Mr. Soul” cover and how Geffen was pissed off about it :D
Side note after some Wikipedia checking: "Forever" reached 25 in the Billboard Top 100 and sold a million copies—which is huge!—but somehow never entered the "oldies" canon. (I was thinking about this too when we were discussing The Animals "Inside-Looking Out" which went as high as 34 in the US.)
Whoa!
Wow, that image of the records is quite startling! (Can you also fry eggs?)
That quote of Carl Jung is one of my favourites, and something to remind ourselves about every now and then I think.
I live in Stockbridge, Ma, and this area has a lot of tourists. In the next town, Great Barrington, there is a boutique that sells all kinds of hand made and lovely items, and they have a selection of interesting bowls, plates and trays. They are made out of old albums. Whoever makes them got them perfectly round for the bowls, and the little hole in the center is closed off. You can still see the label clearly of the multitasking album. One I saw was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. The little grooves for the needle are visible and palpable, but that's an interesting afterlife for an album. And last I looked, they sold for about $65 !!!!!
your link to Children's Games is broken (at least for me)
Try this one: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/children%E2%80%99s-games-pieter-bruegel-the-elder/CQEeZWQPOI2Yjg?avm=4
“Overcoming Dyslexia” by Sally Shaywitz is a great book.
Helped me better understand what my child is going through.
Your Huizinga mention has me here to recommend Game Studies Study Buddies (http://rangedtouch.com/game-studies-study-buddies/), a podcast from Ranged Touch. They have an episode on Homo Ludens specifically (https://rangedtouch.com/2019/06/29/13-huizinga-homo-ludens/). It leans a little academical, but if you're interested in how Huizinga gets used in ~the academy~ and how that use might present problems for how ~the academy~ thinks about play, it's a good listen. The next episode, on CLR James's Beyond a Boundary, is also very good.
It's a little weird to hear Peter Frampton referred to as a studio musician. He was the biggest thing around when I was a kid. :-)
I used it ironically — though the recording would’ve been when was when he was still with Humble Pie before he went solo
Love the Melted Playlist--talk about eclectic! Reminds me of my Dad’s collection of records. He listened to anything and everything. The deep cuts from some of these musicians really scratches itch I currently have for music that is new to me. Loved Martin Scorsese’s documentary concert movie The Last Waltz about The Band.