Bringing back, for now, my own version of a quieter, simpler Instagram on /moments
Microblog
A new Mastodon album, Marrow Deep, will be released on August 28th, 2026 🥹
It certainly will have a different taste, without Brent’s voice and guitar. But a new Mastodon album is something I’m always eager to listen to!
Ouch, Dave, I love your music, but your spot might be at stake this year!
Est-ce que nous voyons la cent millième partie de ce qui existe ? Tenez, voici le vent qui est la plus grande force de la nature, qui renverse les hommes, abat les édifices, déracine les arbres, soulève la mer en montagnes d’eau, détruit les falaises et jette aux brisants les grands navires, le vent qui tue, qui siffle, qui gémit, qui mugit, l’avez-vous vu et pouvez-vous le voir : il existe pourtant !
La solitude est dangereuse pour les intelligences qui travaillent. Il nous faut autour de nous, des hommes qui pensent et qui parlent. Quand nous sommes seuls longtemps, nous peuplons le vide de fantômes.
— Guy de Maupassant, Le Horla
Yesterday, I finished reading Things Become Other Things. I really liked how Craig blends his Kii Peninsula travel journey (which I thought was captivating) and his youth memories. I perceived real finesse and sincerity throughout. I enjoyed picturing his encounters with the farmers, fishermen and kissa owners as I was reading. As always, there’s a fine writing style (sometimes a bit sophisticated for a non-native English reader), a subtle touch of humor here and there, and a viewpoint on Japan I find delightful.
Niksen
Another lovely word.
渋い
Pronounced shibui. What a lovely word.
Not everything needs to have a purpose.
Two days ago, I finally started to read Things Become Other Things, by Craig Mod, whose work, writings and wanderings I’ve been following for many years now. I also own the Fine Art edition, but the Random House one is easier to carry around and has extra content, so I chose to read this edition – which is a very well made book, too!
Craig has been a very inspiring guy to me. I think I could write an entire blog post about that kind of strange “one-way relationship” (?) we can live through the web. I mean, he doesn’t know me at all, yet I sometimes feel like I “know him” better than some people I actually happen to meet regularly IRL. Doesn’t that sound weird, even… creepy? Anyway, this is the kind of stuff the internet made possible: following someone’s inspiring work and words for so long that you end up feeling like you “know” them, even though you don’t.
So far, I’m about 100 pages in the book and it’s greatly captivating (does that expression even exist?) and refreshing. I can finally better understand things he occasionally refers to in his newsletters and essays (one example among others: “The Book of John”).
My top 5 most played artists this week (Jul 3-9) according to LastFM: Brooklyn Funk Essentials (27), Michael Jackson (17), Sonic Youth (16), The Clash (12) and 平澤創 (11).
If I had to pick a 6th album for this selection, it would probably have been Crack the Skye, by Mastodon. What a timeless masterpiece.
