Of the Week | 9.6.24

Childish Gambino, reconsidering the Rule of Life, and thinking about thinking

Childish Gambino

Another beautiful false fall Friday!

This week //

I spent Labor Day weekend sleeping and feel 10,000% better for it. Sometimes you need three days of naps, early bedtimes, and late wake-ups to feel normal again (fingers crossed for not getting sick again anytime soon!).

Enjoying + link love //

The timeliness of this piece in Plough about enjoying the moment versus capturing everything digitally was particularly illuminated at the Childish Gambino show last Friday night. I stood next to a teenager who excitedly told me it was his first ever concert then took a video of every single song and watched most of the show through his phone screen. (Obviously I also took a few photos, attached to the top of this post — I, too, could use this reminder.)

Mere Orthodoxy’s critique of the Rule of the Life phenomenon provides some counterpoints to arguments for the popular tool. I don’t use it, but I always thought of it as a way to focus on what’s most important and hadn’t considered how it could turn into a spiritualized “bespoke lifestyle.”

I mentioned in my August recap that I watched 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her as my first Godard film and wasn’t particularly impressed by it. But I’m also a complete film amateur and knew I was likely missing something. Roger Ebert’s review and Amy Taubin’s article for the Criterion Collection help shed some light on the context of the movie and this 10 minute video explains Godard’s impact.

I nodded my head and laughed along to Joseph Epstein’s thoughts on thinking in the London Review of Books. I also cannot sit still and think for long periods of time and fall prey to the notion that I’ll work things out on a long drive (but am instead hit with insight when it’s least actionable).

In news that’s been all over my homepage — Emily Wilson has a substack now and published her first post on translating the beginning of The Odyssey. Her translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey have been patiently sitting on my bookcase for a couple months now (spring 2025… typing this to make me do it!).

Currently //

Reading: Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney, The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, Jumpnauts by Hao Jingfang, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Watching: 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her, The Lighthouse, Legion (season 1), Slow Horses (season 4), Only Murders in the Building (season 4)

Listening: Big Room by Ulla Straus (sounds like the music played in modern art museums)

Misc: September Coffee Company’s Jimmy Gomez - Colombia Geisha Washed

Looking ahead //

A few fun things: a showing of Tarkovsky’s Stalker at my local theater, a family pizza night, and a baseball game with my community group.