Murmurations and living lights: Learning Log, Dec 2017

As I compile this month’s learning log, I’ve got the new(ish) Fleet Foxes album going on vinyl, while the trees rustle in the wind outside. It’s both a bit twee and a lovely synchronicity.

More details of the blanket on Instagram

I finally finished the blanket I was knitting as a wedding present to my sister and her new husband! The tassels were a fun little finishing touch, I want to make 100 tassels now…this was my second knitting project (#2.5 if you count a partially-finished scarf), I think I’ll go for a smaller project next time around. 😅

• Reading "Art and Fear" and thinking about art-making got me in the mood to observe process. ALL episodes of Art:21 are happily available free to watch online.
• I find it fascinating that Link in Profile is a business that exists simply because of one decision on a massive social media site, i.e. no linked URLs in Instagram posts.
• Discovering that even a half hour’s difference in sleep time has a huge effect on how well I’ll wake up and deal with the nonsense of the day.
• The Xmas decorations from the original Home Alone movie were gifted to the Chicago O’Hare airport, and are hung in the airport each year. (I learned this while half-asleep waiting for my flight to board)
• In Danish, candles are called levende lys, or “living lights” (Source)
• This month in extremely specific internet searches: “when does the jasmine bloom in New Orleans”

Nice bits of internet

• Starlings flying in a murmuration. As people mentioned in the comments, it sounds like the sea.
• Pixel art by Tumblr accounts 1041uuu and merrigo
• Calciyummy, a collection of Japanese milk boxes
• This video about Weeksville, Brooklyn, a fascinating piece of new-to-me history

Worthy reads

• Monotony Collapses Time; Novelty Unfolds It
• On the Design of Women’s Spaces
• The Food Writer Who Lost Her Sense of Smell
• Designing Against Misinformation. A bit late to take back the implications of Facebook on U.S. politics in the recent past, but glad to see they’re at least trying to solve these tough problems.
• My theory: Patreon doesn’t want to be a money services business
• “Your short-term actions must align with your long-term values.” TRUTH. (Source)
• More truth: “Everyone is too busy worrying about their own shortcomings to penalize you for yours.” (Source)

As a heavy year closes out, this passage from A Hymn for Optimism is really resonating with me:

I believe in peace on earth—even if it was never supposed to arrive all at once, but meant to cycle like a constellation, sometimes hidden, sometimes obscured, and sometimes appearing over the horizon just as you thought to look up.

Here’s to learning many more new things in 2018!