March
gremlin gut bacteria, Joyce special edition, and Tokyo Vice
something I have been thinking about
I have been working on this post on an off for the past few weeks- I thought I would just send it off without the miniature essay at the beginning because it is unfinished and finishing it right now is not going to happen. I did a small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) test a few weeks ago and did not do so well, so now I am on two types of antibiotics which are making me feel awful. I did get to use this really cool device called a FoodMarble - last time I did this test I had to blow into a bunch of bags and Fedex them. I am also doing a strict no sugar diet, which is the biggest bummer of all.
I have finished This Must be the Place - highly recommend. I am currently reading Smoke and Ashes: Opium's Hidden Histories by Amitav Ghosh. It is really good and could be a companion read to The Anarchy and a prequel to Empire of Pain.
something short to read/watch/listen to
I recently came across this great article How Managers Can Support Employees with Chronic Illnesses in the Harvard Business Review. I think it is probably useful for any employment situation with someone with any kind of disability.
The Ezra Klein Show interview with NPR’s Rhiana Cohen on her new book, The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center - about the importance of friendships.
The Wellcome Collection is a museum in London that explores “health and human experience.” The museum contains historical and contemporary experiences, art, science around health and well-being from all over the world.
Back in October, the stand up comic Maria Bamford was interviewed by Anna Sale for City Arts & Lecture about her book, Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult. It is hilarious- I was laughing out loud throughout the entire interview. I find her compulsion to overshare very relatable along with her struggles around advocating for yourself while having to “inconvenience” others due to your disability. I also greatly appreciate her ability to laugh her way through intense mental health crises.
Tokyo Vice is the show that I have been bingeing and it is very good. It is based on the book by the journalist Jake Adelstein about Japanese law enforcement and the criminal underbelly of Japan.
I have also been listening to Jake Adelstein’s podcast, The Evaporated about individuals and families who just vanish in Japan and the organizations that help them do it. It is very well done.
something from an archive
The House of European History in Brussels is a history museum that is centered around modern European history, mostly post-1945, but they do have this fantastic edition of Jame’s Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ with art by Matisse. The edition was created in honor of the end of the American ban on the book in 1931, it is signed by both James and Matisse and is 1 of 500 copies.
This volume, published in New York by the Limited Editions Club, is covered in the original publisher’s brown cloth, gilt-decorated on front cover and spine, complete with slipcase. The book’s cover is decorated with a globe from which the four cardinal points project. Around the globe are the Roman numerals 1-12, while inside the globe is an embossed gilt relief of human figures by Matisse. Inside the book are 6 etchings and 20 reproductions of preliminary drawings by Matisse (HOEH).
some visual enrichment
