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Weekend Butler: It’s always something. Calm.com. The Stoics. A Russian poet. Dreamy music. And something completely different.
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Published: Mar 17, 2022
Category:
Weekend
It’s always something. With wisdom gained from the focus group — thanks again, all — I completed the novel. Michael Tonello was enthusiastic about my adaptation of Bringing Home the Birkin. And I was contacted about a collaboration I’d actually enjoy. In the same period, a painful personal reversal. And the threat of a lawsuit from a sad, reality-challenged old man.
Two friends suggested Calm. I signed on. The voices! Alexa talks faster. And maybe I’ve read too much, but the level of insight! And the marketing! All the usual suspects are here. It lacks only Anna Wintour telling me how to chill while managing a giant enterprise. I fled.
There are buds on the trees. We’re not sheltering in subways and begging for exit visas. Sill, it wouldn’t hurt to be more… level. Start with…
THE STOICS
Stoicism will not offer peace of mind. Its emphasis is on virtue, on right conduct, living in harmony with nature. But it helps to see the world as a play in which the characters chase after shadows, forgetting they are the leading actors of their own dramas. To read about Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius… and a Buddhist monk, click here.
MUSIC
In the middle of the night, when it’s so quiet that you can barely hear the breeze, what kind of music would you want? Something that honors the silence and blends with it. Something beautiful and melodic. Something slow and meditative. Eternal music, expressing feelings beyond words. Djivan Gasparyan’s music banishes the world — it’s like meditation. It calms and soothes, it takes me somewhere beautiful, sometimes it even stops my dervish mind and lulls me to sleep. Other times, it’s just…trippy. For more praise and videos, click here.
ANNA AKHMATOVA: RUSSIA’S MOST BELOVED FEMALE POET
“Poetry is respected only in this country,” said Russian poet Osip Mandelstam. “There’s no place where more people are killed for it.” As jokes go, that’s sour. In Russia, it’s also true. And by that standard, Anna Akhmatova was lucky. She wasn’t executed. She endured. For her remarkable story and her poetry, click here.
PEACE TRAIN
The classic song is now a children’s book. I find it healing to watch a short video of Cat Stevens talking about it and sharing the book. Watch here.
AND FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
The YouTube commenter nailed it: “Bartees Strange is off the Richter.” The song is “Boomer.” It’s fast and loud. Key stanza:
I, I know most people gonna say what they wanna say
Most people gonna smoke what they wanna smoke
And others, they don’t care about no other things
And sometimes, it’s kinda hard to tell exactly where I wanna go
I know it don’t show
I know it don’t show
THE WEEK AHEAD
Sometimes life really is a character test. Okay, bring it.
