A few things that caught my attention, made me think, or brought me joy this week.
Last week was a first.
I missed sending this out.
I had recently travelled to Hawaii for a conference, and between the time change, the meeting, and being really, really tired, it wasn’t until Monday morning that I realized I hadn’t sent something out. So, having been in Hawaii for a week (rough life—I know), I am now home and back to reality.
And getting back on schedule.
The Peril of Recollection
Headwinds.
We all face them. More often than we would like. But the truth is this: we recall our headwinds more than we recall our tailwinds.
And that matters. It isn’t unique to this situation either. It is a universal truth that people complain more than we compliment. The negative sticks with us.
But we can train ourselves out of that rut. It takes time, conscious effort, and persistence. But it matters.
The more we recognize the tailwinds in our lives, the more power and impact those tailwinds have. There is power in gratitude. It keeps us aware of the good in our lives. It encourages humility.
I believe it helps us be better people.
A Forty-Year Anomaly
I’ve been fortunate over the years to see some truly incredible bands live. Some I will never have the chance to see. Others were bucket-list concerts: incredible, possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to see amazing bands.
But one bucket-list band has eluded me.
Until now.
Meshuggah changed the way I think about music. Destroy, Erase, Improve broke so much ground in 95/96 when it was released (Europe vs. the US) that metal is still reckoning with the changes these Swedes wrought.
And they haven’t sat still. They continue to push, to do weird things, to make metal music that defies categorization.
I can’t wait to experience them live next April.
Put Your Brain in a Blender
That’s right. Some days, you just need to toss your gray matter in a blender, give it a few good spins, and then see what comes out.
Often, I find new insights and clarity in that sort of intellectual chaos.
And this past week I did that twice.
Over the years, I have inflicted my musical tastes on many people at work. And, grudgingly, the majority learn to tolerate it.
Not Frontierer.
And I can’t blame them. This is math metal that is pure, distilled, sonic chaos. It is often atonal, ignores general expectations of Western music, and just reaches into your cranium and has its way with you.
It is exhausting to listen to. I freaking love it.
The complexity and chaos of the music demand one pay attention. It isn’t music for passive listening: it doesn’t sound like music much of the time.
But there is structure and brilliance in the chaos, and their latest release, Ultraviolet Parasite, is the apotheosis of everything Frontierer has been doing for over a decade now. Not for the faint of heart.
But truly something else.
In many ways, the same goes for There is no Antimimetics Division by qntm. Born out of the SCP Foundation, if you know what that means, you already have some idea of what you are getting.
I don’t want to spoil this book. I read it in less than one day. I couldn’t stop. It is fascinating, terrifying, mind-bending, and unlike anything I have read in the last decade. Only The Gone Away World matches it in terms of just how unique I found this book.
Ideas have power. Sometimes too much power.
That is all you need to know. Read. This. Book.
Looking Ahead
November has arrived. I am not ready to start writing the actual book. I am working on the timeline, making sure I have everything in order.
I am planning my scenes, linking them to the beat they pertain to.
It is—by a huge margin—the most prepared I have ever been to write a book.
It is also exhausting and time-consuming. In the past, I had an idea, maybe some key aspects of the world, then I sat down and wrote.
By the seat of my pants.
And that may be why no one has ever read any of those books. Experiments, it would be better to call them.
I want this time to be different. And with everything that was going on in October, I didn’t have the time I had hoped. So, it is now Prepvember.
All to be ready for Writecember.
