Timothy Heyman on B. Traven in “Literal,” Christina Thompson’s “Sea Peoples,” Cal Newport’s “Deep Questions” Podcast & More Cyberflanerie

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Newsletter & Cyberflanerie (Way-Out Dreaming & Tidying Edition)

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Happy New Year! Newsletter & Cyberflanerie

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Cyberflanerie: Bill Cunningham, Brattlecast, Rudy Rucker, Sturmfrei & More

By C.M. Mayo www.cmmayo.com

As of 2019, when there is one, the fifth Monday of the month rounds up some cyberflanerie. >>CONTUNUE READING THIS POST AT WWW.MADAM-MAYO.COM

Cyberflanerie: B. Jay Antrim's 1848 Journey Across Mexico; Paxman on Jenkins; Kunstler Talks to Strand about Electric Light; Do the Math; Wolfe on McLuhan

This finds me catching up on email, mainly, doggedly, heartfully, and working on the Far West Texas book and related podcasts which I hope to announce shortly. Meanwhile, for you my dear adventurously curious readers, herewith some fascinating items that have popped up on my screen in recent weeks:


Over at Mexico News Daily John Pint covers Steve Wilson's discovery of a most extraordinary collection of watercolors and memoir by B. Jay Antrim about his 1848 journey to California by way of Mexico. (Why not by way of Texas? Back then a chunk of that was Comancheria.)

Historian Andrew Paxman talks about his biography of William O. Jenkins, Jenkins of Mexico: How a Southern Farm Boy Became a Mexican Magnate, at PEN San Miguel. A splendid biography, and a must-read for anyone with any interest in Mexico.




Abidingly fascinating: James Howard Kunstler talks to Clark Strande about electric light.

Ye olde wet towel (wet as in wet cement) Chris Martenson interviews Tom Murphy about Doing the Math (and whether you're freaked out or you totally don't care, here's Murphy's intriguing theory about your reaction).

Tom Wolfe on "Why is Marshall McLuhan Important?"
Long, but it's ceaselessly interesting.

> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

The Typewriter Revolution by Richard Polt, Plus Cyberflanerie on Technology

Cyberflanerie: El Paso's Secret Tunnels, etc.

What the Muse Sent Me About the Tenth Muse, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Cyberflanerie: Software Skills, Food, Summer, the Occult, Consciousness, Umständlich, Supplemental Energy

By C.M. Mayo www.cmmayo.com

David Black talks about the hierarchy of software skills.

The always surprising and knowledgable food historian Rachel Lauden on hamburger and milk.

Mexico Cooks! cooks beans. This is the best Mexican cooking blog, por lejos.
P.S. It doesn't look as nice 'n totalmente auténtico, but I say, go for the Instant Pot.

One of my very favorite bloggers, Pat Dubrava, on "The End of Summer."

Extra-extra crunchaliciously crunchy interview with scholar of the occult Robert Mathiesen.

Jeffrey Mishlove interviews Eban Alexander about consciousness.

Umständlich on the Easy German YouTube channel. They have a powerfully effective concept for learning German, and wow, it is the opposite of Umständlich. I mean, einfach. If you want to brush up on your German, check these out. I started learning Spanish years ago by watching telenovelas (and took classes, too). I wish I'd had something like Easy German videos instead: real people talking, together with a transcript (so I can see what they are actually saying) and the English translation (so I can understand it). I start and stop and replay and also use the speed adjustment. Ganz toll. It's driving my dogs crazy, though.

The German-Texan Heritage Society. I just surfed upon them in looking for the Goethe Institut exam venues in Texas. I was amused to find a blog post about Sitzfleisch. I recall a workshop of yore when novelist Clark Blaise said that Sitzfleisch was the main thing a writer needed.

Oil patch noodling: Gail Tverberg on how supplemental energy puts humans in charge and, an oldie but holycowie: Kunstler interviews Tad Patzek.

What I'm up to is catching up on email, finishing a paper about a cavalry officer in the Indian Wars in Texas, and a heap of reading for my in-progress book on Far West Texas. I'd like to think I'm at the end of that reading but dagnabbit people keep on writing excellent and important books! I'm almost finished with Peter Brannen's The Ends of the World and Steve Brusatte's The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs-- both excellent, so far, and both vital for understanding the deep history of Far West Texas, home of the Permian Basin and stomping grounds of T Rex.

> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

Top 12 Books Read 2017

Cymru & Comanche: Cyberflanerie

Notes on Wolfgang Schivelbusch's The Railway Journey

Cyberflanerie: Greek Music, Ground Flow, Bowie Calls the Internet a Creature, Moda en CDMX, Hablemos Escritoras (Mexican Women Writers)

Rediscovering Ancient Greek Music



30 Minute Practice Ground Flow




Jeremy Paxman interviews David Bowie
(I admit it's not the most fascinating video unless you're a big Bowie fan, and the shots of Paxman listening are kind of strange-- actually, there are a lot of strange things about this interview--however, it quite struck me what Bowie said about the Internet):



La moda en CDMX (a video by my godson):




And for aficionados of Mexican literature, writer and literary scholar Adriana Pacho Roldán is hosting an excellent podcast of interviews with Mexican women writers, Hablemos Escritoras. Listen in! Prepare to be charmed and surprised!

> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

Virginia Tufte's Syntax as Style

Book Trailers: Some Categories

Roundup by Robot

May They Ring Your Gong

This blog posts every Monday. I'm on vacation this Monday, so herewith, in case you missed them, a selection of posts of yore. May they ring your gong, and perhaps inspire some travels and further reading.

Cyberflanerie: Solitario Dome Edition

Junípero Serra in Mexico's Sierra Gorda

12 Tips for Summer Day Hiking in the Desert
(How to Stay Cool and Avoid, Blood, Actinic Keratosis and Killer Bees)

Reading Mexico: Recommendations for a Book Club of Extra-Curious & Adventurous English Language Readers

> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

Cyberflanerie: Mexico Cooks, Neil Postman, Marc Demarest, Second Law of Thermodynamics, Ted Patzek

The always delicious Mexico Cooks! blog on Bakeries and their Basque Origins in Mexico City

1995 TV Interview with Neil Postman on Cyberspace
Prophetic words about our Faustian bargain.

1997 Marc Demarest on Visceral Technologies
Yea, verily, more prophetic words.

Shakespeare and Thermodynamics: Dam the Second Law! The Human Importance of Activation Energies by Frank L. Lambert

Tad Patzek's Agro Fuels Lecture for Stanford, 2008
More Faustianbargainerie...



> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

Q & A with Shelley Armitage on Walking the Llano: A Texas Memoir of Place

Reading Mexico

The Typewriter Manifesto by Richard Polt, 

Plus Cyberflanerie on Technology

Cyberflanerie: Noteworthy Blogs of Late & More

Holding the Light: Pat Dubrava's luminous essay, Not Even the Trees.

Rose Mary Salum, Mexican poet, novelist, essayist and editor of Literal ponders #MeToo.

Mr. Money Mustache reveals his breakfast, among other things.

Low Tech Magazine:  Ditch the Batteries and History and Future of the Compressed Air Economy.

Granola Shotgun on Thousand Oaks. I was struck by the comment by host Johnny (in reply to Here in Van Nuys):

"I’ve come to the conclusion that fretting over aesthetics (like the abundant use of synthetic grass lawns and Lee Press-On faux facades) isn’t a productive use of my energies. Neither is kvetching about regulations or other people’s attitudes about… anything. Let it go.

"Focus on the underlying structural dynamics. Some places are well suited to change and will ride out future dynamics better than most. Others are destined to decline rapidly under the best of circumstances. Thousand Oaks will endure for quite some time because the people who live there have political authority and money to buffer themselves fro quite a lot. It’s a good place. It’s just not my place."

Here in Van Nuys on The Parking Police. This is a blog I've been following regularly. I am seeing some of these very same issues in northern California, where I have family, and as a novelist-sociologist (all novelists are sociologists) and ex-economist (yes, I used to be an economist) I find them fascinating. It's a grim portrait of place at times. But such is our societal and fiscal trajectory. And I want to get my mind around it.

Black Liszt: David Black talks about Innovation Stories in his new book.

Typewriter Revolution: I am honored that Richard Polt dedicates the poem "Vanilla" to Yours Truly. (I am back to typing on a typewriter again, now that I have another Hermes, an Hermes Baby, circa 1960s.) I got the dedication because I supplied the word as a prompt. Funny, I thought of "vanilla" as exotic and spicy-- I forgot, having lived in Mexico so many years, where vanilla is a sharply delicious flavor, and vanilla icecream packs some zing, its connotations of blah north of the border. (P.S. With his typewriter advocacy, Polt, a noted professor of philosophy and expert on Heidegger, is doing something far more interesting than it might appear at first glance.)

Cal Newport shares his morning routine with Business Insider. His blog is here.

The Archdruid has suggested that his readers try a secret experiment.

YEA, VERILY, MOOOOORE!

Podcasts:

David J. Silverman gives an interview to Ben Franklin's World podcast about Thundersticks. This is a brilliant, important book.


Magazines:

A signal of a cultural tide turning: Rebecca Solnit's essay in this month's issue of Harper's, Driven to Distraction.

Fodder for another blog post: I recently took out a batch of print magazine subscriptions, so as to spend less time on the iPad. So far so good-- and if not for my Harper's subscription, I would have missed Solnit's essay. But I treasure the blogosphere. As a writer I love the freedom and speed; as a reader, I relish the adventures with unique, unfiltered voices and their sometimes fabulous, sometimes squirrely, othertimes, whoa, too-way-out-for-prime-time ideas and information.

>>Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

Spotlight on Mexican Fiction

So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport

Consider the Typewriter (Am I Kidding? No, I Am Not Kidding.)

Cyberflanerie: El Paso's Secret Tunnels, Gondek's Biography Podcast, Patricia Dubrava on Ursula Le Guin, Susan Coll's Trailer & etc.

El Paso's Secret Tunnels:

Chris Gondek's excellent Biography Podcast is now available on YouTube:



A most extraordinary trailer, for Susan Coll's comic novel The Stager:



Alright then! For Politico, Nicolas Carr explains Twitter

From one of my favorite blogs: Pat Dubrava celebrates Ursula Le Guin

Trailer for T.R. Hummer's After the Afterlife (Nietzsche will be mentioned.)

For my fellow Mexican history nerds: Maximilian's Memoirs (link goes to a post on my Second Empire / French Intervention blog)

Reb Livingston reads "That's Not Butter" (Reb! I miss your blog "Homeschooled by a Crackling Jackal.")

Barbara Allen Hosts Palo Alto's First Poetry Post

Click here, then scroll waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down, for the talk on "Robinson and Una Jeffers: A Life in Letters"

Ye oldie but yumsie by Dmitry Orlov, The Despotism of the Image

GIF: H?

> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

REVIEW: James McWilliams' The Pecan: A History of America's Favorite Nut 

A Visit to El Paso's "The Equestrian"

"The Typewriter Manifesto" by Richard Polt, Plus Cyberflanerie on Technology

The Typewriter Manifesto by Richard Polt, Plus Cyberflanerie on Technology

 [Viva, Richard Polt! 
He says that if you send him your address he will send you this postcard.]

One of the themes in my work-in-progress on Far West Texas is the nature and pervasive influence of technology, especially digital technology-- but also other kinds of industrial and military technology.

So what's with the typewriter poem? The poem pictured above, "The Typewriter Manifesto," is by philosophy professor Richard Polt. I'm a big fan of his blog and his book, The Typewriter Revolution.

My 56 year-old Hermes 3000
works fine, no need to update the OX!
(Yes, ribbons are easy to score
on eBay)

Nope, I am not a Luddite, but yep, I use a typewriter on occasion. When needed, I also use a Zassenhaus kitchen timer, a 30 year-old finance-nerd calculator (I used to be a finance nerd), and a battery-operated alarm clock. Yes, I know there are apps for all of those, and yes, I actually have downloaded and previously used all those apps on my smartphone but, e-NUFFF with the digital! Too many hours of my day are already in thrall to my laptop, writing on WORD or blogging, emailing, podcasting, maintaining my website, surfing (other blogs, mainly, and newspapers, plus occasional podcasts and videos), and once in a purple moon, making videos. Most days my iPhone stays in its drawer, battery dead, and I like it that way.

[>>CONTINUE READING THIS POST AT WWW.MADAM-MAYO.COM]

But kiddos, this not a writer-from-an-older-generation-resisting-innovation thing. Back when I was avid to adopt new technology. I had a cell phone when they were the size and shape and weight of a brick. I started my website in 1999! I bought the first Kindle model, and the first iPad model. I was one of the first writers to make my own Kindle editions (check out my latest). I started podcasting in 2010. I even spent oodles more time than I should have figuring out the bells-and-whistles of iTunes' iBook Author app... and so on and so forth.

From Charles Melville Scammon's
"California Grays Among the Ice"
Whales! Magnificent outside!
Digestive juices inside!

In short, with technology, especially anything having to do with writing and publishing, I dove right into the deep end... and I have seen the whale. And it was not, is not, and will not be on my schedule to get swallowed whole.

(My schedule, by the way, is on my Filofax, a paper-based system, and paper-based for good reason.)

P.S. Ye olde "Thirty Deadly Effective Ways to Free Up Bits, Drips & Gimungously Vast Swaths of Time for Writing." I hereby remind myself to take my own advice.

CYBERFLANERIE ON TECHNOLOGY

Richard Polt's NYT Op-Ed "Anything But Human"

Mark Blitz explains Martin Heidegger on technology.

(The original pretzel-brain inducing essay by Heidegger, "The Question Concerning Technology," with its handful of profound points coccooned within copious noodathipious deustcher Philosophieprofessor flooflemoofle, is here.)

On the express elevator to the top of my To Read tower: Richard Polt's Heidegger: A Introduction

###

Recommended reading on technology:

E.M. Forster "The Machine Stops"

Kevin Kelly's What Technology Wants

Jason Lanier's You Are Not a Gadget

Dmitry Orlov's Shrinking the Technosphere

Ted Koppel's Lights Out

Matthew Crawford's The World Beyond Your Head


###

For those who can handle an esoteric discussion on technology without firecrackers going off in their wig, there is Dr. John C. Lilly:

S.J. Kerrigan on Lilly and the Solid State Entity
S.J. Kerrigan's documentary John C. Lilly and the Solid State Entity

And here is the Lilly interview with Jeffrey Mishlove, for "Thinking Allowed" (the one where Dr. Lilly wears his earrings and Davy Crockett hat). Um, you will not eat your popcorn during this one.

###

Delighted to have surfed upon Tadeuz Patzek's blog, LifeItself. Patzek is a professor of petroleum engineering, recently chair of the department at University Texas Austin. He is co-author with Joseph A. Tainter of Drilling Down. I read Drilling Down on Kindle this week, then bought the paperback to read it again.

Brief interview with Professor Patzek:

See also the Texas Observer interview with Professor Patzek.
And here is what Patzek has to say about agrofuels in a long and extra crunchy lecture.


###

Nearing the tippy top of the "To Read" pile:
Philip Mirowski's More Heat Than Light: Economics of Social Physics
Douglas Rushkoff's Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus


####

Nearing to the top of the "To Listen" list:
Douglas Rushkoff's Team Human Podcast

###

A FINTECH NOTE-OID ON NACTEDAs

As for financial technology, "A Letter to Jamie Dimon" by Adam Ludwin is best thing I have seen to date on cryptocurrencies.

Ludwin's second most interesting quote:

"Cryptocurrencies are a new asset class that enable decentralized applications."

In other words, "cryptocurrencies" are not currencies as we know them. "Crypto" is too sexy a word for what these actually are. So let's call these puppies NACTEDAs. Rhymes with "rutabagas."

Ludwin's most interesting quote? Buried deep in the middle of his explanation of the nature of NACTEDAs is this colorful explanation of how NACTEDAs are generated or "mined":

"Now we need an actual contest... On your mark, get set: find a random number generated by the network! The number is really, really hard to find So hard that the only way to find it is to use tons of processing power and burn through electricity. It's a computing version of what Veruca Salt made her dad and his poor factory workers do in Willy Wonka. A brute force search for a golden ticket (or in this case, a golden number)."

This is not a point Ludwin makes (he sails on, with utter nonchalance): It is just a question of time-- maybe a loooooooong time, albeit perchance a seemingly out-of-nowhere-pile-on-Harvey-Weinstein moment-- until people recognize the environmental and social justice implications of such extravagant electricity use for generating NACTEDAs.

Can you say, opportunity cost?

As it stands, most people don't or don't want to grok where the magic invisible elixir that always seems to be there at the flip of a switch actually comes from.... which is, uh, usually... and overwhelmingly... coal. And neither do they grok that this flow of power is not never-ending, but a utility that can be cut off. Ye olde winter storm can do it for a day or so. More ominously, the grid itself can fail for lack of maintenance, or any one of one a goodly number of events-- it need not necessarily be some cinematically apocalyptic cyberattack or epic solar flare. Can you say Puerto Rico. Can you say Mexico City after the earthquake. Can you say what happens when you don't pay your bill. Or if the electrical company makes a mistrake. Lalalalala.

In any event, I wouldn't recommend a camping vacation on some random mountaintop in West Virginia any time for... the rest of your life.

####

And herewith, hat tip to Root Simple, Lloyd Kahn demonstrates his low-tech dishwashing method. The duck part at the end is charmingly weird.

> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

Literary Travel Writing: Notes on Process and the Digital Revolution

Consider the Typewriter (Am I Kidding? No, I Am Not Kidding)

Cal Newport's DEEP WORK / Study Hacks Blog / On Quitting Social Media

Medieval Party Music, Plus Cyberflanerie: Clive James on Lewis Namier; Ilya Zorn's Typewriter, Bob Lefsetz, Rachel Laudan & Etc

More and extra-wicked-effective email ninjerie... I am whittling down my Outlook Express inbox to the Medieval Music Party Mix:

Because of multiple household and office moves this summer and fall I have gotten so woefully behind with my correspondence that you might wonder how I can proffer advice on managing email (one of the top posts in the 11-year history of this blog). Well, gentle reader, point number 9 of my 10-Point E-Mail Protocol is...

....drumroll....

....boomwackers and bongo drums... 

... enter stage left, monkey in turquoise silk suit, a-banging a garbage can lid... 

....descending from ceiling, forest of gamelan bells... 

... and another... 

...drumroll...

APOLOGIZE.

Works better than a charm! And when it doesn't, well, the world keeps turning, with everybody on it managing as best they can. Somebody wins the lottery, somebody wins the booby prize, and the sun will rise again tomorrow replete with infinite possibilities, except for the dead who have, bless them all, achieved inbox verily zero.



CYBERFLANERIE

Grow new brain cells whilst reading Clive James on Lewis Namier!

Over at my other blog, Maximilian and Carlota, for researchers of Mexico's Second Empire & French Intervention, a post on Konrad Ratz's Correspondencia inédita entre Maximiliano y Carlota.

Life in a Typewriter Shop: The Amazing Story of Ilya Zorn and her Gold Royal Typewriter. (Yes, I have been pulled into the surprisingly charming orbit of the Typosphere...)

Nigeria-Norway fish connection via food historian Rachel Laudan. (As Laudan says, it's nerdy, but I say, Total Yum if you like salted fish and Quintuple Wow Yum if you happen to be fascinated by food history and economic history.)

Bob Lefsetz on the Enimem video. This is important reading about an alligatoresque moment in the swamplands of US culture and politics-- and precisely why it is such a moment-- and it is especially important reading for those (and that would include myself) who would sooner buy a rabid raccoon than download an Eminem tune. Hey, that rhymes! Uh oh. Naughty Muse.

"Casual empiricism suggests"-- I spotted this marvelous pompadour of a phrase over at Marginal Revolution blog, quoting one Todd D. Kendall. "Little gems": Not just a kind of lettuce! As casual empiricism suggests.


P.S. 

I am truly honored that Joseph Hutchinson, Poet Laureate of Colorado, has reviewed my latest Kindle, "Dispatch from the Sister Republic or, Papelito Habla," a longform essay about the Mexican literary landscape written with todo mi corazón. Check it out.


> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

Cyberflanerie: Cymru and Comanche

What is Writing (Really)? And a New Video with Yours Truly 

Talking About Four Exceedingly Rare Books

Cyberflanerie: Carnyx Edition

Yummy Posts from Julys of Yore

U. Quetzalpugtl and W. Quetzalpugalotl
consider a possible yummy.

This week, with my writing assistants, I am Kondo-ing the office. Herewith a few of the yummier posts from Julys of yore:

The Harrowingly Romantic Adventure of U.S. Trade with Mexico in the Pre-Pre-Pre-NAFTA Era

(2016)

My Review of James McWilliams's The Pecan: A History of America's Native Nut

(2015)

Thirty Deadly-Effective Ways to Free Up Bits, Drips & Gimungously Vast Swaths of Time for Writing

(2014)

Jiddu Krishnamurti and The Lives of Alcyone

(2013)

Language Overlay: A Technique of Fiction

(2011)

> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

Five Video Poems to Watch

Dispatch from Palo Alto: A Joy in this Multivariate World:

Edward Tufte's "Presenting Data & Information"

Roundup by Robot

Recent and Current Reading: Cather, Bogard, Kunstler, Padilla, Abbey

The Professor's House
by Willa Cather
In one of the strangest, most elegant and powerful novels I have ever read, Cather combs apart the strands of the very DNA of North America.

The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light

by Paul Bogard

If you still want to vacation in Las Vegas after reading this...

Too Much Magic: Wishful Thinking, Technology, and the Fate of the Nation 

by James Howard Kunstler

For those who have not yet drunk the Kool-Aid of Geewhizdomerie. Kunstler, maestro of colorful metaphors and hilarious diction drops, is always a wicked pleasure to read. 

The Daring Flight of My Pen: Cultural Politics and Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá's Historia de la Nueva México, 1610
By Genaro M. Padilla
At once a brilliant work of scholarship and a powerful personal essay, The Daring Flight of My Pen is vital reading for anyone anywhere who would attempt to understand North American history. 

Resist Much, Obey Little: Remembering Edward Abbey

Edited By James R. Hepworth and Gregory McNamee

One cannot go far into reading about the American West without encountering Edward Abbey and, in particular, his iconic Desert Solitaire. This eclectic collection of essays and interviews is like an adventure in the fun house of Edward Abbey's mind.

For those of you who follow this blog: As you might guess from this reading list I am at work on the book about Far West Texas. Stay tuned for podcast #21; I really am going to post it soon. In the meantime, I welcome you to listen in to the other 20 podcasts here.

> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

Top 10 + Books Read in 2016

Book Review: Patrick Dearen's Bitter Waters: The Struggles of the Pecos River

Book Review: Pekka Hämäläinen's The Comanche Empire

Daniel Yergin's THE PRIZE, M. King Hubbert, Medieval Smokestacks & Etc. (Plus Cyberflanerie)

Finally I finished reading Daniel Yergin's brilliant and necessary The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power, a doorstopper of a tome which deservedly won the Pulitzer Prize back in 1992. I sincerely wish I had read it decades sooner. It rewired my thinking about World War II, among multitudinous other things. What prompted me to pick it up is that for the book I am writing about Far West Texas I needed a broader historical perspective for the oil industry in the Permian Basin. One oilman mentioned in The Prize whom I'll be writing about is pioneer geologist and philanthropist Wallace E. Pratt... More about him anon. 

Next on my reading list: Mason Inman's new book about M. King Hubbert, The Oracle of Oil: A Maverick Geologist's Quest for a Sustainable Future

> M. King Hubbert's 1989 obituary in the New York Times

> A lengthy and fascinating memorial to M. King Hubbert in The Geological Society of America (PDF).

Oil Extraction, Economic Growth, and Oil Price Dynamics

An academic article that represents a parting of the seas.

Low Tech Magazine on Medieval Smokestacks: Fossil Fuels in Pre-Industrial Times

An almost unknown history well worth knowing.

# # #

A few more fascinating items I've happened upon in recent surfaris:

Bob Dylan's Nobel Lecture
Strange and powerful, a highly recommended read. (But I still think I must have stepped into some parallel universe, this one where Donald Tump is President and Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize.... I am not comparing Dylan to Trump, however. And, apropos of that lecture, I will say that I'm a serious fan of Buddy Holly.) 

On Jeffrey Mishlove's "New Thinking Allowed": 
Psychedelic Experience with Stanley Krippner
I am not planning on seeking out any psychedelic experiences myself; current events seem plenty psychedelic to me. But I do find it fascinating to listen to other people's experiences and to learn some of the cultural history. For psychonauterie and psychedelia, the very articulate and matter-of-fact Professor Krippner is the elder guru. 

Who Says 19th Century Family Photo Albums are Boring?

Check out this post on the blog of Jeff Peachy, blogging book conservator extraordinaire.

Guaranteed Minimum What?

Another thoughtful post from Granola Shotgun. 

And finally, a couple of especially interesting pieces both in the New York Times:

The Hidden Radicalism of Southern Food by John T. Edge

Is there an ecological unconscious? by Daniel B. Smith

Cyberflanerie: Cymru & Comanche

Peyote and the Perfect You

Jeffrey Mishlove's Thinking Allowed

Interview with Yours Truly about Francisco I. Madero and

Spiritism in the Mexican Revolution

Cyberflanerie: Granola Shotgun on "The Springfield Strategy," Kunstler Interviews Orlov, Rachel Laudan on the Mexico-Islamic Connection, RALPH Mag & More

Granola Shotgun on "The Springfield Strategy"
A few months back I started following Granola Shotgun by "Johnny," a self-described "amateur architecture buff a with a passionate interest in how we all live and occupy the landscape."  So far his posts have been consistently informative and thought-provoking. This recent one on what Johnny terms "The Springfield Strategy" struck my gong on multiple levels: the examples of taking major life-enhancing opportunities others miss; pattern integrity versus pattern corruption / decay; and finally the views of Springfield, Massachusetts itself. (Believe it or not, Springfield makes a cameo in my book in-progress on Far West Texas. Back in ye olde day, Springfield, sprung from the Agawam Plantation on the Connecticut River, pioneer settlement of my just-missed-the-Mayflower ancestor, was the original bleeding edge of the Wild West.)

amazon

A fascinating podcast: James Howard Kunstler interviews Dmitry Orlov on his book, Shrinking the Technosphere.

Orlov's Shrinking the Technosphere is brilliant... but I remain mystified as to why he makes no mention of the works of Kevin Kelly--who also discusses the Unabomber at length in the also brilliant What Technology Wants-- nor any reference to the ideas of psychonaut John C. Lilly.

Orlov now blogs his lengthy, occasionally consternating, always surprising, information rich, often hilarious, and beautifully written essays behind a Patreon paywall-- not a Trumpesque impediment; a buck a month gets you in. But caveat emptor: Orlov can get waaaaay-out metaphysical-- albeit not as far into outer asteroid-belt orbits as John C. Lilly--or, not yet, anyway.

Food historian Rachael Laudan delves deeper into the Mexico-Islamic Connection
(Having blasted apart the story of mole, which my Mexican husband is still recovering from, she's now talking about chicken.)

> See also Laudan's post on When Is the Easter Bunny Not a Bunny? (most assuredly not for vegetarians).

So having spotted the review of Dr. Thoman Cowan's Human Heart, Cosmic Heart, I dashed off an email to Lolita Lark, editor of RALPH mag and by response, ended up with a whole page there, including links to RALPH mag's reviews of my books. Good thing my ego has a tether! P.S. I haven't scrounged up any emu oil pills yet, but yes, I am rereading Cowan. And I'm all for Dr. Cowan's vegetable powders.

Artist and travel writer Jim Johnston looks at the Pinta la Revolución show at Bellas Artes for his Mexico City blog.
(I saw that show myself back in March, highly recommended.)

Not far from my recent stomping grounds in El Paso, landscape architect David Cristiani hikes Tortugas Mountain looking for cacti.

Poet and translator Patricia Dubrava on The Little Engine That Could.

David Allen's GTD blog on Making Use of Weird Windows of Time

How Tim Ferriss Became the Oprah of Audio. An insightful interview with the maestro of mass by Ryan Holiday for the Observer.

(And what of my podcasts, you might be wondering? Stay tuned. Marfa Mondays Podcast #21, which goes to Bracketville, Texas, will be posted shortly. I guess I could call it-- taking inspiritation from Greg Gibson's upcoming "bookectomy"--a podcastectomy. I have been working on it for too ridiculously long a time.)

And finally, just because, here in Mexico City is my writing assistant, Uli Quetzalpugtl, lifting his nose to the glory of the last of the jacaranda blossoms for this year.

Uli Quetzalpugtl with the Jacaranda, Mexico City, 2017.
Photo: C.M. Mayo

> Your comments are always welcome. Write to me here.

Cyberflanerie: Carnyx Edition

Typosphere, Ho! "Stay West" on my 1961 Hermes 3000

Bitter Waters: The Struggles of the Pecos River by Patrick Dearen

Consider the Typewriter (Am I kidding? No, I am not kidding)

Perhaps, dear reader, you have heard of Freedom, the app that blocks the Internet so you can focus on your writing (or whatever offline task). It is not cheap; prices have gone up more than a smidge (ayyyy!) since I purchased it some years ago for a mere USD 10. Nope, I don't use it. End of review.

Of course, a more economical alternative for those who work at home would be to simply switch off the wi-fi signal. 

But never mind, there you are, glued to your computer, same screen, same keyboard, same desk, same chair, and whether you're using the Freedom app or you've turned off the wi-fi signal, either can be reversed (that is, the Freedom app turned off, or the wi-fi switched back on) in a matter of the slight inconvenience of a moment. Staying off-line when you're working on a computer is akin to trying to diet with an open box of chocolates within reach! As they say, Don't think about the pink elephant. Or, elephant-shaped chocolates with a cherry in the middle! Or, for a more au courant Internetesque analogy, Don't think about cats! And certainly not cats wearing hats!

[>>CONTINUE READING THIS POST AT WWW.MADAM-MAYO.COM]


YE OLDE NONELECTRIC TYPEWRITER 

Yet another strategy for diminishing the pull of the Internet, at least for some writers some of the time, would be to get up from the computer, aka the distraction machine, and hie thee over to ye olde typewriter.

My typewriter went to Goodwill years ago. But now, with a book to complete, I am seriously considering going back to using a typewriter. I am old enough to remember typing up my papers for school and college, that satisfying clackety-clack and the little ding at the end of the right margin... The calm. The focus.

Speaking of analogerie, I am also, as those of you who follow this blog well know, massively, as in an-entire-parade-ground-filled-with-dancing-pink-elephants-and-cats-in-hats-all- under-a-rain-of-chocolates, massively, relieved to have deactivated my Facebook account. That was back in August of 2015. Yes indeed, having eliminated that particular bungee-pull to the Internet, I have gotten a lot more writing done, and I am answering my email in a more consistently timely manner. 

So, typewriters. I spent an afternoon of the Thanksgiving weekend doing some Internet research. Herewith:

Five Reasons to Still Use a Typewriter 
By Gerry Holt, BBC News Magazine

The Hidden World of the Typewriter
By James Joiner, The Atlantic

The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist's Companion for the 21st Century
By Richard Polt
A superb reference written by a professor of philosophy.
His blog is The Typewriter Revolution







WHERE TO FIND A GOOD OLD (AND MAYBE REALLY OLD) NONELECTRIC TYPEWRITER

Why nonelectric? It might be nice to type in the tipi! But also, it seems that some of the best workhorse typewriters are nonelectrics made back in the mid-20th century. The only nonelectric typewriters currently being manufactured are from China and although cheap, they're crap, so if a nonelectric typewriter is what you want, think vintage. 

For a rundown on vintage brands and models, both nonelectric and electric, Polt's The Typewriter Revolution is an excellent resource. On his website Polt also maintains a list of typewriter repair shops.

You could start combing through the cheapie listings on EBay and Goodwill, and if you have the time and can stand the skanky vibes, peruse the stalls in your local flea market. You might even grab a typewriter for free-- perhaps the one gathering cobwebs in your parents' garage... 

But it seems to me that, if you want to start typing ASAP on a good vintage machine, the best strategy would be to shell out the clams to a dealer who specializes in refurbishing or "reconditioning" quality typewriters, and who offers his or her customers a guarantee. I should think you would also want to confirm that it will be possible to source ribbons. 

UPDATE:
Behold! My 1961 Hermes 3000 Pica
from Typewriter Techs

A few US dealers who look like promising possibilities:

Olivers By Bee
Oliver Typewriters Manufactured from 1890-1930s

An Etsy shop for antique typewriters.

Los Altos Business Machines Online Shop
Based in Los Altos CA.

Mahogany Rhino
Another Etsy shop.

Typewriter Techs
Based in Riverside IL.

TYPEWRITER-RELATED SHOPS

Typewriter Decal Shop

Another Etsy shop.

Typewriter Pads for Sale 
(via Polt's The Typewriter Revolution blog)

AND FOR TYPEWRITER ENTHUSIASTS

The Typewriter

ETCetera online
Home of the Early Typewriter Collectors' Association

The Typewriter: A Graphic History of the Beloved Machine
By Janine Vangool
> Check out the trailer for the book-- an outstanding book trailer, by the way.

The Virtual Typewriter Museum

> Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Write to me here.

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