Three Songs, Two Beers, and Fellini's Dream Notebook
I pored over my recently filled-up Field Notes XOXO 2024 notebook and found some stuffy stuff to share. But I’ve balanced it out with high-ABV beers and dance music. Hoping the bold typeface keeps you reading. -Adam
Fun to write this one down: “You don’t need to make a point to take notes on what you’re reading — simply reading has an effect on you, absorb the point or don’t, just spending the time reading is enough without taking action or optimizing the time” — Oliver Burkeman in Meditations for Mortals
I learned on BBC Radio 3’s Sound of Cinema that Fellini kept a notebook by his bed and would draw his dreams when he woke up. (Here are some images from a very expensive book of these drawings.)
Sartre crept into my notebook from the two sources above. Burkeman discussed Sartre’s ideas of self-imposed limitations: how we often convince ourselves we’re trapped in a situation. Sound of Cinema host Matthew Sweet shared music from John Houston’s Freud biopic, written in part by Sartre. (Here’s the didactic trailer.)
A couple of beers enthusiastically recommended around a campfire:
Songs on the radio that I liked enough to jot down:
Albums I reminded myself to listen to carefully:
On the second-to-last page of my notebook, I make a list of books I want to read
but probably won’t get around to:“It’d be nice to walk with a goal in mind.” - this aside in Hiroko Oyamada’s The Factory filled me with delight for some reason. Even if your goal is not to have a goal, take a walk.