Quote: Robert Bresson

Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.

–Robert Bresson

When I was younger, I thought originality was the most important thing you could aim for as a writer. Make things that nobody else could make. And that I was always falling short of this goal.

I spent years reading, writing, studying, and while I still believed it was important for a writer to have their own voice, it was clear that stories share elements with each other (even unintentionally).

Looking at this quote, I think about how perspective isn’t just manufactured. It’s not an affectation you put on (ex: That Barton Fink Feeling). Who you are, where you are, where you came from, and where you’re going—they all play into it.

By the very nature of existing as a singular person, that gives you a point of view different from other people.

And it would be a shame to not know that, and still believe there’s nothing about you that’s unique or original.

Side note: As an example, I started thinking about the connections between Winter Light, Diary of a Country Priest, and First Reformed. So I stumbled on to this great video about those films and several other existential stories:

Link: periodicity

From Alan Jacobs:

It’s important to remember this: businesses that rely on constant online or televisual engagement — social media platforms, TV news channels, news websites — make bank from our rage. They have every incentive, whether they are aware of it or not, to inflame our passions. (This is why pundits who are always wrong can keep their jobs: they don’t have to be right, they just have to be skilled at stimulating the collective amygdala.)

My dog barks any time someone comes by the house. It takes her a minute to figure out if this person is a friend or a stranger. And sometimes even when it’s a friend it takes her an extra beat to understand she can come down from RUFFCON 3.

The strangers go as quickly as they appeared, and it means very little to Winter over the course of her day. But if a friend shows up, there’s pets and attention and maybe treats involved.

So maybe a good metric to think about news right now is: Is this just trying to get me to bark, or does this provide me with something I need?

Smart little guy

Button talking about how he’s one of the people in his family that he loves: “Of course I love me. Who doesn’t love themself?”

It doesn’t always feel that obvious for some of us, but I’m glad it’s crystal clear for him.

Versioning

This year’s bullet journal started with a small change. I’m writing the date for each day in the format YYYY.MM.DD

It looks like a software version number, and I like that.

Every day is another chance to patch some bugs or add a new feature. It reminds me not to see myself as static, but impermanent and capable of change.

Link: Video resolution shelf life

From Dan’s Daily:

I was recently talking to a friend who runs a film production company. We chatted about the huge amount of archival footage he has amassed over the past 16 years.

One interesting thing he shared was that video quality advances so quickly that footage older than 8 years old is generally no longer usable on modern projects.

About a year ago my dad wanted to show the kids a recording he made of my high school performance of The Wizard of Oz (I was the Tin Man).

He originally recorded it with a VHS camcorder, then ported it over to DVD at some point, and we were watching it on a 4K TV.

It did not feel like you were right there in the APHS gymatorium.

This post got me thinking about how the tech we use to capture moments doesn’t hold on to them very long. But maybe for some things that’s okay. We don’t last all that long, either.