Seven Joys for September 2023
I publish Seven Joys ten to twelve times a year, so there is no rush to get through the things that bring me joy. Read, watch, listen, learn, and find some joy.
One. Judy Collins.
I have no idea how I first discovered and fell in love with Judith Marjorie Collins. Collins is a genre-defying American singer who emerged on the folk scene in 1961 and became a voice for the turbulent 1960s. I was a devoted listener by the release of her 13th album, Judith, in 1975. An album that introduced her to a new generation of listeners with the release of Stephen Sondheim’s Send in the Clowns. But my favorite song on that album was her own Houses.
Judy Collins. 2018.
I took a lot of teasing for being a devoted fan at 12, but her protest songs gave me the strength to find my voice in this world. Over the years, I have had the privilege of hearing her perform live on several occasions, and while on a recent trip to Monterey, California, I saw a billboard that Judy was performing that week. At 84, she continues to inspire and sing what is in people's hearts everywhere.
“And I am not alone, while my love is near me
And I know it will be so, ‘til it’s time to go
So come the storms of winter and then the birds in spring again
I do not fear the time”
Two. Since You Asked.
An all-time favorite song written by Judy Collins, Since You Asked, is one I enjoy quietly keying out on the piano.
Since You Asked appears on Collins' album Wildflowers (1967)
“What I’ll give you since you’ve asked
Is all my time together
Take the rugged sunny days
The warm and rocky weather
Take the roads that I have walked along
Looking for tomorrow’s time
Peace of mind
As my life spills into yours
Changing with the hours
Filling up the world with time
Turning time to flowers
I can show you all the songs
That I never sang to one man before
We have seen a million stones lying by the water
You have climbed the hills with me to the mountain shelter
Taken off the days one by one
Setting them to breathe in the sun
Take the lilies and the lace
From the days of childhood
All the willow winding paths
Leading up and outward
This is what I give
This is what I ask you for
Nothing more”
Three. Steely Dan and Fresh Cut Grass.
Summer 1974. Steely Dan’s “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” was #3 on the Billboard 100, and the average temperature in Clarksville, Tennessee, was 90 degrees with 90% humidity. We had no rain that summer, but the humidity was enough to make the grass grow. I was eleven and had earned the privilege of mowing our two-acre lot with the 1972 International Harvest Cub Cadet riding lawn mower. My dad bought me a pair of Le-Bo radio headphones to keep me company on those long, hot afternoons.
One of those childhood memories that brings me joy, comfort, and safety -the roar of the Cub Cadet tractor muffled through my Le-Bo radio headphones, listening to Rikki Don’t Lose that Number, broadcast from our local WJZM radio station. It’s a memory that puts me precisely at a spot on our lawn, the sun beating from directly overhead, the whirl of the mower blades, the smell of cut grass, the perfection of Steely Dan’s plea to Rikki.
LISTEN: Rikki Don’t Lose That Number by Steely Dan on YouTube and Spotify. Four minutes 31 seconds.
Four. Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.
Joy in a devastating invasion of planet Earth by Martians? H.G. Well’s novel, War of the Worlds, offers a collective catharsis for humanity— a powerful release of emotional tension that restores the spirit and faith in humankind after the overwhelming experience of worldwide destruction (humans prevail in the end). Now, take this powerful story and set it to music! American-British composer, musician, and lyricist Jeffry Wayne did just that with his 1978 Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, which featured Sir Richard Burton as its narrator and guitar and vocals by Justin Hayward, lead for the Moody Blues. Give a listen to this rock opera for a terrifying, toe-tapping, cathartic good time - or, as the Martians would say, “ulla!”
Cover Art for the 1978 recording of Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of War of the Worlds.
““dim and wonderful is the vision I have conjured up in my mind of life spreading slowly from this little seed-bed of the solar system throughout the inanimate vastness of sidereal space.” ”
Five. Mathematics?
““Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe” ”
I have NEVER found joy in performing mathematics. It was the humbling subject of my otherwise uncomplicated journey through school. I failed college-level required algebra and spent hours in remediation in a basement classroom. But as a grown-up, I embraced mathematics as the underlying formula for many things I love. Whether it is the ratios of ingredients that make up a delicious recipe, the precision of a Philip Glass composition, or the proportions of a beautiful building, mathematics is the language in which these things are written. En-joy some of my favorite things written in the language of math. Start with this excellent primer from Donald Duck on what Galileo meant when he said mathematics was the language of everything. Pay particular attention to the Golden Ratio starting at 7’:20”.
Some beautiful things are written in mathematics.
LEARN: The Golden Ratio in Architecture. The Arch Insider.
LEARN: The Golden Ratio in Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye.
LEARN: Le Corbusier furthered our interpretation of the Golden Ratio and human proportions in architecture in his Modulor.
LISTEN: Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 | Claudio Abbado & the Orchestra Mozart. YouTube or Spotify. Ten minutes, 36 seconds.
LISTEN: Philip Glass Etude No. 2. YouTube or Spotify. Five minutes, 50 seconds.
LEARN: The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese painter and printmaker.
Six. Walking through the Russian River Valley.
The Russian River Valley has been a haven for people living in the San Francisco Bay Area for decades. Away from Napa and Sonoma Valley wine culture, it feels like a private place for locals with beautiful stands of Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), the Russian River, of course, and vineyards to some of the finest pinot noir grapes in California. It is a favorite retreat for me, and where I wrote much of this issue of 7 Joys.
LEARN: Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve.
LEARN: How Did Guerneville Get to Be So Gay? The Bold Italic. Five minute read.
WATCH: Armstrong Woods - Russian River Guerneville, California by Southland Filmworks. Three minutes.
Seven. Dean Meeker’s Joseph’s Coat.
Joseph’s Coat (1965) is a serigraphy-polymer intaglio print by artist Dean Jackson Meeker (1920-2002). This visually striking print is 34 inches high, and Joseph's full-body view feels lifesize, partly due to the powerful and vibrant spread of Joseph’s shoulders. Daniel and I encountered a rare, signed artist’s proof of this print while on holiday for my recent birthday. It brought us so much joy that we decided to bring it home.
Meeker was on the art faculty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he developed a form of printmaking that combined polymer plate intaglios and screen printing. To achieve this, he had to create the “Meeker” press to print the high-relief plates, and his first successful serigraphy-polymer intaglio print was published in 1961.
LEARN: Dean Meeker, Museum of Wisconsin Art Exhibition Talk. Complete Talk Fourty-four minutes—Bookmark for Joseph’s Coat.
LEARN: Dean Meeker at the Gallery of Wisconsin Art.
LEARN: Intaglio printmaking. Wikipedia.
LISTEN: Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors. YouTube, Spotify. Three minutes.
Well, that’s all for September, folks. It has been a beautiful summer in San Francisco. Our son, Zander is working as a chef at a nearby Michelin Star restaurant and has his own apartment now, and Daniel and I are planning extensive travels throughout the South Seas this fall. I hope this brought you a few minutes of joy. I would love to hear from you in the comment section below. Be grateful, live in the moment, and seek joy. - Kevin