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[gregwhite]

I’m the sort of fellow who enjoys a good bag. Whether it’s my trusty Minaal for travel, a Topo Designs for the gym, or a Peak Designs sling to carry my camera, a good bag--as Chase Reeves says--is a delight on a daily basis. My newest bag is the Trakke Bairn MK2 Mini Messenger. It’s a 6L messenger bag from Trakke, a lovely company that makes soulful handmade bags in their workshop in Glasgow. The materials are all sourced from Great Britain and their waxed canvas bags speak of outdoor adventures and past lives AND come with lifetime repairs. I’ve been using their Banana Bum bag for a few months now and it’s become my favorite “pocket item” bag, replacing my Topo Designs Micro Rover. It doesn’t hurt that the waxed canvas is highly water resistant and looks great.

When it comes to every day carry bags, I think there are two broad categories. One is the kind of bag that you need to interact with on the go. In this category, I think Peak Designs has nailed it. Their 5L sling or 20L backpack, for instance, are the kinds of bags you can get in and out of in seconds flat, with quick adjustment straps that work wonderfully, and the sort of thoughtful organization that allows you to grab something from inside the bag with ease.

The other category is the kind that you use to get your stuff from point A to point B, with no interaction on the go. They aren’t the most technically advanced bags on the market, but as is the case with the Trakke Bairn MK2, what they lack in futuristic functionality, they make up for with soul.

It may sound strange to talk about a bag in terms of soul, but I think buying a few beautiful things for your daily life that you love interacting with can really bring a level of intentionality that generic products just don’t provide. Call it mindfulness for thoughtful consumers. 

The other benefit of buying high quality items is that they will very likely last you your entire life, whereas cheaper bags or backpacks are more likely to break down and leave you feeling uninspired. On the days I’m using the Bairn MK2, I actually find myself looking forward to packing it up. While it doesn’t fulfill my needs all the time (there are some instances where 6L either too much or too little), for the times that it fits the bill, it really knocks it out of the park. 

Usually, I’d use the Bairn MK2 if I’m walking over to a cafe to write. Typically I’d fill it with my small Macbook Air inside a padded case, my GX85 inside a padded pouch, a book, my macbook charger, and an 18oz water bottle. 

As I said earlier, it’s not the most technically proficient bag on the market and it has some shortcomings. It lacks a handle, it doesn’t have quick access pockets, and adjusting the strap while you’re wearing the bag is awkward. And if you overpack it, it’s not terribly comfortable, so I’d recommend asking yourself “do I need to bring this?” before you pack it out for the day. As with all bags, under packing it is always better than overpacking it. Let the bag guide you! 

Again, if you need to constantly get in and out of your bag on the go, or want a bag with substantial padding or organization, this probably isn’t going to be the bag for you. For me, the bag is best when I am just going a short distance and won’t need my stuff until I get where I’m going (or in the case of the camera, I’ll just carry with me and put it away inside the bag when I get where I’m going). 

BUT, and this is a key point for me, if you use this bag in a certain way, it will legitimately improve your life. Just opening those stainless steel buckles or grabbing one of the zip pulls to open the YKK weather guard zippers is a tactile and visceral pleasure. 

Similar to opening a really nice notebook, it seems to imbue the work I’m about to do with more meaning and focus. Sure, you can use a dumpy little CVS notepad and a Bic to take notes on a project, OR for like $10 you can get a Mnemosyne notebook and some Pilot V5s and have a sensory experience while taking those very same notes. Why not elevate the experience and open yourself up to as many small moments of the process as possible?

And so it is for bags as well! When using a beautiful bag, I think to myself, “This beautiful bag has carried my tools for me, and now I am ready to do good work.” Maybe I’m overstating things a little. The things you buy either speak to you or they don’t. For me, I don’t have a ton of stuff, but what I do buy is generally well researched and carries some meaning for me. 

In some ways, I think the fact that this bag cannot be accessed quickly or in a rush is part of its charm. It’s not difficult to get into, mind you, but it’s just not a hyper efficient Peak Designs style bag from the future. But because it cannot be rushed and because the materials are so soothing to the touch, I find that it serves as a reminder to be more present. Someone took the time to assemble this bag by hand. It is a crafted item worth studying and it seems to suggest that we take a similar degree of intentionality to the work we do.

The other wonderful thing about Trakke bags is the way the waxed canvas breaks in over time. When you first get your bag, it will feel slightly slick and a little stiff. But over time, with many uses and days on your back or hip, it begins to soften and take on signs of use. In short, it becomes a record of the work you have done and the miles it has been carried. Your bag will only ever look like your bag.

Again, this sort of communion either matters to you or it doesn’t, but to me, the bag has become a faithful companion for a very specific task. Right now I’m working on two features, and I’ve been working out of my local coffee shop as I attempt to scale these mountains. And even though I am a true beginner in some ways with these larger-than-pilot-sized scripts, the Trakke Bairn MK2 has been right there with me, reminding me to slow down, take things one bite at a time, and enjoy the process. Mindfulness is another word for paying attention, and a bag like the Bairn MK2 gives you a lot to pay attention to. 

That’s a lot of potentially insufferable hyperbole to heap upon a $170 messenger bag, but after a few months of use, the Trakke Bairn MK2 has changed my work life in subtle but meaningful ways. 

#trakke #EDC #bag reviews

[gregwhite]

Santa Monica

#lumixgx85

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Santa Monica

#lumixgx85

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Zaha

#lumixgx85

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#lumixgx85

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#lumixgx85

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#lumixgx85

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Lincoln Center

#lumixgx85 #lincolncenter

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San Francisco. 

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I really enjoyed this in last weekend’s Sunday Times Magazine. Lots of food for thought here. I tend to feel that art needs to exist in a vacuum on the one hand, but also can to be considered in a broader cultural context at the same time. But do the two categories always need to be considered together? I don’t think so, ultimately. Having said that, a show or movie can be culturally significant and also not be a very good show or movie. The opposite can be true. And both can also be true. A show like Atlanta or a movie like Get Out can both be culturally significant and also very good. But what happens when it’s the first instance? A show that is culturally significant but not especially good? (Or at least: not your cup of tea.) It’s not that the two ideas shouldn’t intersect, but sometimes you just like a movie because it’s a great movie. But I don’t know if that’s a permissible viewpoint at this current moment and I find that troubling. 

Morris writes:

Even in this so-called golden age of TV, with its proliferations of nonwhite people, queer folks and women, some of whom are running productions, a comedy by and built around black women remains anomalous. So “Insecure” might be too rare to dislike.

On the other hand, where does that leave someone who dislikes it? My tablemate insisted that who and what the show represents are more important than whether the show works for me. We couldn’t have thatargument because that argument was a luxury. My wish for entertainment was an affront to the show’s right to exist; its being morally good superseded any imperative for it to be creatively better.

Same basic rule goes for politicians. You can have a politician who is the first, say, trans woman elected to Congress, which is historic, but if she’s an awful politician and fails to help her constituents, does it matter in practical terms? Inversely, if she’s an amazing politician and also a trans woman, which matters more? (I honestly don’t know the answers to any of these questions. I have thoughts, but who knows.) I have extremely progressive friends who despised Obama politically (he didn’t come close to being far enough left in their eyes) but appreciated him as a historic human of great decency. Where does that leave the conversation?

More from Morris:

We’re talking less about whether a work is good art but simply whether it’s good — good for us, good for the culture, good for the world.

and later...

This shift in priorities comes with moral side effects, and the side effects are scaring people — smart, opinionated people; not just white men — from saying the wrong the thing about “Atlanta” or “Crazy Rich Asians” or “Wonder Woman,” from not liking them, or not liking them correctly. If Beyoncé comes up at a cookout, do you offer more than a dutiful “yasss, queen”?

I think when it comes to TV and film, we ought to get to a place of greater representation both in front of and behind the camera so that a show featuring a minority (et al)  cast need not speak for an entire gender or race. I think true equality in art and life is the freedom to be mediocre. Obama had to be a perfect human being because he was the first black president. But if he had been the 40th black president...who knows. (I mean, Trump is our 44th white president and he’s a dumpster fire with legs.) We won’t have a truly inclusive country until we have a show starring a minority cast that is as bad as Two and a Half Men, or a wheelchair bound gay transgender man who also shouts FAKE NEWS and has hair made out of baby birds. 

#art

[gregwhite]

HEALTHY HABITS FOR WRITERS

Chalk this up to mere anecdote if you wish, but a lot of times creative professionals seem to not be the healthiest people. Because it is a job that you do with your mind instead of your body, it often becomes a sedentary lifestyle. But it doesn’t need to be that way. Even though your job may put you in a writers room or an office for a majority of the day, it’s still very possible to live a healthy, active life and thrive as a human who makes brain nuggets for a living. And this isn’t just something you should do to increase your overall healthspan...it’s good for your job. It’s impossible for your brain to be high-functioning if your body is not functioning optimally. I was an active kid and I remain an active adult who prefers moving to not moving, and so I thought I’d try to make this very simple and just present five of the best things you can start doing today to be a healthier human writing person. 

SLEEP 

No two ways around it. You need to sleep. Next time someone tells you they can “get by on 5 hours” a night just kick them in the teeth. Once it’s dark out, turn off your goddamn phone and screens, and aim to get to bed by 9:30-10. If you’re not getting at least 7 good hours of sleep a night (8 is ideal) then no excuses: fix that now. If you’re depriving yourself of sleep, things aren’t going to turn out too well for you. 

LIFT HEAVY THINGS

When it comes to longevity studies, overall muscle mass is one of the key indicators of a healthy life. I would say the ideal way to do this is by having someone teach you to deadlift and squat heavy. 1.5x bodyweight on the squat and 2x bodyweight on the deadlift are great goals to aim for. I get that not everyone is going to want to join a gym or build a squat rack in their apartment, so in that case, I’d recommend getting a heavy (for you) kettlebell and learning how to do a PERFECT kettlebell swing. Twice a week just bang out a KB swing tabata set (aka 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 4 minutes) and learn how to do some movements like the Turkish Get Up and goblet squat while you’re at it. I don’t care if you’re a girl who’s been told that you should only lift light weights, or a 50 year-old who has never touched a weight in his life, it doesn’t matter. You’re a person. With muscles. Make them strong. Especially your leg. Your scripts aren’t going to keep you from toppling over when you’re 90. Your glutes will though. 

WALK MORE AND MOVE MORE

If you have a dog, you’re likely already walking a bunch, but I aim for no less than an hour a day of walking with my hound, and overall I try to walk between 15-20,000 steps a day. Walking is super important and most people just don’t do it enough. Leave your phone and podcasts and everything else at home and just go be outside. A fancy spin class or trendy class pass thing are fine once in a while, but they’re not necessary. Most of what we do should be at an easy intensity, like hiking, walking or running at MAF.  Americans spend something like 90% of their lives indoors at this point and that’s truly grim. If you live near mountains, go walk in them. If you live near a park, stroll around. And second to all this, take some time to squat down every day and just hang out in the bottom of a squat. Do a yoga class if that’s your thing. Just make sure you’re putting your body in different positions every day. You’ve got a bunch of cool joints and limbs and they’re designed to do a bunch of different things. Make sure you’re giving your body some nourishing movement. Yes, standing work desks are great (I use them) but standing still for 8 hours a day isn’t the goal. The goal is to be a human being with a body that can move and moves well. For extra credit, learn to move your body the way it was meant to be moved. I recommend the following FRC or MWOD YouTube libraries for more on this point. 

FOOD

If it comes out of a bag, don’t eat it. If you’re active, aim for .8-1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.One of the best things you can do for fat loss (in addition to getting GOOD solid sleep and moving) is to up your protein intake to that .8-1g/lb area. Don’t go nuts on carbs (50-150 grams a day is great) and get your fat from grass-fed meat, avocados, ghee, and things like that. It really doesn’t need to be complicated. Eat vegetables. Eat quality meat (I get mine from US Wellness Meats). Eat some organs (liverwurst in my case). Eat sardines a few days a week (Wild Planet is the best brand out there). Don’t eat cake and don’t drink too much. It’s simple stuff. Avoid refined carbohydrates, sugar, and industrial seed oils (canola, safflower, etc) because they’re super inflammatory and will fuck you up, dawg. To this point, try to not eat at restaurants too often unless they’re using coconut oil or ghee or avocado oil to make your food (they almost definitely aren’t). Don’t give your way of eating a name and don’t join a food cult. Just eat like a person and aim for nutrient density. Also, aim for what’s called intermittent fasting, aka 12-16 hours between dinner and breakfast. And while we’re on the topic of time-restricted eating, try to get out first thing in the morning for a fasted walk.  

***

I’m not health expert, but I’ve been studying this stuff for about 10 years now, and I think I’ve boiled it all down to the basics. Food companies, supplement manufacturers, smoothie places, fancy gimmick gyms and everyone in between make their profit off of basic confusion when it comes to what it means to be healthy. But it’s not hard: eat a bunch of delicious tasty food*, get strong and mobile, and move around during the day. 

*And for anyone who thinks eating well needs to be expensive: nope. Sardines cost about 2 bucks a can, an avocado is another 2 bucks, and a bunch of greens cost maybe 5 bucks. So per meal we’re looking at around $5-6. Throw in a little white rice or sweet potato and you’re gold.

[gregwhite]

[gregwhite]

#clarence clemons #bruce springsteen #e street band

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#bruce springsteen

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There are five crafts of rock and roll: One, everybody has to learn their instrument—or their voice if they’re a singer. Two, you need to start analyzing your favorite songs. This is part of the arrangement process, but it starts off as an analysis. What are the instruments doing? What are the chord changes? What’s the melody against those chord changes? What is the bass doing? Why is the drum fill there? The third craft is performing live. You learn to interact with an audience, and with your band members, and you need to learn what effect the music has on the audience. The fourth craft is writing. Because you have analyzed and arranged those songs, you’re now able to have higher standards. So you’re going to write your songs at a higher standard than you would if you had skipped that phase. If you’re not analyzing your favorite songs and figuring out what goes into them, then you’re not going to be able to evaluate your own writing. And then you have recording, which is the fifth craft. That is a whole other craft to learn. Yeah, you can learn some of that at home, and it probably would be helpful to do that. But it’s different in a studio situation with a real engineer and a real producer, and, you know, a band. Again, you get that input from other people, and that usually makes the tracks better.

Guitar Player interview with Steve Van Zandt

https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/steven-van-zandt-on-the-five-crafts-of-rock-and-roll

#steve van zandt #little steven #guitar player

[gregwhite]

Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (2018)