April and May 2026 Round Up
April was a strange month. Continual climate shock means it was boiling hot for a couple of weeks instead of the usual April showers. We need to redraw our upstanding of the seasons as things continue to change.
Then the strangeness continued in May. Continual freezing weather and storms followed by the hottest day on record. This is only going to get worse over the coming years. The predicted chaos is only just starting.
Life
Settling into the new job. Feeling more confident with it now. Also looking at getting back into Getting Things Done as a methodology as the amount of work I have to do has increased. I had mixed feelings about the book (see later), but the principles are sound.
We went on holiday to Cornwall which was much needed. We were down past Penzance on the Penwith peninsula. Did lots of coastal walks, saw some ancient stones, ate lots of food. It was great. I needed a break as Ive been full on for a while and it was good just to do nothing for a week. This is a reminder (mostly to myself) that rest is good and necessary.
Other than that, I've been focusing on DIY. We sanded down our front door on the hottest weekend of the year and painted it bright yellow the next. It looks very cool.
Books
Lots of books read in the last couple of months so this is long. I guess this is what happens when I skip a month.
Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin is one of those books that is widely held up as a modern classic and I can see why. It tells the story of a family gathered in a church in Harlem to pray over one night, delving into their histories and their inner world. There's also a threat of racist violence simmering in the background that never explodes, but is always present. The book is extrodinary on a sentence level, with hypnotic sermon like sentences that run on and build with intense rhythm. The style as well is similar to Virginia Woolf as Baldwin effortlessly glides from one perspective to another. Incredible book.
Palestine by Joe Sacco is a very intense graphic novel about the Isreali occupation of Palestine in the early 1990's. Sacco speaks to Palestinians all over the occupied territory and documents their struggles. He uses the comics format to it's fullest potential - scattering text boxes in the middle of panic, reducing frames to show forced imprisonment. But he also questions his role as an observer. Is his reporting actually going to change anything? He considers himself nothing more than a misery tourist. Intense, political and essential reading to understand the current situation.
The Odyssey by Homer, Translated by Emily Wilson I finally read the original epic poem, having been aware of it in culture forever. The poem is strangely structured, opening in media res with four books dedicated to Telemachus before we even get to Odysseus. Then most of the popular imagining of the story is told entirely in flashbacks. Wilson's translation is really clear and easy to read throughout, with iambic pentameter approximating the greek hexameter. Her commentary on the poem is also really interesting. I'd be interested to read other translations to see how they compare.
Sharks in the River by Ada Limon is the debut collection from the poet Laurette of the US. I preferred The Carrying to this one, but this is still rich, dense poetry with sea and river images reflecting our mortality. Limon's love and despair at humanity shines through, with the harsh elements of nature linking us to the world. I read it once too fast then allowed myself to luxirate in the language on a reread as its poetry that needs some ruminating.
Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman - I read this over a month as recommended in the book. Each chapter is a mini essay based around a single thought, with the themes of being limited as humans. Burkeman's self depreciating wit shines through, as does his attempts to balance the nonsense of self help books. I found it less affecting than Four Thousand Weeks, but still useful with a lot of interesting ideas throughout.
Getting Things Done by David Allen So the new job that I started in March is a big step up in terms of responsibility and things I need to keep track of. So I read this, ironically after reading Oliver Burkeman's anti productivity book. This book promises the opposite, that you can get your endless to do list done. It's alright, but clearly written for CEO's and higher managers, with some solid advice and some that doesn't necessarily apply to everyone. Essentially - capture everything that has your attention, clarify what the next physical action is, then organise things into lists. And that's kind of it, there doesn't need to be a whole book around it.
It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood Another graphic novel, this time an autobiographical work about the author's depression and anxiety. The comic inventiveness here is really interesting, with each element of Thorogood's personality having a different drawing style. Depression is a large, ghibli-esque monster, whereas most of the time she draws herself with a blank, expressionless face. The framing and layouts of the pages are also interesting, but not a lot happens throughout the book, mostly due to the subject matter. I'll be reading anything else she has to offer.
The Mountain Under the Sea - Ray Naylor - Slightly frustrating science fiction about an octopus colony that is discovered off the coast of Vietnam. It deals with a scientist and an android attempting to communicate with the colony and a few other plot threads. There's lots of long discussion about the nature of consciousness and how it might change when we encounter a different species, but the story lacks forward momentum. One of the threads fails to really resolve in a meaningful way. In addition, it feels very modern, drawing on a lot of discussion that has happened recently without really adding anything new. I wasn't surprised to see Other Minds referenced in the back of the book as it feels like a slightly fictionised version of that book. I'd just like a bit more story to mask the ideas.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë A re-read because of the film that was released this year. (I haven't seen it.) I remember it not really being a love story and this read confirmed that - the love between Heathcliff and Cathy is maybe less than half the book. Also, they are both insufferable. There's a lot of awful people doing awful things to each other, with Heathcliff in particular generally terrible. What we miss in the popular conception of the book is how much it interrogates race and class. Heathcliff is never accepted by society because of his race and even when he gains staus he remains an outsider. Its rich, frequently funny, intensely melodramatic and much more interesting than I remember.
The Hearing Trumpet - Leonora Carrington
Bonkers book about an old woman who gets a hearing trumpet, and finds out her family are going to commit her to a home. It only gets stranger from there. Carrington was a surrealist painter and it really shows throughout this slim book.
Music
Before Cornwall, we saw Joshua Burnside at the Prince Albert in Stroud, a mere ten months since we saw him last. He played the new album from start to finish, which worked really well. Its a powerful meditation on grief and addiction. He finished with some songs from Teeth of Time, including a rousing March Around the Ladies. Really special gig. I found it very powerful and moving. He's continuing to be one of the best folk artists out there and is going from strength to strength.
Then after Cornwall, we saw Super Furry Animals in Cardiff. Supported by Melin Melyn and The Getdown Services, it was a really fun night. Super Furry Animals were greeted as homecoming heroes, with the friendliest crowd in existence. It was essentially a greatest hits set, but what hits they are. Incredible range of songs including a tranportative Hello Sunshine, a high energy God! Show Me Magic! and an intense closer of The Man Don't Give a Fuck. Brilliant, long may they reign.
In recorded music, it was a good couple of months for returning electronic musician. The Field's new album Now You Exist is hypnotic and looping, and quite emotional. And of course, Boards of Canada's new album after 14 years, Inferno, is unlike anything else around. What a return, I can't wait to spend the next month diving into the textures and loops of this very special album.
I also really liked Carla Del Forno's album Confession. It feels like it could be playing in The Roadhouse on Twin Peaks, pitch perfect dream pop.
Film
Underland is a documentary based on the theme Robert MacFarlane book of the same name. Following three people as they go underground, it hits moment of wonder and panic. Really interesting but not recommended for claustrophobes.
Rose of Nevada is a very strange, very powerful film. A boat appears in a small Cornish village, thirty years since it was lost at sea. What follows is a strange, dreamlike film with some startling twists. Shot entirely on film then redubbed, it's unlike anything else I've seen. Really recommended.
Articles
A poem and a short article with the same point. The poem is called Please Use AI By Shawn Smucker and the article is A Machine for Walking
Final thoughts
Erasure poem taken from Crack Magazine.
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