Attention Inventory: Licorice, Brecht-isms, Unplanned Trails

July's list of recent preoccupations that have been clocked, noted, archived.

Nothing succeeds without taking stock — July's list of five recent preoccupations that have been clocked, noted, archived. 

A. Licorice Lessons

As a vocal licorice/liquorice enthusiast I am always impressed with how many variations and rich histories exist in a single category,  i.e., the Catherine Wheel, developed in a moment in the 1930s when industrial design and experimental design intersected with a focus on food innovation. 

…or the “black gold” of La Amarelli Liquirizie, a family-run Calbrian producer that has been slinging sassolini (or “little stones,” inspired by the pebbles on the Italian shore) since the 1700s. According to the Amarelli family, its presence in America is thanks to Isabella Rossellini, who was such a fan of their red licorice tins that Dean & Deluca (RIP) began stocking them at her request. 

An idea here in finding range within fixed parameters, perhaps. 

B. Brechtian, By Proxy

A podcast I enjoy is Apology, Jesse Pearson’s conversations focused on reading habits and books (while also, of course, being about much more than that).

In a recent episode with theatre director/writer/actor André Gregory, he references the maxim Bertolt Brecht used to have hung above his desk at the Berliner Ensemble: “Simpler, and with more laughter.” (Decidedly more chill than Strasberg’s version: “Logic, Logic, Logic.”)

Despite the roundabout context it’s stuck with me; sometimes the best stories aren’t your own. 

 C. Up High, Down Low

2 Terms, 0 Context:

Oort Cloud - the most distant region of our solar system, likely "a big, thick-walled bubble made of [billions or trillions of] icy pieces of space debris the sizes of mountains and sometimes larger."

Desire Path - unplanned small trails that represent the "shortest or the most easily navigated route between an origin and destination."

D. “Between the Bones & Now”

Above, excerpted from the summer issue of Apartamento, in conversation with artist Tal R and his partner Emma Rosenweig.

E. Finally, a few more savory delights from the Moon Lists corner:

• A new book from my clever friend Marjory Sweet, ____ is a breakfast food, whose bending of the “cookbook” genre is incredibly special. 

• This T magazine profile on winemaker Maggie Harrison (who I am lucky enough to work with on creative projects), and whose obsessive dedication to beauty is portrayed here with deserved exactitude. 

• My friend Emily, who is an owner of Los Angeles restaurant Botanica (as well as a wide-ranging reader who is generous with her suggestions), also introduced me to a fun game vis-a-vis this podcast. In her words, “comedians bring in guests to a fictional “Dream Restaurant” where they choose their favorite drink; papadums or bread; starter; main course; side; and dessert”…not a novel concept, but one that gives way to identifying our specific, superlative eccentricities.