Post series: The Zone

The Zone: No. 7 – Nov 26, 2020

26th November 2020
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  1. Welcome To The Zone!
  2. The Zone: No. 2 – Oct 22, 2020
  3. The Zone: No. 3 – Oct 29, 2020
  4. The Zone: No.4 – Nov 5, 2020
  5. The Zone: No. 5 – Nov 12, 2021
  6. The Zone: No. 6 – Nov 19, 2020
  7. The Zone: No. 7 – Nov 26, 2020
  8. The Zone: No. 8 – Dec 3, 2020
  9. The Zone: No. 9 – Dec 10, 2020
  10. The Zone: No. 10 – Dec 17, 2020
  11. The Zone: No. 11, Dec 31, 2020 – Special Edition
  12. The Zone: No. 12 – Jan 7, 2020
  13. The Zone: No. 13 – Jan 14, 2020
  14. The Zone: No. 14 – Jan 21, 2020
  15. The Zone: No. 15 – Jan 28, 2020
  16. The Zone: No. 16 – Feb 4, 2020
  17. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!

Amazon’s Best Books list, the darkest human-made substance in the world, the Simon & Schuster sale, a German shepherd howling with wolves, and more. The Zone no. 7 is here.

November means that “Best Of” lists are released. Amazon’s Best Books of 2020 list is a good place to start looking for Christmas gifts. I sent Santa the list below; I hope he’ll find my chimney.

Close up of an Eel Larva, a photo by Galice Hoarau.
Galice Hoarau | Eel Larva. Close-up Photographer of the Year
Overall winner & Animals winner
  • Vantablack, the darkest human-made substance in the world, absorbs 99.96% of the visible light. A coating of carbon nanotubes, it’s so black that the human eye can’t quite make sense of what it is seeing.

A Quote I’m Pondering

What will your life have been, in the end, but the sum total of everything you spent it focusing on?

Oliver Burkeman (b.1975)

I’m finding myself more and more distracted these days. No wonder, considering what 2020 brought us. Still, life has to go on and attention to be re-gained. I’m soldiering on.

From My Photo Archives

A woman in red bathing suit swims in a swimming pool at the Bondi Icebergs club in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Mihaela Limberea.
Swimming at Bondi Icebergs Club. December 2019, Sydney, Australia. A world ago as it seems.

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To read more The Zone posts, click here.

The Zone: No. 6 – Nov 19, 2020

19th November 2020
The Zone
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  1. Welcome To The Zone!
  2. The Zone: No. 2 – Oct 22, 2020
  3. The Zone: No. 3 – Oct 29, 2020
  4. The Zone: No.4 – Nov 5, 2020
  5. The Zone: No. 5 – Nov 12, 2021
  6. The Zone: No. 6 – Nov 19, 2020
  7. The Zone: No. 7 – Nov 26, 2020
  8. The Zone: No. 8 – Dec 3, 2020
  9. The Zone: No. 9 – Dec 10, 2020
  10. The Zone: No. 10 – Dec 17, 2020
  11. The Zone: No. 11, Dec 31, 2020 – Special Edition
  12. The Zone: No. 12 – Jan 7, 2020
  13. The Zone: No. 13 – Jan 14, 2020
  14. The Zone: No. 14 – Jan 21, 2020
  15. The Zone: No. 15 – Jan 28, 2020
  16. The Zone: No. 16 – Feb 4, 2020
  17. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!

Girls racing sheep (say what?), awesome photomicrography, Ed Ruscha’s Sunset Boulevard street view, and more in The Zone No. 6.

Crystals formed after heating an ethanol and water solution containing L-glutamine and beta-alanine. Justin Zoll (Ithaca, New York, USA).
  • I’ve always been fascinated by photomicrography, and this year’s Nikon Small World Photo Contest had several mind-blowing photos. The one above, by Justin Zoll, came in thirteenth place, but it’s my favorite.
  • Emojipedia. Why didn’t anyone tell me this existed? Here’s a list of all new Apple emoji released on November 5th.
  • Tomorrow we celebrate Absurdity Day. It seems only fitting.

A Quote I’m Pondering

Time isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing.

Miles Davis (1926 – 1991)

From My Photo Archives

View of the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre in Paris. Photo by Mihaela Limberea.
The Eiffel Tower, Paris (France)

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To read more The Zone posts, click here.

The Zone: No. 5 – Nov 12, 2021

12th November 2020
The Zone
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  1. Welcome To The Zone!
  2. The Zone: No. 2 – Oct 22, 2020
  3. The Zone: No. 3 – Oct 29, 2020
  4. The Zone: No.4 – Nov 5, 2020
  5. The Zone: No. 5 – Nov 12, 2021
  6. The Zone: No. 6 – Nov 19, 2020
  7. The Zone: No. 7 – Nov 26, 2020
  8. The Zone: No. 8 – Dec 3, 2020
  9. The Zone: No. 9 – Dec 10, 2020
  10. The Zone: No. 10 – Dec 17, 2020
  11. The Zone: No. 11, Dec 31, 2020 – Special Edition
  12. The Zone: No. 12 – Jan 7, 2020
  13. The Zone: No. 13 – Jan 14, 2020
  14. The Zone: No. 14 – Jan 21, 2020
  15. The Zone: No. 15 – Jan 28, 2020
  16. The Zone: No. 16 – Feb 4, 2020
  17. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!

Welcome to this week’s installment of the Zone, my happy place where I share interesting (and often whimsical) things I found out there on the world wide web. Here are a few things I thought were worth sharing this week.

  • The Quote Investigator is a website where Garson O’Toole investigates quotations. Did s/he really say that? Citations and references are included to show how the quotation was verified. How could I live without this? If you’re interested, the Resources page offers further reading. I bookmarked the page on the spot.
  • As a long time lover of Japanese woodblock prints, I was mesmerized by this video showing the step-by-step process of making one of the woodblock prints. The video is narrated by the Tokyo-based woodblock printmaker David Bull. Bull has also created a three-hour video showing him creating an entire woodblock print, from beginning to the end, with no cuts. Bonus: you can download +2,500 Japanese woodblock prints and drawings at the Library of Congress’ online collection here.
  • A documentary I’m looking forward to watching: Song Exploder, in which the musician Hrishikesh Hirway deconstructs how songs are made. The documentary series is based on his acclaimed podcast, and the first episodes include Alicia Keys, REM, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
  • A podcast I’ve discovered: Writing Excuses, now on its’ 15th season. It’s an educational podcast by writers for writers, with short episodes, between 15 to 25 minutes. The length guarantees I’ll listen. I usually appreciate longer podcasts diving deep into a theme (Tim Ferriss’ is a favorite, for instance), but I don’t always have the time or the peace of mind to listen to such long episodes. I can always accommodate a short one.
  • Speaking of Tim Ferriss: he has created the ultimate To Read – Book List, books recommended by world-class performers in their field, and guests on his podcast.
  • As an aspiring artist, I’ve always been fascinated by artists’ studios. I’m in the process of creating my own studio in our former garage and was therefore glad to stumble over Hyperallergic’s A View from the Easel series, in which artists send in a photo and a description of their workspace. Bonus: see more studios in my Artist Studio board on Pinterest.
  • Birthdays to Celebrate: Georgia O’Keeffe was born on November 15th, 1887. She transformed flower painting, and New Mexico (where she moved later in life) transformed her. A short introduction to Georgia O’Keeffe’s art here. And a bonus.

A Quote I’m Pondering

What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.

Herbert A. Simon (1916 – 2001)

From My Photo Archives

Close up of deep blue sea, photo by Mihaela Limberea
Deep Blue Sea

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The Zone: No.4 – Nov 5, 2020

5th November 2020
The Zone
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  1. Welcome To The Zone!
  2. The Zone: No. 2 – Oct 22, 2020
  3. The Zone: No. 3 – Oct 29, 2020
  4. The Zone: No.4 – Nov 5, 2020
  5. The Zone: No. 5 – Nov 12, 2021
  6. The Zone: No. 6 – Nov 19, 2020
  7. The Zone: No. 7 – Nov 26, 2020
  8. The Zone: No. 8 – Dec 3, 2020
  9. The Zone: No. 9 – Dec 10, 2020
  10. The Zone: No. 10 – Dec 17, 2020
  11. The Zone: No. 11, Dec 31, 2020 – Special Edition
  12. The Zone: No. 12 – Jan 7, 2020
  13. The Zone: No. 13 – Jan 14, 2020
  14. The Zone: No. 14 – Jan 21, 2020
  15. The Zone: No. 15 – Jan 28, 2020
  16. The Zone: No. 16 – Feb 4, 2020
  17. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!
Logo of the Zone black on orange background. Logo design by Mihaela Limberea.

This week in The Zone: Sean Connery reading Cavafy’s Ithaca, Ninja studies (is this real?), Finnegan Fox laughing, and more.

  • And, to end in a more positive tone: Finnegan Fox laughing. You’re welcome!

Quote I’m Pondering

“Be “selectively ignorant.”

Ignore topics that drain your attention.

Unfollow people that drain your energy.

Abandon projects that drain your time.

Do not keep up with it all. The more selectively ignorant you become, the more broadly knowledgeable you can be.”

James Clear

From My Photo Archives

An image of the Johannesburg Palazzo Hotel reflected in the swimming pool. Photograph by Mihaela Limberea.
The Palazzo, Johannesburg (South Africa).

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The Zone: No. 3 – Oct 29, 2020

29th October 2020
The Zone
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  1. Welcome To The Zone!
  2. The Zone: No. 2 – Oct 22, 2020
  3. The Zone: No. 3 – Oct 29, 2020
  4. The Zone: No.4 – Nov 5, 2020
  5. The Zone: No. 5 – Nov 12, 2021
  6. The Zone: No. 6 – Nov 19, 2020
  7. The Zone: No. 7 – Nov 26, 2020
  8. The Zone: No. 8 – Dec 3, 2020
  9. The Zone: No. 9 – Dec 10, 2020
  10. The Zone: No. 10 – Dec 17, 2020
  11. The Zone: No. 11, Dec 31, 2020 – Special Edition
  12. The Zone: No. 12 – Jan 7, 2020
  13. The Zone: No. 13 – Jan 14, 2020
  14. The Zone: No. 14 – Jan 21, 2020
  15. The Zone: No. 15 – Jan 28, 2020
  16. The Zone: No. 16 – Feb 4, 2020
  17. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!
Logo of the Zone: black on orange background. Logo design by Mihaela Limberea.

Chromaesthesia, an all-pink apartment, writing advice from Mary Karr, and more in this installment of The Zone.

  • Israeli artist Michal Levy has a condition called chromaesthesia, a form of synesthesia, in which sounds and music provoke visuals. She turned John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” & Bach’s “Prelude in C Major” into musical animations, and the results are amazing.
  • An all-pink apartment! What a perfect spot for a vacation. Huge Instagram potential for those interested.
  • See how Charles Bridge in Prague was built in the 14th century in a short animation here. Amazing.
  • How different classical cameras click sounds. This made me think about my dad’s old Russian Zenit; a madeleine cake of sound.
  • Cartographer Sean Convey transforms vintage maps into prints that look like 3D relief maps. I’m seriously thinking about ordering this Australia map.
  • A song I’m listening to: Jai-Jagdeesh In Dreams from the album Of Heaven & Earth (2013),

Quote I’m Pondering

After a lifetime of hounding authors for advice, I’ve heard three truths from every mouth: (1) Writing is painful—it’s “fun” only for novices, the very young, and hacks; (2) other than a few instances of luck, good work only comes through revision; (3) the best revisers often have reading habits that stretch back before the current age, which lends them a sense of history and raises their standards for quality.

Mary Karr

From My Photo Archives

Pumpkins
Pumpkins, Munich (Germany), November 2018

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The Zone: No. 2 – Oct 22, 2020

22nd October 2020
The Zone
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  1. Welcome To The Zone!
  2. The Zone: No. 2 – Oct 22, 2020
  3. The Zone: No. 3 – Oct 29, 2020
  4. The Zone: No.4 – Nov 5, 2020
  5. The Zone: No. 5 – Nov 12, 2021
  6. The Zone: No. 6 – Nov 19, 2020
  7. The Zone: No. 7 – Nov 26, 2020
  8. The Zone: No. 8 – Dec 3, 2020
  9. The Zone: No. 9 – Dec 10, 2020
  10. The Zone: No. 10 – Dec 17, 2020
  11. The Zone: No. 11, Dec 31, 2020 – Special Edition
  12. The Zone: No. 12 – Jan 7, 2020
  13. The Zone: No. 13 – Jan 14, 2020
  14. The Zone: No. 14 – Jan 21, 2020
  15. The Zone: No. 15 – Jan 28, 2020
  16. The Zone: No. 16 – Feb 4, 2020
  17. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!
Logo of the Zone: black on orange background. Logo design by Mihaela Limberea.

How storyboarding works, The Social Dilemma, cute squirrels and more in this installment of The Zone.

  • A must-see documentary on Netflix: The Social Dilemma. We tweet, we like, and we share — but what are the consequences of our growing dependence on social media? This documentary-drama hybrid reveals how social media is reprogramming civilization with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations. Watch the trailer and learn more here.
  • How storyboarding works. Storyboarding is normally used in movie making, helping visualize the movie in advance, and this is what this article is about. However, I know that some writers use storyboarding as well and I’m thinking about trying it out for my SF novel. I’m a very visual person (photography as a medium came to me naturally), and I think about books in this way too. So using a storyboard when plotting should be helpful, don’t you think?

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Welcome To The Zone!

15th October 2020
The Zone
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  1. Welcome To The Zone!
  2. The Zone: No. 2 – Oct 22, 2020
  3. The Zone: No. 3 – Oct 29, 2020
  4. The Zone: No.4 – Nov 5, 2020
  5. The Zone: No. 5 – Nov 12, 2021
  6. The Zone: No. 6 – Nov 19, 2020
  7. The Zone: No. 7 – Nov 26, 2020
  8. The Zone: No. 8 – Dec 3, 2020
  9. The Zone: No. 9 – Dec 10, 2020
  10. The Zone: No. 10 – Dec 17, 2020
  11. The Zone: No. 11, Dec 31, 2020 – Special Edition
  12. The Zone: No. 12 – Jan 7, 2020
  13. The Zone: No. 13 – Jan 14, 2020
  14. The Zone: No. 14 – Jan 21, 2020
  15. The Zone: No. 15 – Jan 28, 2020
  16. The Zone: No. 16 – Feb 4, 2020
  17. So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!
Logo of the Zone: black on orange background. Logo design by Mihaela Limberea.

Welcome to The Zone, my happy place on the world wide web! Let’s dive into this week’s catch, shall we?

  • A video explaining how the days of the week got their names, something that the language nerd in me always enjoys (an etymologic dictionary is on my Christmas wish list).
  • Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation film studio that gave the world such gems as Spirited Away or My Neighbour Totoro, lets you download for free 400 images from eight of their classic films. They also released for free hundreds of frames for video-chat backgrounds.
  • Whimsical miniature worlds fit for mice created by the Swedish art collective AnonyMouse.
  • Melancholia, a playlist perfectly suited for writing. Or autumn.

Quote I’m Pondering

The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.

 Jessica Hische, American illustrator

From My Photo Archives

Foggy trees in the autumn in Switzerland, photo by Mihaela Limberea
Winterthur, Switzerland November 2018

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