Song Reader party, new Civil Wars + Much Ado, zesty salad

I don't know about the rest of you, but most creative projects involve a strange emotional ricochet from enthusiastic beginnings to disinterest and procrastination, usually overcome with prayer and a decent stint of teeth-gritting, imperfect drafting that finally results in rediscovery of the initial delights and eventual, satisfied completion. Thus, today's profile of an award-winning ophthalmologist, "Choosing Marriage Over the Mission Field," began with an interview in November, progressed to a pitch in January and finally emerged from my laptop earlier this week after a long stint of stalling.

Once I got past the grinding start of the writing, Dr. Kietzman's story reminded me how much I enjoyed hearing it for the first time in Chicago, last fall. You don't always get to hear about someone's life at such length, but mine is the richer for having heard part of his fascinating, courageous journey. (See also my first story on him, for work, which focused more on the medical side of things.)

Lastly, I keep forgetting to mention this, but I recently updated the music-venues page on the artRecs blog. Though it's not a complete list, it provides a decent run-down of most major venues in the area, including nearest BART station (where applicable), parking, box office hours/tips for avoiding service fees and so on. Here's wishing you all a lovely weekend whatever you're up to!

:: Song Reader party June 28 ::

• It's finally happening! Eric and Shea will graciously open their home on Friday, June 28, for musicians (and a few music appreciators, like you) to come sightread through Beck's new, all-sheet-music album, Song Reader. If you want to join us as a performer, there's a Google doc for people to sign up for songs and parts. (I'm not asking for note-perfect readings, but ideally you'll run through the chosen parts a few times beforehand.) Hope to see you there! More details to come as the date gets closer.

:: your stuff ::

• Matt's documentary short on Dave Young Kim's Oakland mural, Eighth Street, debuts at the Parkway, June 22! Don't miss it.
• Laura recently made her debut on the Christianity Today website, profiling Bay Area anti-trafficking worker Betty Ann Boeving for CT's "This Is Our City" project.

:: visual art & film ::

• Joss Whedon has a new adaption of Much Ado About Nothing out and, though I'm a huge fan of the Kenneth Branagh version, initial reviews are very good. A.O. Scott called it the "most purely delightful movie I have seen so far this year." Anyone else want to see it, perhaps this weekend?
• Can murals curb graffiti? These SF business owners hope so (SFgate).
• Discovered at 64: I still need to read this, but I love stories about artists getting discovered late in life -- not because I rejoice in the delay, of course, but it's nice to be reminded that life's drama doesn't contain itself to our early years and abandon us once the wrinkles set in. And who's to say what could come of works we quietly toil at, unnoticed, for years?
• LA's Craft and Folk Art Museum gets yarn bombed (Huffington Post).

:: tunes ::

• Preview the new Civil Wars album! Hear their first single, "The One that Got Away"
• Elvis Costello and the Roots team up for an album due out in September (SFgate).
• Paul McCartney on Colbert: Presently on my to-watch list, but Paste liked it and when does Colbert ever fumble such things?
  

:: reading/food for thought ::

• A fascinating look at art/restoration in the digital age: "[W]hen a Web-based work becomes technologically obsolete, does updated software simply restore it? Or is the piece fundamentally changed?"
• This interview on comedy and faith with the RUF minister known on Twitter as Prodigal Sam provoked quite an online dust-up recently, with Patton Oswalt lashing out and so many people jumping into the plagiarism debate that Prodigal Sam later announced a break from Twitter altogether. All that notwithstanding, his comment that's it harder to be funny without vulgarity particularly resonated with me (not that I see myself as a comic writer). On a related note: this piece on plagiarism, homage and laziness reckoned thoughtfully with the larger issues raised by the controversy.

:: food ::

• New cocktail bar Novela features menu inspired by reading. Maybe I'll try to go there for my birthday....
• For several months now, I've been getting a CSA box every three weeks. For the most part it's great (you can choose the frequency of delivery and rule out fruits or veggies you hate), but they always bring me carrots, and sometimes radishes. Since I only use these in certain recipes, they often get gnarled and soft before I have a chance to use them. So last weekend I looked up recipes and discovered this easy carrot-radish salad -- super quick if you have a food processor to grate for you. With a light sprinkle of curry powder and a dab of hot sauce, it was quite delicious.

Oakland doc screening, summer mixtape + a retro cooking essential

If I were my uncle, I might start this by wishing you a happy Memorial Day Cain (just as Saturday was Memorial Day Adam), but that would be a lazy way to start things. Lazy could never describe the writing of Mary Roach, however, as I note in my review of her new book Gulp. My copy's currently out on loan -- should you want to borrow it -- but it made me want to read more of her books.

And in a very different kind of science review, my second piece for the Atlantic looks at a novel view of debt put forth in Mating Intelligence Unleashed: 'Overspending Has Become a Modern Form of Mating Deception.' I'll have more to come on that book.

Otherwise, I'm between book reviews, which means tonight's commute presents a choice of knitting or a mystery. Currently reading my third Cliff Janeway novel, part of a series set in the rare books world that I'm really enjoying.

:: your stuff ::

• Matt's documentary film about Dave Young Kim's Oakland mural work — Eighth Street — debuts at the Parkway on June 22 at 3 p.m. Will you be there? I sure plan to. The clip looks great. Buy tickets
• Carolyn has a gig at the Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph, June 26. Buy tickets

:: tunes ::

• New First Listen: You probably haven't heard of the Spanish singer Buika, but that shouldn't stop you from giving her new album a listen. Getz and Gilberto are usually my go-to soundtrack for those summer nights when I have time for a little reading and a glass of sangria before sunset ... but they might get bumped by her album this year.
• Yes, there are subway-busker auditions, as this piece in the Journal recounts.
• 65 free songs! Noisetrade has pulled together an expansive summer mixtape so big, I almost feel guilty sharing it. Let it inspire you to tip your favorite artists generously!
  

:: visual art & film ::

• Until reading this story, I'd never thought much about the typical handicap logo and what it implies. This was a fascinating look at how graphic designers gave the symbol a more-active update that's being adopted in New York City.
• This NYT profile of the painter Eric Fischl, known for doing celebrity and beach-side portraits, included a shout-out to my old boss, Peter Halley. You can view quite a number of his portraits on his website.
• Whether or not you've seen his films, these Tarkovsky polaroids are pretty nice. If you want to see more of them, or see them closer up, you can buy the book from which they're excerpted: Instant Light.
• The Google Doodle for May 8 featured the work of designer Saul Bass, known for his work on the opening titles of films. See 10 of his best titles.
• I haven't watched this yet, but Jimmy Fallon's lip-synch off with John Krasinski sounds promising. 
• A controversial New York photography show raises questions of possibly privacy violation (LA Times)

:: reading/food for thought ::

• Fresno appoints its first poet laureate -- and it's not the only city to do so (NYT)
• Mako Fujimura's address to Messiah College graduates: "Would you give your life for beauty?"
• Jon Ortberg wrote a rich and moving tribute to Dallas Willard (author of Spirit of the Disciplines and other books) -- worth reading whether you know his work well or not. Mark Scandrette had a nice tribute as well that provided a very different perspective.

:: food ::

• As 1950s as this might sound, it's hard to beat the payoffs a good crockpot provides. Meal prep rarely takes longer than a few minutes (depending on how much chopping's involved), then you turn it on in the morning and come home to a nice, flavorful supper. This coming weekend, I plan to try this promising-looking recipe for slow-cooker chicken paprikash, since my folks will be in town and I've got a busy Sunday scheduled.