Category: Culture

I’m not sure that listening to august – a very sad song – multiple times a day, every day, is doing good things for my brain. Obviously, I love the song. I wouldn’t be doing this series if I didn’t. I’ve listened to it countless times over the four years since its release, and I … Continue reading august 6: Indulgent Melancholy

I’ve finally given myself a bit longer to write one of these posts, so I’m going to explore a topic I find particularly interesting, in the hope that I can take this opportunity – which I rarely afford myself – to actually consider it in adequate depth, and maybe even come close to doing it … Continue reading august 5: Asymmetry

I am, once again, writing this post with less than an hour left of the day. Old habits die hard I suppose. I never was particularly good at getting ahead on my work, even (maybe especially) on days like today, with zero plans or obligations. Oh well. I’ve spoken about the presence of hope and … Continue reading august 4: Delusion and Hindsight

I have even less time today than I had yesterday, so this will have to be a quick one. There are only a few distinct images in august, but they’re so important to the song, underpinning its ability to transport you into its nostalgic and . From the beginning, the song transports us: “Salt air, … Continue reading august 3: Imagery

It’s day 2 of the august series, and I’ve already procrastinated to such a degree that it’s 11pm and I’ve only got an hour to write the post, so we’re off to a flying start. Start off how you mean to continue, I suppose; there was never any prospect of me putting these posts together … Continue reading august 2: Nostalgia

I don’t intend to go through august line-by-line, sequentially, for a month. I spoke in my introduction about needing constraints to enable creativity, but I think that would be a step too far. However, for the first post, it feels fitting to open alongside the song, and wrtite about the introductory sound. I’m not even … Continue reading august 1: Shivering Strings

In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the author (a professor) recounts a tale about one of his students. This student, the tale goes, was dilligent and hardworking, but lacked creativity. She had an assignment to write 500 words about the United States, but could think of nothing to say. The professor suggested narrowing … Continue reading august 0: Why?