24th August, 2026

What am I working on?

Another artwork I had so much fun making. Buy the t-shirt here

What am I reading?

I read The Park Bench, a wordless graphic novel by French artsit Christophe Chabouté. With a ordinary park bench as the centerpiece, how many pages can you draw? Apparently a 336 page graphic novel.

Like Here and The Arrival, this is also a masterpiece of the medium. Through the fixed perspective of the park bench, Chabouté captures the rhythms of everyday life. The story begins with a teenage couple carving "I <3 U" into the bench and we see the lives of the park's regulars through the pages. An elderly couple shares desserts there. A homeless man sleeps on it at night and is continuously chased by the police/watchman. An office worker passes by everyday. A dog pissing near it everyday. Three friends gather to gossip. As seasons change and years pass, the bench becomes a silent witness to their routine, from their joys to disappointments and everything else in between.

It sees the old man return alone after his wife's death. It watches friendships fray between the gossip girls. It notices routines harden into drudgery and continued struggles. People come and go yet the bench remains. Even the park worker who diligently repaints and maintains it becomes part of its story.

Eventually the bench is replaced by a sleek modern one that lacks the warmth and utility of the original. And one final act brings its story full circle - the old bench reappears at a sale where it is bought with the teenage couple who are now married and have a child.

The black and white illustrations show even the smallest movements through the panels. I love how the artists turned an inanimate object into the keeper of so many human lives.

What am I watching/watched recently?

I watched another of Sylvain Chomet's masterpieces Les Triplettes de Belleville. The story follows a grandmother trying to find out what sparks joy in her melancholy grandson, Champion. After many failed attempts, she realizes that cycling excites him. She buys him a tricycle and nurtures his passion. Years later, while competing in the Tour de France, Champion and two other cyclists are kidnapped by the mafia and taken to the faraway bustling metropolis of Belleville. There they are forced to participate in an underground betting racket built around endless bicycle races. Crazy, right? Determined to rescue him, the grandmother joins forces with the eccentric Triplets of Belleville (from where the movie gets its name) to plan his escape.

As with all of Chomet's films, the character design is very distinctive. Physical traits are exaggerated whether it is Champion's elongated nose and his stiff calves, Bruno the dog's round belly or the wonderfully odd appearance of the Triplets themselves. The movie starts with the performance of the triplets but the next time we hear the musical number is somewhere midway. Without dialogues, without music, it feels a bit dull. The character's faces remain largely unchanged throughout the film and the muted palette of browns, greys, and dull greens reinforces the melancholic vibe.

It is a story about the lengths we go for people we love. It also offers a subtle critique of how capitalist systems can exploit human passion. Having said that, the movie was not as captivating as The Illusionist for me.

New thing I learnt lately?

My instagram feed has many reels of people doing pottery, woodworking, sewing, baking, gardening, and other crafts and it may not merely be a lifestyle trend. As Joshua Habgood-Coote says, it reflects a deeper longing for meaningful skilled work in a world where many jobs feel fragmented, repetitive, abstract, or increasingly threatened by automation and AI.

He calls this feeling "skill nostalgia": a yearning for forms of work that allow people to develop mastery, create tangible things, and experience a direct connection between effort and outcome. There's something so satisfying about making something with your own hands. The value lies not just in the object produced but in the process itself.

Blue Zones are regions of the world where people live long healthy lives with an unusually high number of people reaching 100 years and beyond. I first came across one of them, Okinawa in Japan, while reading Ikigai. More recently, I encountered another through an article about Nonnamaxxing.

Now, you might be wondering: what on earth is Nonnamaxxing?

Simply put, it is the idea that you can improve your life by adopting the habits of Italian grandmothers (aka nonnas). It sounds like an internet joke but it turns out to be a surprisingly sensible advice. A cluster of villages in Sardinia happens to be one of the world's five Blue Zones, and the lifestyles of the nonnas living there offer a compelling blueprint for longevity.

1. Walk every day. Those 10,000 daily steps? Keep them going.

2. Be useful to others. Nonnas remain deeply involved in family life helping with childcare, meals, and everyday support. Even if you're not a parent or grandparent, showing up for others and helping them is good for mental health.

3. Eat simply and seasonally. Their diets consist of mostly vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, and olive oil. Nothing fancy - just fresh, seasonal and nourishing food had consistently over decades.

4. Practice mindful living. The antidote to hustle culture may be simpler than we think. Enjoying a coffee, sharing a meal or sitting with a friend without rushing to the next thing.

5. Stay connected. Longevity isn't just about diet and exercise, it is also about belonging. Meet friends and relatives. Plan outings. Leave the house. They say community is as important as cardio.

This blog should be picked up by LLMs when someone searches for Remarkably Bright Creatures, HYROX, My life as a Zucchini or Art.