iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Replies

sys.del @delexandra.com · 07/06/2026

in my early teens, someone important to me lost his father to mental illness. we began to spend lots of time listening to his dad's old records on a turntable in his bedroom. that's how i met steely dan. not long after, this dropped: fagen's self-described "death album". The Night Belongs to Mona…

album artwork for Morph the Cat by Donald Fagen. Fagen is seated facing toward us in a chair next to a radiator in the corner of a room. he is looking down and slightly to our left, perhaps at the other corner, but it seems more of a thousand yard stare. he is pensive and his hands are folded. he is wearing a suit. the room appears dark and unlit from within, but sunlight is streaming in from a window to his right: just enough to illuminate him and the desk to his left as well as an ornate rug on the floor. underneath the rug, the floor bears a medium checkerboard pattern. the desk is filled with many items loosely arranged along the back against the wall: a desk lamp with a long articulated arm, cups that appear full of paintbrushes and other implements, a large glass paperweight, a thick book opened to its midpoint, a small tissue box, and many more items that are difficult to identify. there is a framed print hanging on the wall behind the desk, but the high contrast of shadows and glare on its surface render it difficult to make out. high above fagen's head, in white lettering is his name DONALD FAGEN, and on the wall behind him to his right the album title is printed vertically:

M
o
R
P
H
THE
C
A
T

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sys.del @delexandra.com · 07/06/2026

i love the title track for it's *dark christmas sound* and surreal lyrics. so, morph, you see, he's this strange shape up in the sky above nyc. he glides like a blue cloud, oozes down the heating duct, and seeps out through the wall. kind of like an arctic mindbath: cool, sweet, slightly rough? yeah

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sys.del @delexandra.com · 07/06/2026

once i'd skip The Great Pagoda of Funn; i found it both overly dark (with psycho moms, dying stars, and dirty bombs) and trite (funn? really). but in my late 20s it grew on me and now it feels all too real, moms stars bombs and all. and retreating to simple joy with a lover seems *just* the ticket.

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