Hey y’all,
Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:
- Why I keep a diary and how I keep a diary.
- As for reading diaries, I’m still reading Thoreau’s journal every morning, but I’m also reading the daily entries in The Assassin’s Cloak, “an anthology of the world’s greatest diarists.” Great book.
- I’ve discovered that when I’m deep into a writing project it’s really hard for me to not think about writing all the time, so I have to read novels at night to try to calm down. This week I read Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need Is Kill, which was adapted into the (underrated IMO) movie, Edge of Tomorrow, which is basically Groundhog Day as a war movie. (Heck, Hiroshi even named the female protagonist “Rita”!) Today I got this lovely postcard from London, which I’m taking as a sign I need to finally read Tove Jansson’s Fair Play. (I love her work so much.)
- “I have forgotten how to read.” (Michael Harris mentions Neil Postman — Amusing Ourselves To Death is at the top of my favorite books I read last year.)
- Ahh, the magic of a fresh pack of index cards and pushing them around.
- I loved The Art of Tinkering, a book connected to the Exploratorium’s Tinkering Studio, which I can’t wait to visit with the boys next month when we visit San Francisco for my talk at Bond. (I should note that I discovered the book through Mitch Resnick’s Lifelong Kindergarten, which is very good.)
- The poems of Jack Gilbert. (Need to get his Collected.)
- Ear candy: I don’t listen to much guitar music these days, but I’m making an exception for Superchunk’s terrific new album, What A Time To Be Alive, because I’m interviewing Mac and Laura during SXSW! (I’m totally stoked to talk to them. Planning on re-reading Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records soon. Let me know if you have good questions!)
- Podcast: A long, fantastic interview with Jaron Lanier with an anecdote about an hour in that dropped my jaw. (I liked You Are Not A Gadget, especially this list, and I now plan on picking up his other books.)
- My adventures in taking my 5-year-old to the art museum and trying to help him learn piano.
Thanks for reading! If you like this newsletter, forward it to a friend, buy a book, or tweet me some love.
If you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here.
xoxo,
Austin
PS. JetPens is giving away a copy of The Steal Like An Artist Journal and a bunch of awesome pens and markers. Enter here. And before people complain that it’s for US residents only: Your prize is that you don’t live in the United States right now. (I’m kidding. Sort of.)
PPS. If you hate giveaways, you could just buy the thing it’s only $10. (If you buy it from Bookpeople, I’ll personalize it this weekend while I’m signing stock!)
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