I was so startled to see Sarah Leavitt's name in this post! I took a graphic memoir workshop with Sarah back in 2018, and it's because of her that I ended up employing a lot of graphic memoir in my project and exhibit about my mother's Lewy Body dementia (Life's Work: A Visual Memoir). We've kept in touch but apart from the workshop I've only gotten to hang out with her once, when she came over from Vancouver to see my show. She's a wonderful person. Her first graphic memoir Tangles is being made into a feature-length animated film with some very big names involved: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Abbi Jacobson, Bryan Cranston, Samira Wiley, Beanie Feldstein, Seth Rogen, Wanda Sykes, Bowen Yang, Pamela Adlon and Sarah Silverman!
I’ve been struggling lately with putting too much attention into things that don’t serve me- my Substack is full of political writers and while they are brilliant, it’s not good for my brain to spend too much time there. I’m a teacher, and summer (3 weeks away) offers a chance for a reset. I’ve been thinking about how I can start my day differently, and building a tiny attention cottage that my screens don’t enter seems perfect. Thank you for the perfect thing I was looking for. Have a lovely weekend!
I'm glad you're going to build your attention cottage! I would also make a pitch for chapter two of my book KEEP GOING, which is all about setting up a "bliss station" — a time and place where nobody can get at you, a place where you disconnect from the world to connect with yourself...
I got to talk to some folks, including two scientists, in Los Alamos last year for an article about Oppenheimer’s connection to the Episcopal Church there. I still get goosebumps when thinking about the stories the scientists shared. One was an extra in the film; the other talked about the “old ones,” his name for the original project people who were still at Los Alamos when he began working there. My article doesn’t do justice to all they related. https://livingchurch.org/news/trinity-on-the-hill-serves-the-post-oppenheimer-los-alamos/
I definitely have accumulated a large pile of the imperfect with my writing and drawing. Thanks for the encouragement to continue with the composting. Makes me feel all toasty inside. THIS is the stuff I love, where I feel confident, where I feel loved. It’s like being in the deep end of the pool—plenty of room to dive in, swim—play, essentially—and feel fairly graceful.
Thanks for the reminder on the Beach Boys doc—been on a music doc run lately with a rewatch of Let It Be/Get Back, started the Stax series, caught ENO in the theater, and queueing up that one too!
Music Documentaries -- if you have not seen you must want to see Standing in the Shadows if MoTown -- the story about the MoTown house band--James Jamerson & Co. a.k.a. The Funk Brothers.
Thanks for sharing the post by Alan Jacobs. I had no idea he had a blog, but I am now subscribed to it. I'm a high school teacher and I require my students to read his book "How to Think" as summer reading before their senior year!
Love the concept of the “attention cottage”, also Middlemarch which I read when I was a teenager. My dad had a collection of leather bound Dickens books with tiny, tiny type. I waded through those books! I wouldn’t be able to read them now - the text is too small so I will have to re-read on my Kindle. And my daughter still has those books!
I saw Oppenheimer at the Oriental Theatre in whatever giant mm isn't IMAX. I was very impressed, though I don't love long films. What's funny is that at first I thought it was brilliant that it went silent during the test scene. To me, it seemed to capture how you feel when something so big is happening. But then it turned out that the sound was just malfunctioning, and it was disappointing because we had all just put in 3 hours to miss important parts of the film. When we saw The Zone of Interest and the screen was black at first, I didn't trust my feeling that it was good to just hear the sound.
Austin, thank you. You weave a wonderfully wide web of links that lead to links, ideas that have glanced into my head and gone ignored/ unnoticed, and travels from the attention cottage to Naboth’s vineyard. You have my gratitude and admiration.
I was so startled to see Sarah Leavitt's name in this post! I took a graphic memoir workshop with Sarah back in 2018, and it's because of her that I ended up employing a lot of graphic memoir in my project and exhibit about my mother's Lewy Body dementia (Life's Work: A Visual Memoir). We've kept in touch but apart from the workshop I've only gotten to hang out with her once, when she came over from Vancouver to see my show. She's a wonderful person. Her first graphic memoir Tangles is being made into a feature-length animated film with some very big names involved: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Abbi Jacobson, Bryan Cranston, Samira Wiley, Beanie Feldstein, Seth Rogen, Wanda Sykes, Bowen Yang, Pamela Adlon and Sarah Silverman!
A reader sent me her speech and then I realized we had mutual friends — look forward to digging into more of her work
i recently found out that i was not selected for an award i had made the short list for :|
i made a little bit o' art from some of Sarah's words to help me process my questioning and my disappointment
I’ve been struggling lately with putting too much attention into things that don’t serve me- my Substack is full of political writers and while they are brilliant, it’s not good for my brain to spend too much time there. I’m a teacher, and summer (3 weeks away) offers a chance for a reset. I’ve been thinking about how I can start my day differently, and building a tiny attention cottage that my screens don’t enter seems perfect. Thank you for the perfect thing I was looking for. Have a lovely weekend!
I'm glad you're going to build your attention cottage! I would also make a pitch for chapter two of my book KEEP GOING, which is all about setting up a "bliss station" — a time and place where nobody can get at you, a place where you disconnect from the world to connect with yourself...
I don’t know how this newsletter often proves to be exactly what I didn’t know I needed at exactly the right time. Appreciate you and your brain!
I got to talk to some folks, including two scientists, in Los Alamos last year for an article about Oppenheimer’s connection to the Episcopal Church there. I still get goosebumps when thinking about the stories the scientists shared. One was an extra in the film; the other talked about the “old ones,” his name for the original project people who were still at Los Alamos when he began working there. My article doesn’t do justice to all they related. https://livingchurch.org/news/trinity-on-the-hill-serves-the-post-oppenheimer-los-alamos/
I definitely have accumulated a large pile of the imperfect with my writing and drawing. Thanks for the encouragement to continue with the composting. Makes me feel all toasty inside. THIS is the stuff I love, where I feel confident, where I feel loved. It’s like being in the deep end of the pool—plenty of room to dive in, swim—play, essentially—and feel fairly graceful.
Thanks for the reminder on the Beach Boys doc—been on a music doc run lately with a rewatch of Let It Be/Get Back, started the Stax series, caught ENO in the theater, and queueing up that one too!
Music Documentaries -- if you have not seen you must want to see Standing in the Shadows if MoTown -- the story about the MoTown house band--James Jamerson & Co. a.k.a. The Funk Brothers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_in_the_Shadows_of_Motown
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Funk_Brothers
Bonus tip: Twenty Feet from Stardom, featuring Mary Clayton and a host of other backup singers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_Feet_from_Stardom
Thank you for the Shepard Tone article. Really good.
If you want more audio illusions, check out https://deutsch.ucsd.edu/psychology/pages.php?i=201
Super interesting and in revisiting her page to share, I got reminded of a good piece by Reich.
Different Trains.
He takes snippets of speakers and uses their pitch & cadence for the works motifs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcGqVynCPaw
LOVED the Sarah Leavitt piece and the Alan Jacobs piece! This week was particularly inspiring! Thanks as always.
Thanks for sharing the post by Alan Jacobs. I had no idea he had a blog, but I am now subscribed to it. I'm a high school teacher and I require my students to read his book "How to Think" as summer reading before their senior year!
One of my favorite people — his blog is great, and he is dedicated to it.
Austin, I am thankful for you and your newsletter. Always so great.
Love the concept of the “attention cottage”, also Middlemarch which I read when I was a teenager. My dad had a collection of leather bound Dickens books with tiny, tiny type. I waded through those books! I wouldn’t be able to read them now - the text is too small so I will have to re-read on my Kindle. And my daughter still has those books!
I saw Oppenheimer at the Oriental Theatre in whatever giant mm isn't IMAX. I was very impressed, though I don't love long films. What's funny is that at first I thought it was brilliant that it went silent during the test scene. To me, it seemed to capture how you feel when something so big is happening. But then it turned out that the sound was just malfunctioning, and it was disappointing because we had all just put in 3 hours to miss important parts of the film. When we saw The Zone of Interest and the screen was black at first, I didn't trust my feeling that it was good to just hear the sound.
Austin, thank you. You weave a wonderfully wide web of links that lead to links, ideas that have glanced into my head and gone ignored/ unnoticed, and travels from the attention cottage to Naboth’s vineyard. You have my gratitude and admiration.
Cheers
Half-hour comedies, yes! HACKS, yes! You might enjoy LOOT (APPLE +), or revisit VEEP, the entire series is streaming on MAX.
Have you read the excellent "Walking on Water," by Derrick Jensen? It's a fascinating look at the educational system. Highly recommended!
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/60974