Doing what gives you goosebumps

10 things worth sharing: goosebumps, Sparks, Cool Tools, and more...

Hey y’all,

Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week: 

1. What if it’s just about doing what gives you the goosebumps?
    

2. I’m casting around for my next read. Good options: something from Ted Gioia’s “Year of Horrible Reading” or Legs McNeil’s top 10 rock and roll books. (I also splurged and bought the entire run of these Christmas ghost stories illustrated by the cartoonist Seth.)  
    

3. This week’s major inspiration: “You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.”
    

4. Input as collage (in the brain).
    

5. Nostalgia bomb: The first 2 hours of MTV.
    

6. Netflix: like the rest of the world, we binged Squid Game in a few nights. (I wished the ending was shorter and more mysterious.)  
    

7. Must-see movie: I absolutely loved Edgar Wright’s documentary, The Sparks Brothers. I have no great love for Spotify as a company, but I’m intrigued by the “music + talk” feature that’s on great display with this feature of Wright introducing his favorite Sparks songs. (FWIW, My favorite Sparks song is “Sherlock Holmes” off Angst in my Pants.)
    

8. Podcast: The legend is that John Lennon once called Ringo Starr after seeing Sparks on Top of the Pops and said, “You won’t believe what’s on television — Marc Bolan is playing a song with Adolf Hitler.” Lennon is the most recent guest on the first posthumous episode of Song Exploder. (My reaction to the episode had a perfect 3-act structure.)
    

9. Interview: I’ve rarely had as much fun recording as I did with Cool Tools.
    

10. You can’t create under surveillance.

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xoxo, 

Austin

PS. Time to get signed books for the holidays!