Everything is a song

10 things worth sharing this week

A book truck at the Austin Public Library

Hey y’all,

It’s hot as Arrakis in Texas and “my idols are dead and my enemies are in power.” Here are the 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:

1. “I take myself more serious as a songwriter than anything else, and if I had to give up every other part of the business, I would choose to be a writer. Because that’s my therapist. My guitar is my friend. Anything that I feel, that I’m going through…. Everything is a song to me.” RIP country legend Dolly Parton, who spent her life making music and sending books into the world. So many people have said so many beautiful things about her in the past few days, so I’ll just add: my favorite song of hers is “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?” (Watch her do it on Johnny Carson in 1977.)
   
   

2. “Bring on Picasso, bring on Matisse, bring on anybody! I would stand up to them all with a single polka dot.” RIP artist Yayoi Kusama.

   
   

3. “I spent a long time trying to talk myself out of it, because everybody else was trying to.” RIP actor Tim Curry. (I remember Muppet Treasure Island as a solid pizza night pick, but I don’t think we’ve watched Clue yet!)
   
   

4. Online event: I’ll be talking about my notebooks and my daily practice as part of the Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference, Sept. 15-19th, with folks like Amy Tan, Ed Yong, Robert Macfarland, and Grant Snider. If you’re a notebook nerd, join us! I made a short reel as a teaser:

5. I wrote about my new drawing toy: The Doomscroller. Here’s another video of me using it:

   
   

6. “Almost every artist was a copyist up until the 20th century because as a painter you would go through certain exercises to learn how to paint. You haven’t begun to see a painting until you’ve copied it.” The art of the copyist.

   

7. A new favorite (old) word of mine is “clanker,” “a derogatory term for robots and AI technology.” (See: “The Bartleby Option” and Paul McCartney on the importance of playing “defeat the machine.”)

   
   

8. Mel Brooks’ favorite movies. (My favorites of his favorites: Double Indemnity, This Is Spinal Tap, Dolemite Is My Name, and When Harry Met Sally…)
   
   

9. Trailer: I was a fan of How to with John Wilson, so I’ll definitely be going to see his new movie, The History of Concrete.
   
   

10. Your assignment this week: Check your air filters!

    

Thanks for reading. If you’d like to support this human-made, hand-rolled, anti-clanker publication, buy my books and become a paid subscriber:

xoxo,

Austin