I don’t want to be the best
10 things worth sharing this week
Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:
The connection between laziness and discipline.
John Warner on building a creative practice.
Books I’m reading: My friend Steven Tomlinson visited the studio and brought me a beautiful copy of Anatomica: The Exquisite and Unsettling Art of Human Anatomy. He also encouraged me to finally pick up the copy of Johan Huizinga’s Homo Ludens that’s been sitting on my shelf unread for years.
A+ comic out this week: The He-Man Effect: How American Toymakers Sold You Your Childhood. I think this is cartoonist Box Brown’s best book yet — well-researched, perfectly paced, clean lines, and fun drawings. It’s especially relevant to the nostalgia-driven Hollywood of the moment. I wrote a bit more about the book in my letter on nostalgia, “These are the good ol’ days.”
Libraries: I think a lot about how much Libby and Hoopla apps have expanded my reading life and helped me read recklessly in the past year. I would’ve loved to have them as a young kid growing up in rural Ohio, so I’m really angry to find out that Mississippi has banned access to those apps for people under 18. (And, oh look, Texas is next.) Not sure what to do about it, but right now I’m checking out the Literary Activism newsletter and their book How To Fight Book Bans and Censorship.
Ear candy: Local Austin, Texas band Being Dead’s record When Horses Would Run is out today. Their live KUTX session was fun: they give me punky Beat Happening vibes and remind me a bit of the garage rock spirit of 2010-era Austin bands like Harlem. (That also just happens to be the last time I was actually somewhat out-and-about and going to shows, so what do I know?) I’m going to bike to record store today and buy the actual vinyl. Hopefully it doesn’t melt…
Eye candy: My ”Printmaking With The Sun” letter brought some really fun cyanotype-based stuff via our chat. A few highlights for me: Jocelyn Mathewes’ Feather Series, Anne Murphy hipped me to this guide to printmaking with turmeric, and for people who want to dive in further, Christina Z. Anderson’s books look good. (I say it all the time, but: We have the best crew.)
TV: I really enjoyed Harrison Ford and the rest of the cast in the series Shrinking.
RIP writer Milan Kundera. From his Paris Review interview: “My lifetime ambition has been to unite the utmost seriousness of question with the utmost lightness of form.”
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xoxo,
Austin
PS. After reluctantly signing up for Threads, I immediately was reminded of this page from Keep Going:
feeling the laziness a lot lately - every night watching the tour de france - it is not summer unless i can hear the commentary of the race, see the incredible countryside and engage in something sporting, even at a distance - i usually avoid sport like things, unless it involves a bike
also really loved John Warner's newsletter, thank you for introducing me to it
"I’ve never known a successful - ARTIST - who sits around waiting for inspiration. They go out and seek it. They walk around a field in a lightning storm wearing a knight’s suit of armor holding a fifty foot long metal poll in one hand and flying a kite with a key attached to the other."
so so good - will be in my commonplace book for today
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