Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:
“Never mind manoeuvres, always go at them.” Given my fondness for literary bromances and Peter Weir’s excellent film adaptation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, I knew it was only a matter of time before I needed to try out Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey–Maturin series of historical novels. I’m now halfway through the first, Master and Commander (published in 1969!), and I have to admit I was unprepared for the level of detail! Parts of it are like reading Ulysses or something — the writing is great, but there’s just this constant stream of nautical terms I don’t know, which is sort of infuriating at first, but also brilliant because it puts you in the dizzying position of Maturin, who is new to the navy. (O’Brian’s first editor, in fact, urged him “to tone down the most obscure allusions, though the books remain crammed with Latin tags, antiquated medical terminology and an endless stream of marvelous sounding but impenetrable naval jargon.”) One reviewer called the books “Jane Austen on a ship of war.” (O’Brian himself was quite a character — he wrote a mammoth biography about his neighbor, Pablo Picasso!)
“About twenty-five years ago I stopped composing at the keyboard and switched over to fountain pen on paper. Since then I have written many thousands of pages that way.” Neal Stephenson on how to write by hand. My fountain pens are all clogged at the moment, so I’ll drop a spoiler: “In all honesty, the Pilot G-2 gel pens are going to give you 80% of what you could expect from a fountain pen for minimal cost.” (I’m currently writing in my diary with brush pens modded with color inks.)
A.M. viewing: Sometimes when I’m up in the middle of the night, I will watch a Jacques Tati movie, as they’re almost silent films. I loved Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953) and Mon Oncle (1958.) I’ve been sleeping pretty well lately, but next time I’m up I’m going to start Playtime (1967).
After reading and enjoying Steven Hyden’s forthcoming book about The Strokes, I chased it with his book on Radiohead’s KID A. Both were formative records for me that came out when I was finishing high school and starting college — it was extra fun to read the books in this order because the seed for the Strokes book is actually in the KID A book. (Very pleased to announce that Steven and I are going to do a Substack live on September 14 — so much to discuss!)
“Hope is a method: If I do something about this situation, I might change it enough so that I can do something else about this situation.” Cory Doctorow on why he believes in hope, not pessimism or optimism. (I saw him talk about this while promoting his new book, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI.)
A question from the mailbag: “Did you keep a bunch of your kids’ art? Do you have any suggestions for how to keep kids’ artwork? I have a four-year-old and it’s piling up — I want to preserve it, but I’m also running out of room…”
I cannot sing enough of the simple pleasures of date stamps. (I recommend the Trodat 5030 Professional. KA-CHUNK!)
Just for fun: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail.
W.S. Merwin: “The palm is in no hurry / to be different / and it grows slowly / it knows how to be a palm…” I’ve started following The Merwin Conservancy on Instagram, as they share poems like “Eyes of Summer.” (What a dream it would be to visit on Maui someday!)
“Forget about being correct. The muse hates correct.” RIP singer-songwriter Glen Hansard.
“Here’s what I’m trying to do with my life and my work. I’m trying to fully integrate everything. So the transition from work to play to everyday life is all seamless. So that it’s all one thing. There’s no difference between living and making art…” A typewriter interview with cartoonist James Kochalka:
Thanks for reading. If you’d like to support this hand-rolled publication, buy my books and become a paid subscriber:
xoxo,
Austin
PS. Tomorrow is August, a month I have very little use for, but here’s a 31-day “Practice and Suck Less” challenge if you want it:
I used to be a total Pilot G2 girl, but I've switched over to Tul pens because they're the same quality but the ink doesn't stay wet for so long. And Merwin! I met him at an event in Berkeley and asked him to sign my book, and he was so gracious. He signed it, and then corrected a one-letter typo that appeared in the middle somewhere. Gorgeous poems combined with his environmental work makes him one of my heroes.
Love the date stamps. As for Aubrey-Maturin, I’ve only read the first one, and, while I enjoyed it, I definitely had some moments of imagining O’Brien saying over my shoulder: “I’ve suffered to compile all this research for my art…now it’s your turn.”