24 Comments

Love Severance and love those tidbits. I went to college with Dan Erickson and while he was there he also did a play that also has elements of the show in it too. He talks about it here: https://window.wwu.edu/mind-severance

I love this idea of a great idea or piece of art being made up of all these other little pieces of art or ideas. Excited to see the next season!

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Hi Austin - I was recently directed to your blog post: Indexing, filing systems, and the art of finding what you have. I am trying to start a filing system for my readings for work - books, articles, etc. I am so confused about how to start labeling the cards- what if a card fits into two different categories- how to cross reference them? It seem so confusing. I tried following Scott P. Scheper's Antinet system but its really confusing. Any guidance as to how I can just get started? Thanks so much - Andrea Tomberg

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Looking forward to listening to Nurturing Your Inner Child. I’m toying with recording an album, or make a series of at- home videos of Lullabies for Grown-Ups. Something I think we could all use right now.

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I just found out about the existence of Dean Martin's SLEEP WARM:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_Warm

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Wow! How did you find this? I know some of these songs, but I'm particularly interested in hearing the title song- I'm a huge fan of the Bergman's lyrics.

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I really love George Saunders—especially LINCOLN IN THE BARDO and SWIMMING IN A POND IN THE RAIN. This book is like taking one of his collage classes using Russian literature. He’s great to see in person as well—just a lovely man. I always feel extra smart after I’ve read his books.

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The list of 100 quotes were great. I’m using them as I work on my book. Although 101 would have been great also with a quote by yours truly on writing. IMHO

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what would the quote be?

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I was hoping you’d have a good one for future writers. Or maybe a quote about age and writing. I’m 70 planning on writing my first book.

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The korean adds a beautiful visual element to the cover.

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A suggestion for family movie night: Ernest & Celestine. Have you seen it? The animation is wonderful and unexpected. Our whole family enjoyed it

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never even heard of it! Looking up now

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What a beautiful poem, and I love your quotes! I have a poetry journal where I write my (questionable) poetry on the right side of the pages, then put in my favorite poems on the left side of the pages. It keeps me constantly seeing the ones that I quote there so I don't forget those little nuggets of gold!

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You must have read the book High Fidelity by Nick Hornby.

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I felt like that novel could have been about me when I read it.

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So true. I started thinking of my life in Top 5’s 😀

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Oh yes. And watched the movie about a bazillion times when I was a teenager

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Same!

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I do love George Saunders. I highly recommend 'A Swim in a Pond in the Rain' - in which he analyses some classic Russian short stories and looks at what makes them great, and how to write short stories yourself. All done in a really interesting, accessible and stimulating way.

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Zipping to your footer and "Keep Going" in Korean: love your name translation—the "symbols" and yellow graphiic design. How cool is that?

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I love the comment about driving across Texas. I’m going to steal that analogy in other circumstances.

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Tom Hanks has 300 typewriters in an exhibit in Sag Harbor.....

ttps://galeriemagazine.com/tom-hanks-typewriters-exhibit-sag-harbor/

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Concerning driving in Texas.

I was born in Arkansas, but I had family in Texas, so we had to go there from time to time.

On one trip, we met a Texan who told us we could drive all day and still be in Texas. We were not impressed. He said we could drive all day and all night and still be in Texas. We didn’t think much of that either. Finally, the Texan said we could drive all day and all night and all the next day, and still be in Texas.

Finally, my old man spoke.

“Son, we got cars that slow in Arkansas, too.”

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“A lot of people leave Arkansas and most of them come back sooner or later. They can’t quite achieve escape velocity. I expect it’s much the same everywhere.”

—Charles Portis, The Dog of the South

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