Thank you for sharing the news about Alan Blackman, a true artist of letters. My dad, now 93, was a calligraphy student of his many, many years ago. I hope he saved some of their mail correspondence!
"Writing books, making art, recording music… it’s all a lot easier when you don’t know what you’re doing. Better yet if you don’t know that you don’t know what you’re doing." So true.
So now I have to read Middlemarch. But Austin, 36 is not middle age. I’m in my 60s and I was in my 50s and still didn’t think about middle age yet lately all the youngsters seem to talk about is middle age! What is going on?
Yes I get it. What I’m saying is I think middle age is a state of mind. Though I do get what you’re saying. I’m not a fan of statistics in general. Do you FEEL middle aged? I guess I never identified with that descriptor because I never felt it and still don’t , at least not often. Mid life crisis used to be a thing but that was more like age 50. Anyway, this is all subjective for me. Thanks for the reply.
Well, now I see where you’re coming from… and I’m very happy for you! [LOL!] (and yes, I feel middle aged, in the spiritual Jungian sense of, “now what?”)
Unrelated to this week’s newsletter, but I know we’ve talked about maps a lot here—just got back from my local indie bookstore where I found the cutest and coolest paper maps based on literary classics like Pride & Prejudice, the Odyssey, Frankenstein, Treasure Island and more.
I taught myself calligraphy (uncial, mostly) years ago. I come back to it periodically. Blackman's work is so inspiring! I'm going to dig out my calligraphy pens and keep them handy...Thanks!
How Soon Is Now, by The Smiths quotes Middlemarch. "I am the heir of nothing in particular..." Good on you for finishing! I could not get past the first part...
Thank you for sharing the news about Alan Blackman, a true artist of letters. My dad, now 93, was a calligraphy student of his many, many years ago. I hope he saved some of their mail correspondence!
Oh wow! Blackman’s stuff is so wild. Love it.
"Writing books, making art, recording music… it’s all a lot easier when you don’t know what you’re doing. Better yet if you don’t know that you don’t know what you’re doing." So true.
So now I have to read Middlemarch. But Austin, 36 is not middle age. I’m in my 60s and I was in my 50s and still didn’t think about middle age yet lately all the youngsters seem to talk about is middle age! What is going on?
Eliot died when she was 61! Life expectancy for a male in my zip code is barely 80 years. Statistically, I’m in the middle of my life.
Yes I get it. What I’m saying is I think middle age is a state of mind. Though I do get what you’re saying. I’m not a fan of statistics in general. Do you FEEL middle aged? I guess I never identified with that descriptor because I never felt it and still don’t , at least not often. Mid life crisis used to be a thing but that was more like age 50. Anyway, this is all subjective for me. Thanks for the reply.
Well, now I see where you’re coming from… and I’m very happy for you! [LOL!] (and yes, I feel middle aged, in the spiritual Jungian sense of, “now what?”)
Ha! I feel that way a lot. So maybe I do feel middle aged! 😉😂
Unrelated to this week’s newsletter, but I know we’ve talked about maps a lot here—just got back from my local indie bookstore where I found the cutest and coolest paper maps based on literary classics like Pride & Prejudice, the Odyssey, Frankenstein, Treasure Island and more.
https://literarymaps.com
These are fantastic!
Aren’t they? The Pride and Prejudice one is pretty neat, standard map of locations on the front, the back has a character map (relationships, etc.)
OK, commenting a month and a half late! But a) Thank you for the link to Alan Blackman's work! Really cool stuff. and b) The colash was also once colloquially known as the "dog's bollocks" for, um, obvious reasons (https://web.archive.org/web/20141122150147/http://bygonebureau.com/2010/01/20/the-secret-history-of-typography-in-the-oxford-english-dictionary/). I once wrote an entire post about it for my long-ago blog Like Fire, now lost to the ages, sadly.
I taught myself calligraphy (uncial, mostly) years ago. I come back to it periodically. Blackman's work is so inspiring! I'm going to dig out my calligraphy pens and keep them handy...Thanks!
How Soon Is Now, by The Smiths quotes Middlemarch. "I am the heir of nothing in particular..." Good on you for finishing! I could not get past the first part...
One of your "richer" 10-lists I think Austin. This will keep my inner link-explorer busy for days. 😎
Love #3! Commash! I definitely overuse the em-dash in my writing.