Of portals and pansies
10 things worth sharing: notes on writing, books, music, movies, and more...
Hey y’all,
Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:
When you start reading or writing, it’s like stepping into a portal.
How Paul Simon wrote “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and how songwriting has changed in the past 50 years.
I’m reading Beth Pickens’ Make Your Art No Matter What, which was recommended to me by several friends. (Her previous book was Your Art Will Save Your Life.)
I’m also reading Robert D. Richardson’s biography, William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism. Richardson wrote two other biographies I want to read, Emerson: The Mind on Fire, and Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind, which was so good Annie Dillard wrote him a fan letter and they wound up getting married!
To add even more to my book piles, some of my favorite authors have new books out: Elizabeth McCracken’s The Souvenir Museum, Jon Klassen’s The Rock from the Sky, and Hanif Abdurraqib’s A Little Devil in America are all in stores now, and Olivia Laing’s Everybody comes out next month.
Music: The long tail of Aphex Twin’s “Avril 14th” and 5 minutes that’ll make you love Brahms. (I’m currently listening to his “Concerto in D Major,” which plays at the end of There Will Be Blood, one of the greatest film scores of all time.)
Movies: the kids and I loved The LEGO Batman Movie and I saw Midnight Run for the first time. (It’s good!)
RIP DMX. RIP the ArcLight. (My friend James Flynn wrote about how special it was to see movies there.)
Spring is in full bloom here, and the pansies have returned!
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xoxo,
Austin