Austin, I made my first Thanksgiving zine 3 1/2 years ago. I was out of my mind (grief) It sits atop our espresso maker. Your kind gesture affected me in a way that I still find hard to articulate. Gratitude for your zines & the instructions on how to make one. Have a fabulous Thanksgiving (at the kids table)
Interestingly, the Hugo illustration of the octopus was based on an earlier print by Jean Baptiste Vérany -- however Hugo altered the tentacles to depict his initials "V" and "H".
For political reading, I'd like to recommend a book I'm reading right now - Let This Radicalize You, by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba. An excellent book on how to sustain the fight and also sustain each other, and how important it is to nurture you community, always, and how that is a political act.
Excited to do this zine! I'm sending it to all my friends to ask them to do it too.
I'm a high school teacher at a Catholic school where we are required to start every class with a prayer. Every single class, I start by asking my students what they are grateful for, and then we say, "Dear Lord, we thank you for the blessings in our lives and we ask your intercession on behalf of those less fortunate who need your help." Some days getting them to name some things they are grateful for is like pulling today. Today is the last day of classes before Thanksgiving break, so I made copies of your Zine of Gratitude. After the vocabulary quiz, I showed students how to fold and cut them and they spent time completing them. We all really enjoyed it, and now they have a bunch of items they can name next time I ask what they are grateful for. Thank you!
I’m quite skeptical of On Tyranny because I looked at the sample pages (of the graphic edition) and saw that he repeats the debunked results of the Milgram experiments, in which the subject was instructed to give (fake) electric shocks to another participant, supposedly proving that people are willing to obey an authority figure telling them to do terrible things. That the author didn’t fact check this and just repeats the old canard about it leads me to not trust anything in the book. Please listen to Radiolab’s The Bad Show and/or read a review of the book Behind the Shock Machine by Gina Perry.
100 % agreement on Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny. He was interviewed on CBC (Canada) the other week, impressive and likeable person, with brillliant and important ideas, well presented. I got On Tyranny, and oooo, is it ever perfect for the present moment. Yes, get hold of a copy of this book (your local library likely has it, which is where I got mine) and read it soon. I think we are all going to need to sharpen our awareness of our own reactions in these diffucult times.
Have you read The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt? It’s an incredible window into the world of Disney and beyond. Probably my favorite “creatives” book this year.
I too am grateful for your newsletter all the amazing information you share and you for putting it all together. if I had to choose only one substack to read it would definitely be this one. I bought your book last week... keep going. many thanks, and also blessings for you and your family.
I'm grateful to be starting my morning reading this Friday dose of gratitude and interesting things I didn't know about. I'm getting Slick Stix for the adults' table this Thanksgiving!
Forgive me if this has come up before, but on the topic of Disney+ documentaries, have you watched Jim Henson: Idea Man? Wowee zowee!!
Speaking of great books about our astonishing fellow inhabitants on earth - animals- I highly recommend Mama's Last Hug by Frans de Waal.
Thank you for the zine! I printed one out for each guest at my birthday dinner tonight🥳
Re: The Toilers of the Sea -- Part of a new re-issue of classics (with some lovely simple covers) --
https://www.unnamedpress.com/all-books/p/toilers-of-the-sea
https://www.unnamedpress.com/all-books/p/four-book-bundle
Austin, I made my first Thanksgiving zine 3 1/2 years ago. I was out of my mind (grief) It sits atop our espresso maker. Your kind gesture affected me in a way that I still find hard to articulate. Gratitude for your zines & the instructions on how to make one. Have a fabulous Thanksgiving (at the kids table)
Hugo’s house engravings fascinate me.
https://www.maisonsvictorhugo.paris.fr/en/guernesey/house-soul
I’d love to see this in person.
Interestingly, the Hugo illustration of the octopus was based on an earlier print by Jean Baptiste Vérany -- however Hugo altered the tentacles to depict his initials "V" and "H".
The Vérany print can be seen here: https://tresors.nice.fr/oeuvre/aquarelle-sur-papier-d-un-poulpe-tachete-callistoctopus-macropus-risso-1826
I didn’t even notice the V H!
For political reading, I'd like to recommend a book I'm reading right now - Let This Radicalize You, by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba. An excellent book on how to sustain the fight and also sustain each other, and how important it is to nurture you community, always, and how that is a political act.
Excited to do this zine! I'm sending it to all my friends to ask them to do it too.
I have this book on my TBR pile and am looking forward to it!
I'm a high school teacher at a Catholic school where we are required to start every class with a prayer. Every single class, I start by asking my students what they are grateful for, and then we say, "Dear Lord, we thank you for the blessings in our lives and we ask your intercession on behalf of those less fortunate who need your help." Some days getting them to name some things they are grateful for is like pulling today. Today is the last day of classes before Thanksgiving break, so I made copies of your Zine of Gratitude. After the vocabulary quiz, I showed students how to fold and cut them and they spent time completing them. We all really enjoyed it, and now they have a bunch of items they can name next time I ask what they are grateful for. Thank you!
That makes my day! Have a great break and tell them I said hello when you’re back in session
I’m quite skeptical of On Tyranny because I looked at the sample pages (of the graphic edition) and saw that he repeats the debunked results of the Milgram experiments, in which the subject was instructed to give (fake) electric shocks to another participant, supposedly proving that people are willing to obey an authority figure telling them to do terrible things. That the author didn’t fact check this and just repeats the old canard about it leads me to not trust anything in the book. Please listen to Radiolab’s The Bad Show and/or read a review of the book Behind the Shock Machine by Gina Perry.
Not worth throwing out the book over, IMO
Thanks for that information. I'll check it out
Sue
Victor Hugo's drawings are amazing. The ones I've seen are in dark ink, with innovative techniques, all of them impressive. Look them up!
100 % agreement on Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny. He was interviewed on CBC (Canada) the other week, impressive and likeable person, with brillliant and important ideas, well presented. I got On Tyranny, and oooo, is it ever perfect for the present moment. Yes, get hold of a copy of this book (your local library likely has it, which is where I got mine) and read it soon. I think we are all going to need to sharpen our awareness of our own reactions in these diffucult times.
Grateful that I get this email every Friday and it always kick starts some creative wisdom-ish type endeavor for my day and into the weekend
Have you read The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt? It’s an incredible window into the world of Disney and beyond. Probably my favorite “creatives” book this year.
No! Will add it to my stack
I too am grateful for your newsletter all the amazing information you share and you for putting it all together. if I had to choose only one substack to read it would definitely be this one. I bought your book last week... keep going. many thanks, and also blessings for you and your family.
I'm grateful to be starting my morning reading this Friday dose of gratitude and interesting things I didn't know about. I'm getting Slick Stix for the adults' table this Thanksgiving!