Spin art
10 things worth sharing: centripetal and centrifugal forces, indexing and filing systems, and more...
Hey y’all,
Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:
The centripetal and centrifugal forces in our creative work.
I’m excited to see so many signups for my new book club! I know some folks had questions, so I updated my post to try to make things clearer. (If you have any other questions, contact Literati and they’ll get you sorted out!)
“A good idea is not of any use if you can’t find it.” I wrote about the indexing and filing systems of several writers and comedians and the art of finding what you have.
Comics: Jillian Tamaki on artist Ruth Asawa. (Asawa’s biography was on last year’s favorite books list.)
The director of Three Identical Strangers made a list of 15 things he wishes he knew about documentary filmmaking when he first started out. (See also: “Making unreal films.”)
Poetry: “All I wanna do is have a little fun / Before I die.”
Watching: I asked Twitter for something fun to watch, and Sing Streetdelivered. (The Mitchells vs.The Machines also fit the bill.) And while I wouldn’t call it “fun,” everyone was right about the greatness of Sound of Metal.
Podcast: In Keep Going, I wrote that I’d rather read an “8 over 80” list than a “30 under 30” list, so I can’t wait to make some time to listen to Max Linsky’s new 70 Over 70 podcast. (Some related reading: “At 75, my mother decided to play Red Dead Redemption.” [If that essay seems unusually thoughtful and well-written, the mother is Jessica Hoffmann Davis, author of several books on the arts and education.] Three cheers for curious elders!)
RIP Spencer Silver, inventor of the Post-It note. RIP actor Charles Grodin. (If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend Midnight Run.) RIP composer Yoshi Wada.
It is so good to see new growth outside. Makes me hopeful for some inside.
Thanks for reading. If you like this newsletter, you can help it keep going: forward it to someone who’d like it, read my books, shop for some of my favorite gear (I get a cut), buy a t-shirt, or hire me to speak.
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xoxo,
Austin
