17 Comments

I hit 40 a few months ago. The outlook has been rather lovely over this side of the hill.

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Austin, non-sequitur, but I read this book review and thought it might be something you would enjoy given the concept. It's somewhere between a collage and a supercut. My copy just arrived and it's next on my pile. It's called The Nature Book by Tom Comitta.

https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/searching-for-unfamiliar-terrain-in-the-nature-book

The Nature Book https://a.co/d/72IwLGE

Full disclosure, Tom was a neighbor as a kid.

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Thanks Austin! This newsletter never fails to amazes me every time!

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Congrats on a mil, Austin!

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Apr 7, 2023Liked by Austin Kleon

A few add-ons:

1. Austin's Q&A is with the Sequential Artists Workshop who also run the INCREDIBLE Cartoon Cereal Party every other Saturday, the next one is 4/15. Many of the classics plus fun obscurities from the '30s-'70s, definitely in the young Boomer/older Gen-X wheelhouse.

https://members.sawcomics.org/events/saturday-morning-cartoons

2. Lots of great Seymour Stein and Ryuichi Sakamoto tributes on WFMU, here are two, 3 hours a piece. There's also a couple of Stein interviews in their archives.

https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/126356 (Stein)

https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/126427 (Sakamoto)

3. Co-sign on Austin's bike lessons (though I don't have a bike gang and do engage in "vanity and wankery" rides...and he's not wrong) and will add to #9 ("Look out for dogs, children, and Lexuses") that you should keep your wits about you around garage sales as drivers make some impulsive, no-signal decisions to pull over and stop!

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Your comments on Friday are always MVP status, Joe! Thank you

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Aw, thanks! I really hope these come off like an improv “yes, and...” or “for further reading” and if they don’t, I’ll quietly stand down :)

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Apr 7, 2023Liked by Austin Kleon

Thanks for sharing Walk it Off. Such a cool blog!

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Your note on going a step deeper with inspiration reminds me of a bit of advice I got from my fashion design professor at Parsons.

She had a "reference from 2" rule - If you designed a collection inspired by the 20s, it's going to be too literal.

But if you asked yourself "What if 80s hip hop existed in the 20s", now you have an interesting original premise.

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Oh I like that! Have you written about this anywhere?

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Apr 7, 2023Liked by Austin Kleon

Today's newsletter reminds me of when in my late twenties I said to my now-husband "I love when I get an issue of Harper's and I'm like 'air craft carriers--who cares?', but then I read it and am totally sucked in and blown away." Your Lilo and Stitch digging - fascinating; your link to the "how to draw a dragon"-delightful; your approaching middle age reflections - sage (even though I'm gonna turn 50 in June and that's a whole deal!) Long winded way of saying this was a lovely newsletter filled with lovely posts and I'm glad your well is full and that your curiosity is taking you down these delightful paths!

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😊🙏

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Thank you for bringing the Roger Ebert drawings back to mind for me. I had almost forgotten he had done that. It's fascinating work and a nice reminder for me to stop trying to be a perfectionist and instead just make the work in the best way I can... for me.

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My quote for my current journal is from James Victore “But you know what’s better than perfect? Done. Done is better than prefect"

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I've been trying so hard to tell myself that for a little over two decades now. Still tryin!

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Yay! Glad you’re making a lot now! Good things come from being prolific.

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Your header art hit me hard this morning.

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