testblogegg: Weekly newsletter: Log off, mute all, carry on

This week: chilling out, reading with the seasons, paper as a technology, and more...

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Hey y'all,

Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:

Log off, mute all, carry on.
This week I finished The Importance of Living, a 1937 bestseller that's basically about the ancient Chinese art of chilling out and living a good life. (As needed today as it was 80 years ago!) Will Schwalbe kept mentioning it in Books for Living, so I had to check it out. One thing: If you pick it up, know that Lin Yutang's attitude towards women is pretty sexist. (I might skip chapter 8, about the home, completely.) Still, I think it's a good read. (The only other person I know besides Will who recommended it was the late, great Amy Krouse Rosenthal.)
What you should read, depending on the season.
Lin Yutang wrote that Thoreau was the "most Chinese" American writer, which is funny, because I can't stop reading Laura Walls' new biography. (I've been reading it so much my wife complained that Thoreau's eyes on the cover were creeping her out.)
One way to get unblocked: make something for somebody.
A great interview with cartoonist Chris Ware. (I love what he says about drawing and the fact that he has a picture of Mr. Rogers above his desk.) His new book looks amazing.
Paper is a wonderful technology.
Ear candy: I've been revisiting a favorite record, The Futureheads, and I am unashamed to say that I am a new fan of Carly Rae Jepsen: I can't stop listening to her song, "Cut To The Feeling," and her last record, Emotion. (No guilty pleasures!)
The most hated poet in Portland. (Jon Ronson's great book So You've Been Publicly Shamed seems more and more relevant to me these days...)
The case for RSS. (A reminder: I have this ancient thing called a "blog" that I post to every day...)

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xoxo,

Austin

PS. Steal Like An Artist t-shirts are back on sale for a limited time!!!