I might regret this

In this week's newsletter: reading to write, how to separate your work from everyone else's, and more...

In this week's newsletter: reading to write, how to separate your work from everyone else's, and more... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  If you want to be a writer, you have to be a reader first. (You can start by reading with a pencil.)   After I wrote about Mary Oliver on paying attention, I decided to re-read her essay collection, Upstream.   Richard Serra on how to separate your work from everyone else's. (I found this quote while reading Leonard Koren's What Artists Do.)    Ursula K. Le Guin's ideal routine.   I'm enjoying book designer Daniel Benneworth-Gray's newsletter, Meanwhile.    My electric toothbrush theory of relativity.   The Cleveland Museum of Art has released over 30,000 public domain artworks for remixing and reuse.    Worth a stream: we were snowed in up on the lake this week, so I watched Desperately Seeking Susan, Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, and Isle of Dogs. (Here's how the sushi-making scene was made.)   Nick Cave on whether AI will ever be able to write a great song.   One reason to get out of bed in the morning. Thanks for reading. If you like this newsletter and want to support it, forward it to a friend, or better yet, buy them a book! If you're seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. xoxo,  Austin Austin Kleon is the author of Steal Like An Artist and other books. Subscribe to this newsletter   Copyright © 2019 Austin Kleon, All rights reserved. My mailing address is: Austin Kleon 19885 Detroit Road Box #222 Rocky River, OH 44116 You're getting this email because you signed up for it at austinkleon.com. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Amazon Affiliate links offset the cost of sending these missives. (And pay for diapers.)

You do not have to be good

In this week's newsletter: Remembering poet Mary Oliver, the connection between pack rats and artists, and more...

In this week's newsletter: remembering poet Mary Oliver and more... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  RIP poet Mary Oliver, who taught us, "You do not have to be good."   On Marie Kondo and the connection between pack rats and artists.   I finished Dougal Robertson's Survive The Savage Sea, which I read only out of curiosity because, as I mentioned last week, it's Nina Katchadourian's favorite book. I wrote a little bit about my favorite passage, which is about when a family moves beyond survival mode.    The bleak brilliance of Nick Drnaso's graphic novels. (I read Sabrina and it was, indeed, bleak and pretty brilliant. Gonna read Beverly next.) Drnaso's excellent publisher, Drawn & Quarterly, just announced their fall lineup and it is so, so good. New books coming from some of my very favorite cartoonists: Lynda Barry's Making Comics, Eleanor Davis's The Hard Tomorrow, Kevin Huizenga's The River at Night... there's even a new Moomin collection!    I enjoyed Roxane Gay's candid year in reading and writing. (I tried a similar format in 2012 and now I kind of want to go back to it! Here are all my year-end reading lists.)   Tough subject: I tried to write about what happens to good teachings when the teacher does bad things.   Streaming on Netflix: I thought Derry Girls was totally hilarious.   I loved John Wick and I loved John Wick 2 and you better believe I'm gonna see John Wick 3.   How the song "Midnight Train to Georgia" started out as "Midnight Plane To Houston."   Feeling depressed? Try drawing a picture of Batman. Or maybe learn 3 chords and start a band. Whatever you do, just keep going. The world is more interesting with you in it. Thanks for reading. If you like this newsletter and want to support it, forward it to someone who'd like it or, even better, buy them a book! If you're seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. xoxo,  Austin Austin Kleon is the author of Steal Like An Artist and other books. Subscribe to this newsletter   Copyright © 2019 Austin Kleon, All rights reserved. My mailing address is: Austin Kleon 19885 Detroit Road Box #222 Rocky River, OH 44116 You're getting this email because you signed up for it at austinkleon.com. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Amazon Affiliate links offset the cost of sending these missives. (And pay for diapers.)

Winter spirit

In this week's newsletter: what I'm reading, listening to, looking at, and more...

In this week's newsletter: what I'm reading, listening to, looking at, and more... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  I start each of my notebooks with a guardian spirit, but my winter notebook went several weeks without one until I saw this picture of Edward Gorey. (From a review of Mark Dery's new bio, Born to be Posthumous.)    I'm reading Survive The Savage Sea, the true story of a family who got stranded for 30 days on a raft in the Pacific Ocean. (I learned about it from artist Nina Katchadourian, who explains why it's her favorite book.)    The music recording app Garageband was released 15 years ago. I wrote about my six-year-old son's obsession with it and why it's one of my favorite pieces of software ever. (Tip for other parents: we're using iOS 12's built-in Screen Time to avoid fights over iPad usage, and it's working pretty well so far.)   "It matters not where or how far you travel... but how much alive you are."   A lot of this rang true: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation. (The book Petersen cites, Malcolm Harris's Kids These Days, is worth reading.)   A recent study showed the median pay for full-time writers is stupidly low, surprising no full-time writer alive. Cartoonist Nate Powell posted about how the numbers work out in comics, and why it's still worth it. (Reading the past two items, I was reminded of the last line of Steve Albini's classic essay about the music industry.)   Something more uplifting: A woman turned a 110-year-old dead tree into a Little Free Library.    Ear candy: we're not even 2 weeks into 2019, and my 2019 playlist already has almost 2 hours of music on it. Phew. (A few of the songs on that musical diary come from Nick Cave's list of "hiding songs.")   ICYMI: here are my 20 favorite reads and 100 things that made my 2018.   Remember: You can always turn around. Thanks for reading. If you like this newsletter and want to support it, forward it to a friend, tweet me some love, or best of all, buy a book! If you're seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. xoxo,  Austin Austin Kleon is the author of Steal Like An Artist and other books. Subscribe to this newsletter   Copyright © 2019 Austin Kleon, All rights reserved. My mailing address is: Austin Kleon 19885 Detroit Road Box #222 Rocky River, OH 44116 You're getting this email because you signed up for it at austinkleon.com. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Amazon Affiliate links offset the cost of sending these missives. (And pay for diapers.)