The end of the tour

In this week's newsletter: how art changes what you see, reading recommendations, and more...

In this week's newsletter: how art changes what you see, reading recommendations, and more... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, The Keep Going Tour is officially over. Here I am in a post-tornado Iowa City, celebrating with a Butterfinger Blizzard. A huge thank you to everybody who came out. I enjoyed myself, but it's nice to be off the road and back at it. Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  Art changes what you see.   This week I read Tillie Walden's cosmic love comic, On A Sunbeam. It's really good. Check out the New Yorker's profile on the "shockingly young" cartoonist. Gonna be so fun to see what she does yet.    I also read Jaime Hernandez's excellent comic, The Love Bunglers, and the followup, Is This How You See Me? (It took me a while to get into the Love and Rockets oeuvre, but I'm a big fan now.)    From my archives: "We are verbs, not nouns." (This blog post is an example of how much you learn after you put out a book.)   I'm a gigantic fan of the movie Amadeus, so it was illuminating to read Alex Ross's piece about how the composer Salieri got a bad rap and is making a comeback. (I dig how Ross does footnotes on his blog.)    My helpful mantra for travel or doing creative work: "Who cares if I get anywhere?"   I have read Judith Viorst's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day out loud more times than I care to think about, so it was a trip to hear the almost-90-year-old author's life advice.   Ear candy: On my recent trip to Vancouver, I alternated between walking around to Idles' Joy as an Act of Resistance (totally NSFW) and listening to Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II on the plane.   Eye candy: Tuca & Bertie makes me laugh.    RIP writer Tony Horwitz. He was only 60 and died on book tour. (Gulp.) His local paper has a nice obit. I read Confederates in the Attic years ago and my wife was already reading Spying on the South when news of his death came. I want to pick up A Voyage Long and Strange next. 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.)

Wrestling with flowers

In this week's newsletter: how to set up a bliss station anywhere, paying attention, and more...

In this week's newsletter: how to set up a bliss station anywhere, paying attention, and more... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, It's the end of the tour. I'm at Prairie Lights tonight in Iowa City, and next week I'm in Vancouver at DesignThinkers.  Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  All this traveling and talking has me itching to shut up and make some art. The closest I've come recently are these pansy luchadores.   After seeing the Joe Brainard show at Tibor de Nagy last week, I've been re-reading his masterpiece, I Remember, and his collected writings. ("People of the world: RELAX!")   How to set up a bliss station anywhere.    Tim Kreider on why he'd rather have freedom than power. (How is he so good? Do read his wonderful book of essays, We Learn Nothing.)   The darker side of "finding your people."   "To live is to pay attention, and to pay attention is to live." ("To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.")   I don't really play video games much these days, but this gaming system from Panic looks like fun.   Eye candy: The second season of Fleabag is just perfect.    Ear candy: side one of Bill Callahan's new record is streaming on Spotify. If you don't know his work, check out this playlist I made, and read his recent interview with Pitchfork. One of my very favorite songwriters, ever.   You don't have to write about the bad stuff. 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 PS. Have you gotten your copy of Keep Going yet? Bookpage says, "Anyone living any sort of creative life needs this pep talk on their bookshelf." 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.)

Working with time

In this week's newsletter: time worked vs. page count, teaching vs. learning, and more...

In this week's newsletter: time worked vs. page count, teaching vs. learning, and more... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, The Keep Going Tour is winding down. Next week I'm in Houston, Dallas, and Iowa City. Come out and bring a friend! Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  Working with time.   David Bowie's advice to artists: "Go a little out of your depth."   It's a bittersweet thing when I retire a pocket notebook.   How has Danielle Steel written 179 books?   Conan O'Brien on why he decided to settle a lawsuit over joke stealing.   A nice appreciation of Mary Oliver: "Attention is the beginning of devotion." (Remember: "You do not have to be good.")   "Teach em' or learn 'em?" (For me, this is sort of an existential question.)   Eye candy: a visit to artist John T. Unger's studio.   Ear candy: Saint-Saëns' "The Swan."   Everything is walking distance... if you have the time. 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 PS. If you read Keep Going and liked it, please leave it a kind review on Amazon or Goodreads!  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.