One of my favorite reads from last year was Get Jiro, a graphic novel written by Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose and featuring art by Landon Foss. The graphic novel depicts a wild world in which chefs dominate the social fabric like crime lords. There’s a joyful savagery to the story, which opens with aContinue reading “play time”
Category Archives: reading
the doorway
In anticipation of my annual Christmas card, I’ve been tinkering around with songwriting recently. I’ll be honest, it’s miserable and I hate it. The difficultly lies in embracing that fact that I’m not very good at it. As with anything else, you have to allow yourself to be bad at something before you can beContinue reading “the doorway”
recent musings
It’s been a busy couple of weeks. A few highlights:
on being the portal
I’ve written about how the best art acts a portal, transporting us somewhere else entirely. Be it a story that takes us on a journey with its characters or a painting that swallows us whole, we engage with these works to get outside of ourselves. But what if we’re the portals? I’m revisiting Steven Pressfield’sContinue reading “on being the portal”
some assembly required
Maya Angelou famously said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” I’ve been feeling this agony a lot lately. I simply have too many ideas and must often decide what’s worth putting on paper and what isn’t. After finishing Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, I’m especiallyContinue reading “some assembly required”
tomorrow
I recently stumbled upon a letter E.B. White wrote in response to another man’s despair and loss of faith in humanity: Dear Mr. Nadeau: As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing thatContinue reading “tomorrow”
something to lose
I’ve spent a good amount of the last few weeks trying to hold it together. This seems to be the case for most of us these days. Something I’ve found distressing in the midst of it all has been my inability to engage with certain media. Watching TV is often difficult, despite the fact it’sContinue reading “something to lose”
happiness is not bullshit
I was struck by a brief exchange in Ann Lamott’s episode of The Midnight Gospel, which quickly dispels the myth of the tortured artist. “I felt terror that if I stopped drinking, I would never write again,” Lamott muses. “Because I needed the misery. Because I needed that edge. And I needed the shame andContinue reading “happiness is not bullshit”
lessons from Mike Nichols
I finally finished reading Mark Harris’s biography, Mike Nichols: A Life. A few takeaways: “I passionately believe that in art, certainly in theater, there are only two questions…The first question is: ‘What is this, really, when it happens in life?’ not what is the accepted convention…but what is it really like? And the other questionContinue reading “lessons from Mike Nichols”
listening to listen
It seems like most of the time, when I listen to a podcast, it’s to get something out of it. I’m on the hunt for tidbits of creative advice, insight into a craft, or equipment for living life in these trying times. Rarely do I listen just to listen. Marc Maron’s interview with David ChangContinue reading “listening to listen”
joshua chamberlain 