A very simple rule

In this week's newsletter: avoiding despair, reading with a pencil, and more...

In this week's newsletter: a simple rule for avoiding despair, reading with a pencil, and more... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  I have a very simple rule that serves me well: Don't think about your life after dinnertime.   I finished Harvey Pekar's Cleveland, now I'm reading Cynthia Carr's Fire in the Belly: The Life and Times of David Wojnarowicz, which is pretty horrifying so far, as he had a terrible childhood. (I became interested in his work after reading about him in The Lonely City and recently saw his retrospective at the Whitney.) I'm also dipping in and out of Tamara Shopsin's Mumbai New York Scranton. (Arbitrary Stupid Goal was one of my very favorite books I read last year.)    The first step to becoming a writer is becoming a reader, and the next step is reading with a pencil.   Photographer Clayton Cubitt on what it was like to take photos 13 years ago in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. See more in his (nsfw) Instagram stories.   Travel as a political act.   Alexandra Lange, author of The Design of Childhood, on free range kids and how design has shaped kids and kids have shaped design.   The NYPL is posting classic stories on Instagram.   Eye candy: I'm catching up on season 3 of Better Call Saul and it's just great.   Ear candy: Did you know that composer Franz Liszt transcribed all nine of Beethoven's symphonies for solo piano? (Here's Glenn Gould's recording of the Pastoral.)   A dude online told me I was "unread" and a poet I like is "irrelevant" and I kind of wish I could give people like him a hug. 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 PS. It's still seven months from being in bookstores, but here's a first look at the new one: Austin Kleon is the author of Steal Like An Artist and other books. Subscribe to this newsletter   Copyright © 2018 Austin Kleon, All rights reserved. My mailing address is: Austin Kleon 4301 W. William Cannon Dr. Suite B 150 #241 Austin, TX 78749 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.)