Who’s having fun?

In this week's newsletter: how to know you're reading the right book, free online art, and more...

In this week's newsletter: how to know you're reading the right book, free online art, and more... View this email in your browser Hey y'all, San Francisco: Hope to see you next week for my talk at Litquake.  Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:  A question I ask myself a lot these days: "Who's having fun?" (I'm having fun adding the wrong words to the four-year-old's drawings.)   How I know I'm reading the right book.   A poem to internalize. (Reading Van Gogh: The Life, I found myself siding with Van Gogh's parents that he should shut up and just try to hold down a job for a while, so I had to switch to something completely different and read Ron Padgett's poetry collection, Big Cabin. I love Padgett's stuff — his Collected Poems is mammoth and great, and if you've ever seen Paterson, Jim Jarmusch asked Padgett to write a bunch of the poems in the movie.)   The Van Gogh museum has a wonderful online print collection. (I especially love all the Hiroshige and Vallotton prints. Still haven't found any of Van Gogh's collages or commonplace books, though. Let me know if you've seen them!)   A 97-year-old professor here in Austin is officially the oldest person to win the Nobel Prize. (Dr. Goodenough, who has the best name, was profiled three few years ago in the NYTimes: "To Be A Genius, Think Like A 94-Year-Old.")   Margaret Atwood recommends one of my favorite books, Lewis Hyde's The Gift. The book has inspired a new film, Gift, which is now screening in select theaters.   A visit to Sandra Boynton's studio.   RIP photographer Jill Freedman. (Her estate has posted a lot of her stuff on Instagram.)   RIP drummer Ginger Baker. (Some clips of him drumming, here.)   Everyone can be Batman. 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 1101 W 34th St Box #102 Austin, TX 78705 Please read this before sending me snail mail! 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.