Isak's Blog

Happy Friday,

Cue the music, brew that pot. When did summers get so busy, and how is it already late July! I’m trying to soak in some sunny days, but they’re passing me by.

Here are 10 interesting things worth sharing this week:

1. “Writing is hard because your human brain, the one that’s been running and updating the biological human survival software for roughly 200,000 years, is genuinely convinced that putting words on a page might kill you.” There’s neuroscience behind why our brain sees writing as quietly dangerous and how meditation can help.
2. Hot people read books, as it turns out. It’s funny how we collectively lament the end of reading thanks to social media and AI, but simultaneously there are so many book clubs and buzz over new subgenres.
3. The Lo-Fi Cinema YouTube channel have the best video essays about the creative process and identity, and their latest about uncertainty and rigidity in your artistic path really hit home for me. It reminds me of a Rumi quote I stumbled upon this morning, serendipitously: “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”
4. Everyone’s talking about “The Odyssey,” and I’m waiting until Tuesday to see it at our old three-screen theater (cheap movie night is the best night!), but it has me remembering this great interview with Emily Wilson, the first female translator to put The Odyssey and The Iliad into English. (Tyler Cowen quickly jumps between topics with guests, which is jarring at first but youg et used to it).
5. Emily Wilson also knows how to have fun: When we were all quarantining over the summer of 2020, she decided to read and act out a bit of “The Odyssey” every day, complete with wigs, sunglasses, and other props she had in her home. Having fun with your work is important!
6. That reminds of of Austin Kleon’s chapter “Don’t Take Things Too Seriously” from his new book “Don’t Call It Art”: find who’s having fun, pretend it’s all a comedy, and play the fool. “Ask yourself frequently, ‘Am I having fun?’ The answer needn’t always be yes. But if it’s always no, it’s time for a new project or a new career,” says Stephen King.
7. I’ve lifted a few pens from restaurants I love as a memento to a good memory (a few restaurants of which have now closed), so this tight essay about pilfering restaurant ephemera is very relatable. (I also share a love for Field Notes, Pilot G2s, and abhorring Bic Clic Stics)
8. Brendan’s latest video about why we run is really about why we do anything: to keep doing it. (See: writing, reading, lifting, going for walks)
9. Nearly every day, Kent Peterson types up a short, interesting essay or thought on his typewriter, pushes a few hand-carved ink stamps onto the paper, snaps a photo, and uploads it to YouTube — and this recent post “Lessons in Slowing Down” gets at why, I think, and also shows off a particularly old typewriter (he has a big collection!).
10. Finally, a watch that tells the time and also shows exactly how I plan to spend my weekend.

See you on down the dusty trail,

Happy Friday,

It’s unseasonably warm in Minnesota, and spring birds are returning: phoebes and bluebirds are back this week, but my local Great Horned Owls are quiet. I never know if that’s because it’s easier to hear them in winter (it’s very bare, so sound travels), or if I just get more busy this time of year and miss out on their hooting at dusk.

Happy Friday,

I haven’t gotten nearly enough sleep this week, but I have had really good coffee with my new-to-me drip machine and burr grinder.

Here are 10 things worth sharing this week:

1. Love these photos of Bob Dylan’s notebooks while writing 1975’s “Blood on the Tracks” (me and my dad’s favorite Dylan album). And it looks like a 1964 Royal Caravan typewriter? Maybe one to add to the collection.
2. Agree with all of Andrew’s reasons to use a paper dictionary instead of a search engine. You learn more and you remember better! It’s also more fun.
3. If you like words, you should check out a usage dictionary to understand what words to use when, too. I’m not a “keep books in the bathroom” guy, but David Foster Wallace said usage dictionaries make great bathroom books.
4. “When we read fast, we experience nothing. The book does not have a chance to burrow into our heart.” Gamifying reading might help you read more, but it also changes how you read. I tracked the number of books I read for a while, but it incentivized me to read shorter books instead of longer books I actually wanted to read. So I changed to tracking pages read a year, but I started listening to audiobooks at a fast speed while doing chores and hardly paying attention. This year I’m not tracking ANY reading, and while I’m still in a reading funk and haven’t finished a book, I’ve been reading snippets here and there in many books — something I haven’t done in years. “We are addicted to data and intent on improving ourselves over enjoying ourselves.”
5. There’s a huge, heavy, old CRT TV that I’ve been using to watch SNL, tv, and movies on through my computer using this HDMI-to-RCA converter, and there’s something really fun about watching Weekend Update or Heated Rivalry on a fuzzy 4:3 curved screen. Maybe I’ll get some retro shaders this summer and watch Unsolved Mysteries.
6. Speaking of dictionaries and reading, here’s a timely quote from Samuel Johnson, the English writer of the 1700s who worked on the first Oxford English Dictionary: “A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.”
7. I appreciate that Tyler Cowen invited a Lit guy to talk Shakespeare on his podcast and not a dozen minutes in they were reading Shakespeare line by line. I’ve only read a few Shakespeare plays I was forced to read in high school and college. Maybe a good Big Summer Book this year would be a Riverside edition?
8. Sometimes when I think about how much of my life I’ve wasted on my phone, I daydream about typewriting or transcribing an entire book by hand. Bethany Collins is doing it with “Moby Dick,” and Van Neistat did it with “Breakfast of Champions.” I feel like I’d want to do it with a special book, but maybe it’d be a fun (long) exercise to pick a book off the shelf at random?
9. “I’m not saying my phone has caused the same problems I’d have with, say, heroin or alcohol. But maybe it’s worth asking: How much fun am I having? Or: How much fun am I missing out on when I’m on my phone?” I’ve followed Brendan since 2012 and totally agree with how weird it feels to not pull out your phone and instead just sit there doing nothing - especially in public.
10. To that end, you can pay $60 to brick your phone to keep you from using it. Or you can do what I did: download the Foqos app (totally free), set the unlock to an NFC tag (<$1 online), and use that instead. Not that I’ve been doing it lately, but it is nice when I want to buckle down on no-phone time.

See ya on down the dusty trail,

Note: After ten years of meaning to, every Friday I’m going to send out a list of things I found and interesting and worth sharing. These posts will share a mix of articles, books, music, art, and ideas that have inspired me. Welcome to the first.

Happy Friday,

It’s false spring in Minnesota, and only three hours of writing stands between me and a few pizzas and the Olympics this afternoon. Here are 10 things I found interesting this week: