Isak's Blog

Happy Friday,

Cue the music, brew that pot. The Minnesota Fair officially kicked off, marking the end of summer, and I can’t wait to eat every pickle-related item.

Here are 10 interesting things worth sharing this week:

1. RIP Dolly Parton, RIP Tim Curry; two phenomenal human beings who made the world a brighter place. A nugget of wisdom I read about them both this week: take your cause seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously. Help others, but don’t let your ego get in the way. Now it’s time to watch “9 to 5” and “Clue.”
2. Forget reading in season, I’m reading out of season and spending the end of summer reading about a bunch of sailors whose ship froze stuck to the pack ice during an arctic winter while a mysterious creature stalks them.
3. At night while I read “The Terror” I’ve been listening to this dark 2007 ambient album “Erebus & Terror” by David Bickley inspired by Sir John Franklin’s doomed expedition in the 1840s. I like it more than the official soundtrack to the miniseries of “The Terror.”
4. “The Terror” was included in a discontinued “Winter reads” series from The Guardian, which has 20 other wintry book recommendations I might dip into before the temps cool down.
5. Brendan gets it.
6. Loved hearing Adrian Tchaikovsky’s approach to good writing — mostly by starting with worldbuilding to create realistic characters, allowing the plot to unfold from there.
7. In extremely good news for me and my coffee habit, the American Heart Association released a review of many studies found that most adults can have up to 5 cups of coffee a day without adverse effects, and 2 to 4 cups can be good for you.
8. So excited for the upcoming concert film of David Byrne’s “Who Is the Sky?” tour. I missed his show when he came to Minneapolis, but we came through when his violinist’s five-string instrument
9. “It’s a bit like making dough: the resting is the most important part of the recipe. You cannot skip it or rush.” Lofi Cinema on giving your creative ideas time to rest.
10. Coming back to this George Saunders letter, where he writes “what if we tried to believe that everything we did and felt (and avoided, and screwed up) was, not only part of our long artistic journey, but was the journey?” Which reminds me of Anne Lamott saying it’s not that writers need to have really interesting experiences to tell good stories, but that they have to actually observe — to really notice and be aware of their experiences — to tell good stories.

See you on down the dusty trail,

Happy Friday,

Cue the music, brew that pot. It’s been a long, hot week and I could use a lake.

Here are 10 interesting things worth sharing this week:

1. This New Yorker owns so many books in his studio apartment, his landlord is trying to evict him. (Goals?)
2. “I always loved this slogan used by the New York State Lotto: ‘Hey, you never know.’ As someone who’s taught writing for many years, I don’t know a better mantra for anyone involved in the arts.” This George Saunders article has so many good nuggets in it. Another: “Someone might have to live a long time before the thing they were born to say becomes fully formed and accessible to them.”
3. You can now browse every Criterion Closet pick in a virtual closet on this cool web app.
4. Today is the last day to bid on the American Library Association’s iconic READ posters of celebrities holding their favorite books. (Of course Nicolas Cage’s is Siddhartha.)
5. I like when people a) make arbitrary stupid goals, and 2) use them as an interesting hook for doing something, so I’m still thinking about how Beau Miles ran a marathon from home by running one mile around his house every hour for 24 hours straight and fitting in as many chores as possible in-between.
6. I wrote about Henry David Thoreau’s Type II Fun trip camping in the woods, foraging for food, and using some old lumber as a sleeping bag to stay warm at night, which reminds me of this old Dirtbag Diaries podcast episode about the three types of outdoor fun.
7. How I work isn’t all that different from a Large Language Model: I read a bunch, let the ideas simmer, and then draw on them all — consciously or not — to write. The problem is that now a bunch of stuff I read is AI-generated whether I know it or not, which is affecting the whole process like a genetic mutation.
8. I’ve been missing the fried bologna sandwiches and classic country bands of Robert’s in Nashville from this time of year last year, so I’ve been listening to this Vintage Country playlist on Spotify a bunch this week.
9. My Stephen King kick continues with “Different Seasons,” a collection of novellas including “The Body” — which is probably better known for its adaptation into the movie “Stand By Me.” I loved this movie when I was younger: a group of boys hiking, telling stories, getting into mischief and adventure — and I’m delighted how well it was adapted and sad it was banned in Utah schools this week. (I guess they also banned “Bag of Bones” which I also just finished?)
10. I like this idea of using a typewriter to write a cover of an essay/book you like, like a shorter version you make for yourself.

See you on down the dusty trail,

Happy Friday,

Cue the music, brew that pot. A wood thrush (rare!) can to our yard yesterday — and if you’ve ever heard their ethereal, flute-like song, you have some idea of how excited I was.

Here are 10 interesting things worth sharing this week:

1. I spend a lot of time reading book recommendations instead of just reading books. So maybe reading Emma Reads Too Much’s list of books about books will entice me to finish a few more?
2. Plug-in solar laws are being passed in different states, my social feeds are full of gardening and DIY, and I think the time is ripe for solarpunk optimism. I love this solarpunk animation from years back (yes, it’s a Chobani commercial; the irony is not lost on me) and think we could all benefit from imagining better futures we can build rather than doomscrolling.
3. “And what a pleasure that is; to be, on the page, less of a dope than usual.” Really enjoyed George Saunders writing about his creative process, especially the small incremental changes he makes that end up making his writing more compassionate.
4. Oh to be gifted a well-serviced typewriter from the patron saint of typewriters himself, Tom Hanks.
5. “Somehow, before personal computers and email, they managed to collaborate on an entire book—drafts of pages written on typewriters were placed in yellow envelopes and mailed across continents and ocean.” There’s a lot to love in this creative advice from Anna Brones’ mom, but I am fascinated people used to write books without computers.
6. I have way more ideas for creative projects than finished products — so I really enjoyed this video about how you can get stuck in it. Time to make a few zines and short stories!
7. It’s the season of commencement speeches: I prefer Harrison Ford’s to the viral AI one going around. But DFW’s “This Is Water” speech and Baz Luhrmann’s sunscreen speech are my two all-time favs.
8. We’re on the Zara Larson hype train in our household, and the viral clip of her being very tired (and relatable) doing a 5 a.m. sound check for The Today Show is how I feel being on a video call before 10:30 or so.
9. Western AF introduces me to a lot of great music, but I’ve come back to “Wishing Bone Blues” by Cristina Vane so many times over the years, I think I’m responsible for 1/10th of the views. Such a good guitar solo.
10. I wrote about the four reference books I keep on my writing desk and had a great time paging through my usage history again — another encouragement from DFW!

See you on down the dusty trail,