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,

My creative antenna has been WAY more open than usual this week, and I’ve been riding it as long as it’ll push me, grateful each morning.

Here are 10 interesting things worth sharing this week:

1. I started my morning sitting in a chair, listening to the new Bon Iver live album, drinking a pot of coffee, and watching the sun melt the ice off the trees. Bliss. I love hearing artists rework their music to sound so different than the original studio version.
2. Summer is approaching, which means I need a Big Summer Book. There’s something great about unfolding a huge book in June knowing warm months and many chapters lie ahead of you! This list has helped me narrow down my top picks. Maybe it’s time to lug around a thick copy of “War and Peace” all summer like Ladybird Johnson? Or maybe a thick Stephen King book. (Maybe both?)
3. It’s spring migration for my fellow birders! This year I got a phone with a better zoom lens and I LOVE IT for photographing birds. I don’t want to spend $5k on a good photography rig, so having a phone that doesn’t take potato-quality bird pics is great for sharing with friends.
4. Is creating art about finding meaning for ourselves or sharing an experience with others? Lo-fi Cinema on the joy of creating for both self-discovery and connection with others.
5. I’m listening to “The Comfort Crisis” while walking outside or doing chores and love the idea of a Misogi: a hard task you undertake with roughly a 50/50 chance of success. The quirkier and more challenging the better, but do it for yourself, not social media. Reminds me many of Beau Miles’ adventures like when he commuted to work by kayaking 4 days from his home to his office. I’m a low-momentum homebody so this stuff fascinates me.
6. I was avoiding my important writing pieces this week by procrastinating on my phone or organizing my digital files. And while procrastinating, I noticed Casey Neistat posted a new video about how procrastination and busy work are a necessary, integral part of the creative process, and I’ve felt less guilty about it.
7. I didn’t expect to tear up while scrolling my TikTok feed, nor did I expect such a short video to shift my perspective on childhood and adulthood.
8. “You give a chunk of the precious few hours of your life to something, imagining a great moment someday when it will all come together, and then when it does, you turn around and realize how many other great moments made up what you thought was ‘the process.’” Brendan’s always been great at celebrating how the little moments in our day end up being the most important thing we have. “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives,” says Annie Dillard.
9. I’ve been reading Rick Rubin’s “The Creative Act” before bed in that consciousness window where you’re not fully awake but not quite asleep either. I have a surface-level understanding of Jung’s shadow self (check #4 above!), but I think there’s more communication going on with your subconscious in that half-dream state.
10. I’ve been making my way through Dante’s “Inferno,” and watching lectures from Yale, Better Than Food, and Brian McEvoy has helped me better understand what I’m reading beyond “whoa, this is really graphic and messed up.” And don’t sleep on “keyword + lecture” videos with super-low views, those are sometimes the best ones.

See ya on down the dusty trail,