Friday Favorites 17

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Happy Friday,

Cue the music, brew that pot. I spent my evenings this week pressure-washing my concrete and listening to Stephen King narrate his book “Bag of Bones.” Recommend!

Here are 10 interesting things worth sharing this week:

Really enjoying Austin Kleon’s new book “Don’t Call It Art” and was delighted to find a short sub-chapter about having fun — which pairs with a question I’ve been asking myself this spring: What if this were fun?
I’m always fascinated by how writers spent their days before the internet (both the constant procrastination and the endless barrage of information), so this article with Louis L’Amour’s typewritten weekly to-do lists (nevermind the title) was so fun to read. It feels simultaneously so similar and yet dissimilar to modern routines.
Isn’t it fun to learn a new word for something you already do? I decided to blog more often this year about what I’m reading, thinking, and doing, and turns out that’s a “digital garden” of exploring and connecting ideas.
There’s a plethora of “the internet has made it harder to read” articles, but I found this article interesting because it wondered if having a job where you read bad writing (emails, reports, social media, etc.) all day makes it harder to wind down with a good book.
Meanwhile, here’s a guy who reads good writing every day for his job: “Not every executive can read every book,” he explains. “Everybody’s busy and they don’t have time to read everything.” Clark Speicher works for Hollywood reads a book every day or two (especially Lit), surgically breaks it down beat by beat, and recommends how it be adapted.
Every since I started percussion in band in fifth grade, I’ve been tapping on surfaces around me. So I decided to level up and learn the sticking for a tough song: the drum intro for Van Halen’s Hot for Teacher. There’s something satisfying about working through how a song works, it feels similar to doing a Rubik’s Cube in my opinion.
There is SO much energy in this Die Spitz show on KEXP, this is a blast.
Fela Kuti was a big inspiration for David Byrne and Brian Eno for Talking Heads’ “Remain in Light” album, but I didn’t know Hanif Abduraqib was a creative producer for the recent podcast mini-series “Fela Kuti: Fear No Man.” Plus Jad Abumrad from Radiolab!
Love this Instagram account from Nicholas Triolo sharing 200 books about ecology and justice in 200 words or less.
With summer heating up, now’s a perfect time to watch an old movie that pairs with higher temps.

See you on down the dusty trail,

Vanhalen on Isak's Blog

Friday Favorites 17