These might be the most important qualities for doing anything. Talent In every interview I’m asked what’s the most important quality a novelist has to… Read More »Haruki Murakami on Writing: Talent. Focus. Endurance.
Two recommendations today, one via Marginal Revolution, the other from Hacker News, both worth the time. Manvir Singh on the Myth of Primitive Communism In… Read More »Primitive Communism and Armadillo Legs; Jangle, Fuzz and Transcendence
This image we know and love – the classic ukiyo-e woodblock print, as Japanese as Tsunamis and Mount Fuji, one of the launchpads of Japonisme,… Read More »New Wave: the Hybrid Hokusai
The quadrivium followed the preparatory work of the trivium, consisting of grammar, logic, and rhetoric. In turn, the quadrivium was considered the foundation for the… Read More »Number in Time
I’ve been really enjoying George Saunders’ fantastic A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. As well as showcasing some great Russian short stories it’s… Read More »George Saunders: A Hill of One’s Own
For those who came in late… So did I. Get Back (released in November 2021) is a 7 hour documentary in three parts, made almost… Read More »Get Back: Thoughts on Watching The Beatles
On Speaking [My literary agent] Darhansoff & Verrill… handles speaking requests. I almost never accept these. When I do, I charge a lot of money,… Read More »Neal Stephenson on Speaking Arrangements; Art and Artists; Correspondence and Productive Writing
There’s only one way to find out ELSA: It will not be made of of gold. INDY: That’s the cup of a carpenter… Indiana Jones… Read More »Indiana Jones: The Cup of the Carpenter
This is a straightforward recommendation: if you have fun drawing, aren’t very good at it and would like to get better, Drawabox is an excellent… Read More »Drawabox: Change in Perspective
In reality, what more agreeable entertainment to the mind, than to be transported into the remotest ages of the world, and to observe human society,… Read More »Children in Understanding: David Hume on Reading (history)