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Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:
“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.” How to get some cosmic perspective. (My favorite comment: “This post inspired me put down my phone and immediately go for a walk with my dog.”)
“Get out now. Not just outside, but beyond the trap of the programmed electronic age so gently closing around so many people at the end of our century. Go outside, move deliberately, then relax, slow down, look around…” That’s the beginning of John Stilgoe’s book Outside Lies Magic. (Stilgoe also wrote the preface for the abridged edition of Thoreau’s journals that I love. Both were big influences on my book Keep Going.) Here’s a great 60 Minutes segment from 2003 where Stilgoe walks Steve Kroft around, talking about education and teaching him to look closely at advertising and the built environment. “Most people, when they learn to read, stop looking around…” (I feel like my friends Sara and Deb and Rob will love this if they haven’t already seen it. Thanks to Oliver for recommending Stilgoe many years ago!)
“Chris was extraordinary in that, honest to God, he would wake up every morning almost like how kids wake up in the morning and they’ve had dreams.” Chris Burden’s impossible artworks.
Pre-order before June 2 to get the goods A few nights ago, Hrishikesh Hirway and I were talking about “The Gulp” that Jonathan Lethem writes about in The Ecstasy of Influence: the time in between when you finish something and its release date, the “interlude where the [thing] has quit belonging to you but doesn’t belong to anyone else yet.” Hrishi’s gulp is over today: his new album is out now!
Bach Artillerie is Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier and Curt Sydnor playing the Goldberg canons of Bach. Here’s a video of them jamming. Love it.
I can’t stop playing Nine Inch Noize. I watched both weekends of their Coachella performances and I can’t get enough. Blasting it at top volume in the studio like electro-shock therapy.
Big ole book: I’m about 250 pages (1/4) into The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. (“The name is Dumas!”) From The Writer’s Almanac: “[Dumas] started writing fiction at a time when publishers used fiction to sell newspapers. When his first novel appeared in a newspaper, it generated 5,000 new subscriptions. Dumas didn't care much about characterization or historical accuracy or even plausibility; he just wanted to tell an exciting story. Whenever he made money, he spent it lavishly and then