Books, Napoleon's Hand, Manufacturing Consent, and More

Seven links to worthwhile thin(g/k)s

Hello dear reader,

Here are seven links to bits of the world I have been exploring this week, shared with the hope that you will find them to be an inspiring springboard for deeper thinking.

1. How to Read More

2. Personal January Bookshelf

3. If you were prompted to strike a pose like Napoleon Bonaparte, what would you do? Would it have something to do with a missing hand?

4. Podcast: I particularly enjoyed listening to On Media pt. 1, Manufacturing Consent (Episode #148) on Stephen West’s Philosophize This. It discusses the work of Noam Chomsky and dives into how media/public discourse is shallow by design and how democracy in its practiced form, not its ideal, may be a three-tiered system with (1) the powerful up top; (2) specialized people like elected officials; and (3) the rest of us, the “bewildered herd.” Interesting food for thought.

5. Netflix: I enjoyed watching The Queen’s Gambit so much that part of me yearned to play chess again. Hadn’t in a long time and immediately got my ego crushed by my grandma. Dug deeper into the origins of the show and was pleasantly surprised to find it was based on a 1983 novel written by Walter Trevis.

6. Morning pages: I am toying with the idea of dedicating 15 minutes every morning to writing. How or what I do not yet know. If anyone does morning pages, reach out! Julia Cameron writes, “Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning.” Sounds fun. “Writers are the custodians of memory,” wrote William Zinsser in his book On Writing Well.

7. ‘Question Your Tea Spoons:’ In his 1973 essay Approaches to What, Georges Perec urges us to question our habitual, explore the granular, and ground ourselves in the splendor and perplexity and simplicity of the everyday infra-ordinary. Such a splendid mindfulness practice. Why he urges us to adopt it can be found here.

If you enjoyed reading this and think others might as well, I would immensely appreciate the gesture of sharing this newsletter with friends. Your kind words and generosity help fuel my creative spirit.

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Given the precarious nature of 2020, independent bookstores find themselves once again hard hit, this time by the unpredictable tides of the pandemic. Please consider virtually browsing through and supporting local bookshops. To this end, I have provided a button to help you browse local indie bookshops:

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Theatre director, acting teacher, my friend and all-around interesting person Jeffrey Puukka is hosting Monday Night Acting Lab, which you can explore more about in detail below. It starts this coming Monday and is open to newbies. I participated in the last season and must say, it flew me out of my comfort zone in the best way possible given the pandemic still looming over us. I say ‘flew’ because it was uplifting to engage with strangers who had way more acting experience than I did (as in, I had zero) but who were so lovingly grounded in kindness and encouragement. That kinda thing makes creativity blossom.