Chris Beckstrom rated The definitive Time machine: 3 stars
The definitive Time machine by H. G. Wells (Visions)
The Time Traveller, a dreamer obsessed with traveling through time, builds himself a time machine and, much to his surprise, …
Black Lives Matter - Trans Lives Matter
I'm a neurodivergent music maker, DIY electronics tinkerer, I read in spurts.
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The Time Traveller, a dreamer obsessed with traveling through time, builds himself a time machine and, much to his surprise, …
Every story and poem in this optimistic illustrated anthology of “solarpunk and eco-speculation” portrays a future in which environmental disaster …
Publisher's description: Studs Terkel tells us in his Foreword to the definitive Griffin Estate Edition of Black Like Me: "This …
original review: chrisbeckstrom.com/2018/05/31/11173/
A fascinating whirlwind tour of the daily schedules of a huge number of creative people. Some of the entries were so brief – a paragraph at times – it was difficult to catch my breath before moving onto the next. Reviewers on Goodreads felt the same way, and some suggested to read this book in small chunks instead of all the way through the way I did.
What I found most interesting were the common threads between these disparate individuals. Sure, there was huge variation (some people have extremely defined schedules, others just go with the flow) but a number of themes appeared in many of the chapters. These included struggles with substance abuse (alcohol, caffeine, amphetamines), under- or overeating, depression and anxiety (it’s heartening to know that even the most brilliant people struggle with these), treating their loved ones poorly (forcing their families into …
original review: chrisbeckstrom.com/2018/05/31/11173/
A fascinating whirlwind tour of the daily schedules of a huge number of creative people. Some of the entries were so brief – a paragraph at times – it was difficult to catch my breath before moving onto the next. Reviewers on Goodreads felt the same way, and some suggested to read this book in small chunks instead of all the way through the way I did.
What I found most interesting were the common threads between these disparate individuals. Sure, there was huge variation (some people have extremely defined schedules, others just go with the flow) but a number of themes appeared in many of the chapters. These included struggles with substance abuse (alcohol, caffeine, amphetamines), under- or overeating, depression and anxiety (it’s heartening to know that even the most brilliant people struggle with these), treating their loved ones poorly (forcing their families into rigid schedules, taking advantage of servants, demanding specific meals at particular times of the day), and a practice of working on creative projects even without the spark of inspiration. That last item is important to me; although I may be relatively prolific in my musical output, I generally only create music when I’m specifically inspired. I wonder how much more I could create if I created even without a spark of inspiration. Perhaps the spark would appear during the course of my creative activity.
Many of these artists also kept diaries and journals, using them as source material for their work, recording their various struggles, and in the end, providing an intimate look into their thoughts– extremely helpful as source material for a book like this.
The text was filled with hundreds of fantastic quotes. Two of my favorites:
Basically I enjoy everything: I am never bored.
– Matisse
Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.
– Chuck Close
The book was a very quick read. I highly recommend it to everybody, creative types, non-creative types, and everybody in between. Anybody pondering their own daily routine, wanting to be more productive, or just curious about some of history’s greatest minds would be well served to give this a read.
Fantastic book. I learned about a lot more than just swearing: that the Greeks and Romans had drastically different ideas about sexuality than we do (ok to fuck any gender as long as you're the one penetrating), that "zounds" comes from "god's wounds", and more. A great read, highly recommended.
Breakfast Of Champions is vintage Vonnegut. One of his favorite characters, aging writer Kilgore Trout, finds to his horror that …
Chef and teacher Rick Bayless provides the inspiration and guidance that home cooks have needed, from essential recipes and explorations …