Tom Ruwitch
Here’s a cool idea I picked up from Austin Kleon in his book Steal Like an Artist: Keep a Praise FileĀ Here’s the idea… “…down the road, I will have a dark day when I want to quit, when I wonder why the heck I even bother with this stuff.” Kleon writes. “That’s why I put…
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“Oily242” wants to throw in the towel. Writer’s block has wrecked him. He creates a “ton of content” for a startup — a blog/article each day, five LinkedIn posts per week, one weekly post on X, and a bi-weekly email newsletter. And now the well runs dry. In an online forum, Oily242 said, “I’m drawing…
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In yesterday’s email (RecomMONDAYtions ~ 2024.04.08), I shared Austin Kleon’s blog post “On quantity and quality.” In the post, he shares a story and quotes liberally from David Bayles and Ted Orlandās book, “Art & Fear.” The story: A ceramics teacher divides his class in two. He said he would grade Group 1 on volume.…
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Recommended Reading Ā On quantity and quality by Austin KleonI love this short blog post from Austin Kleon and the quantity vs. quality paradox. This is aĀ must-readĀ if you ever procrastinate or get stuck releasing your work. Note: You’ll have free access to the first half of the post (which covers the key point). If you’d like…
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I like inspirational stories. Here’s one… On November 23, 1942, Poon Lim was working as a steward on the British cargo ship SS Benlomond when a German sub torpedoed it to oblivion. The ship sank minutes after the torpedoes hit, and Lim was left floating in the south Atlantic. A weak swimmer, Lim clung to a wooden…
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For many decades, a painting called Portrait of a Young Woman hung in the Allentown Art Museum. Curators thought an unknown artist — a disciple of Rembrandt’s — created the portrait. It resembled the Dutch master’s work, but it wasn’t Rembrandt’s… …or so they thought. When Allentown curators sent the painting to be cleaned, conservators at New…
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I think my GPT-powered robot, “B-9?” has started puberty. All of a sudden, he’s standoffish, belligerent, and lazy. He sleeps in until 11, and when I ask him to do something, he half-asses it and then tells me to do the rest myself. Case in point: I asked “B-9?” to find TEN amusing, weird news…
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Last night my buddy Ted and I grabbed a bite at our favorite brew pub before heading to the Blues-Oilers hockey game. I ordered the sausage and kraut with a pint of Grolsch. All good. Nothing to rave about. But the German potato salad on the side? Ā Holy tater-tots, Batman, those spuds were special.Ā Mama…
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Walking the Dogs with The Sun at Our Backs, Saint Louis, Missouri, March 2024 #allthisusefulbeauty Holiday Humor Ā The Greatest April Fools Joke EverOn this day in 1957, the BBC (not known for its raucous sense of humor) fooled the nation when it broadcast a fake news story about the “spaghetti harvest” in Italy. Hilarious! Every…
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I’m feeling grateful. Grateful for this: I get to wake up every morning, pour a cup of French Roast, and write an info-taining (I hope) email. The process is interesting. It’s fun. I like waking up each morning, eager to hop out of bed and interact with you. Speaking of which, I’m… Grateful for you: Thank you…
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