Here’s what I’ve read lately:
1. The fiction of Google Maps.
2. The size and weirdness of the Kardashian empire.
3. The restaurant industry bubble that’s about to burst.
4. Ada Harris, mother of the hair straightener.
5. Looking for answers in India after a seeker disappears and his guide commits suicide.
And a bonus: Bon Iver, live in concert.
Have a wonderful week.
Here’s what I read last week:
1. The writer Michael Chabon took his son Abe to Paris for Men’s Fashion Week and wrote an outstanding article about it.
2. The entire latest issue of the California Sunday Magazine. My favorites: Kendrick Lamar’s five rules, a violin master, preserving the quietness places on Earth and the app that puts people to sleep.
3. This story on Hillary Clinton’s policy agenda is a must-read.
4. These Julia Child facts reminded me of how much I loved her after reading her autobiography. I need to appreciate Julia Child more.
5. What we see when we look at travel photography.
And a bonus: This new bakery is at the top of my Los Angeles to-do list.
Have a great week. I’m rooting for you.
Although I’ve had a difficult time transitioning to a post-grad life over the last few months, I’ve had some really sweet moments this week that make me excited about my fledgling career and how many opportunities there are to grow. I’ve also had some frustrating moments this week where I’ve wondered what I’ve gotten myself into and what step I should take next. According to the great philosopher and artist Kanye West, the point of life is getting shit done and being happy. I’m working on it.
Here’s what I read this week:
1. This is an incredible Gloria Steinem profile. She is an incredible lady.
2. I wish I had written this article about Facebook instant articles.
3. This graphic designer explained his work to 4-year-olds, and I love how he did it.
4. I love reminiscing about playing the Sims and thinking about how much that game has influenced my design interests in so many ways, so I thought this article about its romantic relationships was fascinating.
5. I had no idea that Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra were such good friends and influenced each other so much.
And a bonus: these photos of Hillary Clinton’s face during the latest round of Benghazi questions speak to my soul.
I’ve had this quote from Ira Glass saved for awhile, but one of my closest friends, Valerie, sent it to me this week — a very trying week for me — and it is so incredibly profound to me now that I’m trying my very best to remember it.
Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, and I really wish somebody had told this to me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But it’s like there is this gap. For the first couple years that you’re making stuff, what you’re making isn’t so good. It’s not that great. It’s trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it’s not that good. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you’re making is kind of a disappointment to you. A lot of people never get past that phase. They quit. Everybody I know who does interesting, creative work they went through years where they had really good taste and they could tell that what they were making wasn’t as good as they wanted it to be. They knew it fell short. Everybody goes through that. And if you are just starting out or if you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week or every month you know you’re going to finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you’re going to catch up and close that gap. And the work you’re making will be as good as your ambitions. I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It takes awhile. It’s gonna take you a while. It’s normal to take a while. You just have to fight your way through that.
Here’s what I read this week:
1. I’ve been following Jedidiah Jenkins on Instagram for awhile, and he’s in the middle of writing a book about riding his bike from Oregon to Patagonia. Based on this essay, I’m even more excited for his book to arrive.
2. The A.V. Club covered Force Friday in Chicago and it sounded insane. There are a lot of components to this that stuck with me: that this was a marketing and PR ploy more than anything else when it really should have been about the fans and the ethos, that people didn’t end up getting what they wanted and that the merchandise sounded and looked sub-par.
3. This discussion about freelance writing in 2015 and the state of online media is actually pretty frightening. I think it is a Real Problem when it’s more lucrative for writers to write multiple shallow articles than it is to write an in-depth longread. (Also, if you don’t click through to read the essay, he doesn’t get paid.)
4. Apparently there’s a story behind the company most famous for boxed wine that is essentially a soap opera. (I have never and will never understand the appeal of slap the bag.)
5. Do you miss Oliver Sacks? I miss Oliver Sacks a lot. This essay about his relationship with gefilte fish is very important.
And a bonus: These photos of David Bowie from the Ziggy Stardust era are everything.
Have a wonderful weekend.
I was actually really productive this week — must be the Week 2 recharge. Anyway, here’s what I read:
1. A four-in-one about how the restaurant business is reinventing food waste. My personal favorite is the photo essay about the aprons.
2. I also would like to attend the Audubon Society’s school for sick burns.
3. In light of two classes I’m taking on the subject (more about those classes later), a very good piece about the classroom and the discussion about racial violence.
4. Monograms are everything.
5. On why Columbia’s report on the Rolling Stone University of Virginia rape case article is actually not that great.
And a bonus: This list of English monarchs’ signatures ranked is A++.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Here’s what I read this week:
1. These are the emails you get from Twitter when you don’t Tweet, follow anybody or log into the account.
2. This guy tried to analyze 18 years of his email, which amounted to nearly half a million messages.
3. The history behind and surrounding the Mark Rothko murals at Harvard is fascinating.
4. Most people don’t know that Lauren Bacall was a very eclectic collector.
5. The phrasal construction of verbs like “rage quit.”
And a bonus: Really cool and really rare photos of Frida Kahlo.
Have a great weekend!
A brief bit of unsolicited advice before I get to the link party: I just want to tell all of you that there is absolutely nothing that limits you from teaching yourself whatever you’re interested in and seeking out additional educational avenues. I wasn’t getting the writing experience I wanted from my academic classes or my job, so I took the initiative to start this blog and explore the things I wanted to talk about. The secret to getting started? Overcome the urge to be lazy. *drops the microphone and gets out of this bitch*
Here’s what I read this week:
1. The delineation of your IRL personality and your Internet personality, which is something I think about at least once a day.
2. A very interesting discussion about making references to other things, which is something I think about at least once a week.
3. This person wrote to The Awl’s advice column asking about how to move on from not getting a job at Buzzfeed, and all I can say is yikes.
4. Simple tips for success, presented graphically.
5. Not much to read on this one, but this scene from House of Cards is hands down one of the best in television history. Claire Underwood for president of the universe.
And a bonus: My new favorite Instagram account, @ihavethisthingwithfloors.
Have a fantastic weekend!
This week was not a good one for me, creatively or academically. But I’m bouncing back, and will have more posts next week. But here’s what I was able to read:
1. I like to think that this profile of The New Yorker query proofreader Mary Norris is a projection of my future.
2. Ruth Bader Ginsburg continues to be awesome.
3. Pitchfork‘s review of If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. (I’m partial to “Energy,” “10 Bands” and “6 God.”)
4. The current Starbucks menu ranked. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be funny but I find it hysterical.
5. The discourse of FYI emails.
And a bonus: Practice your hip hop sampling with this awesome keyboard.
Have a great weekend!
Here’s what I read this week:
1. An incredible feature on Annie Dillard.
2. The future of cursive handwriting.
3. What happens when pockets of the Internet evaporate.
4. A very interesting take on cohabitation, and what happens to your books.
5. The book that is truly the master class in hailing Satan.
And a bonus: Valentino’s spring 2015 collection indulges my secret dream of being a mermaid.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Here’s what I read this week:
1. A very interesting conversation about people who don’t have parents and how they figure out finances.
2. Typewriter emoji is a thing, apparently.
3. The life of a Karl Lagerfeld muse is crazy.
4. Life lessons from Georgia O’Keeffe.
5. A new typeface, designed by algorithms.
And a bonus: This 8-bit version of “Where Is My Mind?” has been stuck in my head for days.
Have a great weekend!
Zoë Lance. 