Courtesy of George Kennan, whose diaries I want to read: As I leave Europe, my only message to myself, in light of this thoroughly wasted summer, is: Write, you bastard, write. Write desperately, frantically, under pressure from yourself, while God still gives you the time. Write until your eyes are glazed, until you have writer's cramp, …
Quote of the Day (Part Deux)
As a young literatus in training, I got myself early and often to the Lion’s Head, a legendary and now-extinct writers’ bar on Sheridan Square. Lined with the framed covers of books by its denizens, it offered an atmosphere of boozy bonhomie and the opportunity for literary stargazing of a special sort. (Hey, I’m urinating right …
Quote of the Day
How many times, and during a period of how many years must one’s unexplainable obscurity be pointed out to constitute fame? Not knowing, I am almost disposed to consider myself the most famous of authors. I have pretty nearly ceased to be “discovered,” but my notoriety as an obscurian may be said to be worldwide …
Quote of the Day
His struggle to write ‘Vol III’ produced moments of unintended comedy. His wife Joan, thought he might have made the breakthrough in 1991 when he started “working feverishly in his study … and finally emerged clutching a sheaf of paper,” writes Cooper: “I knew it could be done!’ he told Joan, and just as she …
Even Gertrude Stein Had It Rough
This is either amazing or terrible. Possibly both.
How the Creative Class Created
Quite fascinating:Nikola Tesla typically worked from noon until midnight, breaking at 8:00 p.m. for dinner every night at the Waldorf-Astoria. Among the many peculiarities of this ritualized repast was his practice of not starting the meal until he had computed his dinner's cubic volume, "a compulsion he had developed in his childhood." Truman Capote, who …
Tumbling ‘Round the Intertubes–May 27, 2013
1. The Urban Dictionary makes it to the courtroom.2. A Franco-American Memorial Day commemoration.3. Yes. Let's.4. Since this links to a spoiler FAQ, you obviously should not read it if you want to avoid spoilers. But you should read it if (a) you don’t care about avoiding spoilers; and (b) you want to laugh so hard that you …
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Tumbling ‘Round the Intertubes–May 23, 2013
1. How to achieve inspiration.2. The magic of LEGOs.3. J.R.R. Tolkien remains remarkably productive.