I Felt Rich...
...Like Scrooge McDuck Swimming in His Money Bin!
“Skilled people required education, and in the experience of the Ventures, education was a double-edged weapon. Teach someone how to come up with new ideas, new concepts in the realms of engineering, design, industry, and what if they then came up with new ideas for something else? What if they turned and said, ‘But isn’t there another way of looking at this...?’” – Slow Gods by Claire North
It’s been a long few days as I shift back to teaching. So naturally on Monday, I needed a break. I didn’t know where to go, but I ended up at the library. You can never go wrong wandering the stacks.
I love a good title, so when I saw Slow Gods by Claire North, I added it to my pile. It’s hard to explain what the book is about, but it involves humans interfacing with ships so they can travel beyond light speed, governments ignoring the warning of an impending cataclysmic event by an omniscient being, and a main character who doesn’t quite fit into society.
I just wrapped up The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman, the fifth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, so it took me a little bit to get used to a different writing style. Dinniman writes at a frantic pace, like an 80s thrash band pummeling a mosh pit straight to hell, but Slow Gods is a slow burn across the universe. There’s time and space to consider systemic problems brewing for generations, similar to what we face today. That is what I love about fiction. It holds up a mirror and asks, “Look familiar?”
Originally, I went to the library to pick up a book recommended by my friend Kim, Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home by Stephen Starring Grant. I also grabbed the latest book by Jim Collins, What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire and the Self-Knowledge Imperative. Then things got funky; I headed deeper into non-fiction.
I picked up Inside the Machine: Art and Invention in the Electronic Age by Megan Prelinger, The Art & Craft of the Blacksmith: Techniques and Inspiration for the Modern Smith by Robert Thomas, and The Look of the Book: Jackets, Covers, and Art at the Edges of Literature by Peter Mendelsund and David J. Alworth.
Much like my philosophy when shopping at Costco, once my hands were full, I was done. So, I checked out my books and left.
As I was driving home, I had a moment. I looked at the six books sitting in the passenger seat and felt rich. And not just any kind of rich, Scrooge McDuck levels of rich, swimming in gold within his Money Bin. I chuckled to myself and felt better.
“It had not always been this way with the Shine—there had been a time when learning was our sacred trust. That time had passed, ground down by powerful, comfortable men.” – Slow Gods by Claire North
“Doubt: The Beginning of How to Think” with Darls Centola (GWTW885)
How do you grapple with resistance when writing about personal stories from your past? As today’s guest learned, “When you get to the pain, slow down.” Darls Centola is a psychotherapist, educator, and author of Finding Truth with Michael: A Memoir of Friendship, Faith, and First Love.” In our conversation, Darls shares stories from her book including what it was like growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness in 1970s Los Angeles, being friends with Michael Jackson, and how her sister got them enrolled in a prestigious private school where they met the Jacksons. She also talks about her curiosity with neurobiology, the many paths she took to discover her calling, seeing people as they are, how doubt was the beginning of how to think, learning to listen to herself, and healing her relationship with her mother. Darls also provides practical advice on writing, discovering her adult voice, and how she worked on her craft in workshops and with coaches.
“Unbridled Imagination” with Kyle Shold (BYI13)
When I think about people who love movies, my friend and today’s guest Kyle Shold instantly comes to mind. An illustrator by trade, who created the fantastic poster for this podcast, he uses his passion for film and storytelling tools—from cinematography to scores—to influence his work. In this conversation, we cover a lot of ground, from his first cinematic memory that sparked his imagination to the score that fuels his creativity. We also talk about how movies shift through time, the differences between physical and streaming media, and why quality and control are crucial elements in curating your film library.
Newsletter Notes:
Today’s sonic soundtrack is Good God/Baad Man by Corrosion of Conformity. Not a band I listen to on a consistent basis, but when I saw they dropped a new album, I thought I’d give it a spin.
The photo in the graphic above is my library haul heavily processed with a risograph filter.
I set the title type above with Gothicus Roman Regular, designed by Stephen Miggas. “Creative Stuff for Curious People” is set in Monsterific BB by Nate Piekos.
