Read on Twitter
Let’s do this. https://twitter.com/eigenrobot/status/1287262108254474240
1. Maruja Mallo is good. (20th century Spanish painter.)
2. Neri Oxman (MIT Media Lab designer) is good
3. Mariko Mori (contemporary Japanese sculptor) is good
4. The Joshua Mays murals in Oakland are good
5. Ernst Haeckel (illustrations) and the Blaschka brothers (glass models) are good
6. DeWain Valentine (California Light And Space Movement artist) is not only good but extremely handsome
7. Ports are good.
8. Serious Eats https://www.seriouseats.com/ is a great online cooking resource.
9. Ruth Reichl is *so* good and her memoirs were my inspiration to finally Git Gud in the kitchen.
10. Latcho Drom is probably my favorite movie, measured by number of times I’ve watched it. No dialogue, just music from Roma people around the world.
11. Watching world-class people’s learning process is good. Here’s Yitzhak Perlman learning a new piece of music in a new-to-him genre:
12. Tabla Beat Science is good.
13. Thelonious Sphere Monk is my favorite jazz pianist. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nxvTYtKAiCrAUjIc-SICjSF4pZZVDMpO0
14. It is physically impossible to be sad while listening to son jarocho:
15. My 2yo’s interest in trucks turned me on to a whole genre of music glorifying truckers. Truck songs are Good.
16. Medical how-to YouTube videos are great for understanding procedures — and often have a bit of black humor. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDvE6n0oI4ehBbTL_OAMeFQvJmJFz6tGU
17. This ICU nurse’s (defunct) blog http://www.endofshiftreport.com/?m=1 is the perfect blend of horrifying, hilarious, and informative.
18. My guilty pleasure is funny true stories of the general public being unbelievably stupid. https://clientsfromhell.net/ and http://shitmystudentswrite.tumblr.com regularly get me laughing out loud.
19. Nature documentaries are generally Good, but this one made me appreciate just how tight the energy margins reptiles have to work in:
20. Bustelo instant coffee is *qualitatively* different from all other coffee — less bitter, more smooth. Love it.
21. I’m hard on bags, and my Shinola is impressively durable for something so pretty. Also fits a laptop! https://www.shinola.com/womens/handbags-accessories.html
22. Copic markers make drawing a joy. https://copic.jp/en/product/sketch/
23. The glitter of cottonwoods in the sunlight.
24. Walking along the Embarcadero always makes me happy.
25. The classic Microsoft Space Cadet pinball is the only computer game I’ve really loved. https://classicreload.com/win9x-3d-pinball-space-cadet.html
26. Big fan of this translation of Rimbaud. https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/French/Rimbaud2.php
27. The Seminary Coop bookstore in Chicago was a magical place. I miss it. https://www.semcoop.com/
28. Used book fairs are so good. Helps you mix up your reading and not get stuck in the present.
29. http://Sci-hub.tw is life and love.
30. https://www.amazon.com/American-Girls-Handy-Book-Nonpareil/dp/0879236663 https://www.amazon.com/American-Boys-Handy-Book-Centennial/dp/0879234490/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_1/144-1459846-2117143?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0879234490&pd_rd_r=df57ca89-4832-46d4-9b4c-4b951d547f26&pd_rd_w=KmfCQ&pd_rd_wg=mAMTv&pf_rd_p=3fdfe4d1-5a48-4529-9c62-7ad3c5bf0b5d&pf_rd_r=531C26WXBF0WZ5D5XWH8&psc=1&refRID=531C26WXBF0WZ5D5XWH8 Books of kids’ activities from a century ago; I’m hoping to do these when my kid’s older.
31. Jackson Crawford’s videos about Norse mythology & language are super charming and informative.
32. Luca Turin essentially invented perfume reviewing, and the arch, bitchy, erudite collection of reviews he wrote with his wife Tania Sanchez is both hysterical and an education. https://www.amazon.com/Perfumes-Z-Guide-Luca-Turin/dp/0143115014
33. káposztás tészta (though we just called them cabbage squares in my family) is the tastiest 15-minute dish nobody knows about. It’s just sautee’d cabbage and onions, egg noodles, and sour cream.
34. https://wildflowersearch.org/ is a very effective way to identify your local wildflowers.
35. This Old Tony is great for learning about machining and how things are made. https://www.youtube.com/c/ThisOldTony
36. JOVE is video demonstrations of laboratory protocols. Super valuable. https://www.jove.com/
37. John Coulthart’s blog http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/ turned me on to illustrative and fantastic art.
38. The Saskiad is my favorite contemporary novel nobody’s heard of. https://www.amazon.com/Saskiad-Novel-Brian-Hall/dp/031218171X
39. When I was a kid I was obsessed with this book https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Practical-Encyclopedia-Architectural/dp/0684835215 and spent many mornings drawing Art Nouveau doors and windows.
40. A fun language learning exercise is to take a book you know super well (like the Bible) and try reading it in the new language, using your knowledge to fill in the unfamiliar words. My dad & I used to do that together.
