YOUR FRIENDLY THURSDAY REMINDER

Hey, what's that over there? Maybe I should open another tab and find out...well stop. Find out tomorrow. No more tabs.

Just a friendly reminder to try practicing using only one tab today. 

Then check your focus, and check your anxiety levels. How do you feel?

GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ: THE PROCESS

During an informal survey in one of my English classes, the professor moved down a line of students, asking each person the same question: What is your favorite book? 

The answers that came, with few exceptions, were identical: One Hundred Years of Solitude.

So, when I read Marquez's obituary in the Economist, detailing how that book came into being, I thought I would share:

"In July 1965 Garbriel Garcia Marquez - Gabo to all who revered him later - decided to lock himself away in a house on Calle de La Loma in Mexico City. He ordered his wife to sell the car and get credit from the butcher. For 15 months, using only his index fingers, he typed for six hours a day in a room he called "The Cave of the Mafia." He survived on a diet of good Scotch and constant cigarettes. At five in the afternoon he would emerge in to the fading light with his eyes wide, as though he had discoursed with the dead... 

"'One Hundred Years of Solitude,' the fruit of his self-imprisonment, sold 50m copies in more than 30 languages... 

"Writing was difficult; the words came as painfully as kidney stones. Nonetheless, there was nothing else he had wanted to do in life. He burned 'to write so I would not die.'"

TABLESS THURSDAY

Single-tasking Is the New Multitasking from The Atlantic on Vimeo.

Let's start a trend.

First, listen to the pitch: press play. I have zero resources, so here is someone else's video about single tasking, but what I got out of it was the concept of Tabless Thursday.

If you take a look at a typical week, there is clearly a gap:

Meatless Monday

Taco Tuesday

Womething Wednesday

_________ Thursday

Funning* Friday

So now, just for fun's sake,** this coming Thursday, practice tab monogamy. What is that? It's simple: only use one tab on your browser at a time. If you need something else, close the one tab, and open another. Then work on that ONE tab for the entire time until you have completed whatever it is you're doing. 

Only once a week, a small commitment of your time. Let's see what that does for you. 

* I meant to put something else here, but then thought that was too easy. 

** It helps sometimes to just think of change as fun, improvement as fun, and fun as something you want in your life. 

READING LIST: FICTION AND NON-FICTION

A little bit of fiction, a little bit non-fiction. I try to make sure I read a mix of both. 

The Orphan Master's Son. On the late train to the 2013 party bus, I finally discovered a book that had won a Pulitzer. This is probably borderline non-fiction; you have to keep moving along until the book's true heart reveals itself. While you read, moving your way down the plotline, the clean straight line you thought you were following will veer into the folds of a sophisticated design, one that you were probably not expecting. That is the beauty of this book. At the core of this design is an alien heart, because the images it evokes are so foreign it almost feels like reading about another world, except for the deep-seated human qualities that root it back into the earth. 

I don't mean to be vague, but I also don't want to ruin it for people that haven't read it, so I'm dancing around hard facts. I will say, however, that this is one of the most moving books I have read in awhile. If nothing else, it will give you a new appreciation for what you have. 

The Body Book. There are certain books that are good to have. Like which kind? Like this one. Everyone has a body, a vessel,* and it's good to know how to take care of it. This book is comprehensive. It details everything from explaining how the body functions on a cellular level, to eating and exercise. The tone is sincere and readable. What takes this a notch above the rest, is that while you're (I assume) sitting on your butt reading it, you will suddenly feel the subtle sensation of a fire being lit somewhere underneath your seat. That, apparently, is what wanting to get up and go work out feels like. 

The material has the potential to be bone dry. Cameron Diaz has, instead, managed to infuse it with energy, and that goes a long way. She has high expectations for your physical well being, and that's a good assumption to have going in.   

* Referencing Supernatural. It's always appropriate.  

SHALLOW WORDS AND DEEP THOUGHTS

I was out with my friend S. the other day, when a young couple, female and male, early 20's I'd guess, stopped us and asked if one of us could take their picture. We chitchatted a little, asked them to move into the sunlight for better lighting (we were considerate), took some pictures of them, reviewed those, thought better of it, took better shots, and then went our separate ways. 

When the couple was safely out of earshot, we turned to each other. The conversation went like this:

S:  That girl? She was so pretty! Didn't you think she was pretty?

Me: That's exactly what I was thinking! 

S: I'm so jealous! I wish I was that pretty!* 

Me: Me too!  

(Significant pause.) 

S: She was too good for him.

Me: Oh, hell yeah. 

With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, there may be a few elements of that conversation that could be improved. For the record, the boyfriend looked fine. He just wasn't exceptional. Not the way she was. She caught your eye, while your gaze might just pass right on over him without stopping. That's not a crime. He could even have been a Getty. Although, based on clothing, I have my doubts. 

Back to the her: based solely on appearances, both of us immediately felt that this girl's looks entitled her to someone better. It seemed perfectly rational at the time. It made sense. Some of the most irrational thoughts always seem perfectly rational. We both had high expectations of this complete stranger. She should do better. She should dump her nice boyfriend, and get herself someone more in her league. Her looks league.   

What were the assumptions behind this line of reasoning. Do good looks naturally lead to higher expectations? Do we assume that she had all these better choices, and then chose this somewhat blah guy? Did he trick her? Is he, in fact, evil? 

In future, I will probably reflect less on other people's choices, and more on my own line of reasoning.

* For reference purposes, she looked like a younger version of actress Kelly Hu. Hu is probably best known for being really hot on the Scorpion King. Check it out. 

ON THE SOUL AND THE MIND

Interesting. Do you believe this?

FUN LINKS

Street Art

Writing

The Trick of Life

You're trying to finish your book. It's not working. Nothing is working. In fact, your book sucks. What do you do? Here's what one man did.

Creativity

The Creative Process

Finally, you can diagram this. Here's what it looks like.

Running

7 Things You're Probably Not Paying Attention to When You Run (But Should Be)

Do you run for exercise? Want to do it better? Let me put this another way - do you want to limit your injuries? Well, you're in luck. Here's some tips.

Recipes

Baked Eggs with Chickpea and Spinach

Beauty

DIY Beauty: Thyme to Tame the Breakouts

There are a lot of expensive acne products out there. This one's simple and natural. 

Work

Why You Hate Work

According to this, people that hate their jobs are in the majority. That's the majority of your day spent doing something you hate.

Style
Why French Girls Dress Like a "Clone Army"
Everyone seems to want to be more French, including me. Here's a different perspective.

SLEEP IS GOOD

Small changes.

Sleep is a necessity. Sleep is a luxury. You know what makes sleep better? A sleep mask. It blocks out all ambient light, and helps you really get the most of those precious Zzzzz's. 

A recent discovery. 

BODY THOUGHTS

It's Friday, and I have a subscription to US Weekly. It was a gift. From a friend. 

Because I kept reading her copies. Oh well, secret's out. You won't see a copy of James Joyce's Ulysses hanging around in my bathroom. Of course, you won't see US Weekly either, because that's gross. 

Most of it is exactly what you would expect, but sometimes, in the The Body Issue of all things, certain celebrities have some interesting things to say. 

"I really love myself. I'm comfortable in my own skin."
- Charlize Theron

"My Grandmother wore daisy dukes until she was 70! She loved her legs. And my mom wore plunging necklines. They were good examples for me."
- Jessica Alba

"I'm pretty healthy so I think that helps a lot. I've been that way for a long time - 20 solid years of eating vegetarian, vegan and taking care of myself."
- Jared Leto

I know. It's right there, on the tip of your tongue - if I looked like that, I'd love and take care of myself too. Thanks, genetics!

But what about just caring deeply about yourself? And then drawing nourishment from the well of love you have for yourself? How would you behave? 

Differently or the same?

REQUEST FOR SUBMISSIONS

So here's a new chapter. 

I'm requesting and accepting submissions to be published on this blog, because I like to know about people and what they do. If you've ever talked to someone about what they love, it's like the best kind of disease, because when they open up, they release a creative spark, and if yours happens to be dim at the moment, you can catch something. I believe that enthusiasm is contagious and indiscriminate, and in the same way that you follow, say, Tolstoy's daily habits and learn something, you can do that same with your peers.

*PLEASE SEND SUBMISSIONS TO writeandamuse@gmail.com*

So here goes:

Submissions should answer the following questions, but these can change according to topic:

Who or what inspires you? 

This is for picture purposes.

What are you passionate about doing? 

This can be writing, drawing, travel, or anything really, as long as it genuinely drives you. 

How do you express this passion or interest? 

Pretty simple really: if you like to paint, what do you paint?

How do you stay inspired? 

Short burst of passion are commonplace, but it's the long term commitment, the every day dedication that is hard. What do you do to keep that interest alive? What is the day to day process? 

I'm going to put this request in the header bar, and see what happens.

Send an email over to writeandamuse@gmail.com