Curiosities and Fascinations
Learning you can hold onto kelp to keep from drifting while you surf
Sound baths
Learning how to use AI to make the annoying parts of life better
Cosmetic acupuncture
The Pitt on HBO
Being 97% off of social media
Making custom stamps for my toddler on demand with a lino cutter
Reading: Hamnet, Chlorine, The Wedding People, Tender is the Flesh, Everything Here is Beautiful
Patti Smith’s Substack
Keeping a notebook of questions I have
Kayaking Elkhorn Slough
This heavy bag, in my garage
Rewatching Tarzan (and other Disneys) in my 30s (and crying)
Teaching my 2-year-old lines of Shakespeare
Using a date stamp on the first page of books I finish
Combination bookstore/wine bars
Listening to The Boys soundtrack
Keeping an entire journal inspired by Susan Sontag’s lists
Staring at all the sweet senior dogs who need homes
Slaying my Goodreads reading challenge (2025 Update: Replacing it with Storygraph)
Mango sticky rice
My monstera from The Sill
Collecting vintage copies of The Ring magazine
Girl Scout cookie season
Austin Kleon's newsletter
Raspberry saltwater taffy from the boardwalk in Santa Cruz
Writing workshops at Catapult
My Book of the Month subscription
Acai Bowls for breakfast (like this one!)
Hiking Point Lobos
All guacamole, but especially this one
My literary website Call Me Ishmael
The List App (may it RIP)
Chip Kidd's TED Talk
The Americans on FX
Action Method notebooks by Behance
Death to the Stock Photo's free monthly pictures
Boomerang videos, especially of boxing
Everything the Melville House publishes
Adobe's Capture app
These Walt Whitman interpretations
Vlogging about books and technology
A successful campaign to fund an at-sea performance of Moby Dick
The Knick on Cinemax
TED Radio Hour Podcast about creativity
FiftyThree's Paper app for iPhone
All the things Out of Print makes, but especially my Ender's Game shirt
California boxing gloves
The costumes in Ex Machina
The NYC store that's dedicated entirely to pencils
The NYC store that's dedicated entirely to Moleskine
Rainbows sandals