A list of beautiful things #29
does anybody really know you?
What happens when something is loved too much.
“Is there any point in being alive without helping one another?” My friend gifted me this book and I think it makes a lovely Christmas gift: Claire Keegan’s short novel about love, justice and complicity, Small Things Like These.
I just saw the Arab American comedian Nasser Al Rayess perform in Nashville and didn’t realize how healing it would be to laugh in a room with 150 Arabs.
Another Christmas gift book rec: Patrick Bringley’s nonfiction gem, All the Beauty in the World. We did an event together in Dubai and I loved his book. A longtime guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bringley reflects on art and grief.
Dissecting the celestial orb of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi. Read it and let me know: Why did you think Da Vinci drew the orb this way? And what do you think he wanted its structure to tell us about the universe?
Does anybody really know you? Loved this essay in The New Yorker by Joshua Rothman. “Every once in a while, someone snaps a photo of me, and I’m often surprised by how I look.”
What writing is and does. “I am trying to make a picture of the whole world.”
Teresa Wong’s stirring graphic memoir, All Our Ordinary Stories, captures the second-generation frustration of trying to get our parents to open up about their painful pasts. A must-read for all children of immigrants.
It’s almost the holiday season, and almost time for me to play my favorite Christmas album: Beegie Adair’s Jazz Piano Christmas. It’s an upbeat and refreshing twist to the usual.
“Next time is next time. Now is now.” Can’t wait to watch Perfect Days, a film by Wim Wenders about a Japanese toilet cleaner (you heard that right) in constant search of the poetry of life.
And some little things from me:
I’m teaching a virtual class on how to write and draw a graphic memoir … and how to use journalism skills to write memoir … in March 2025. Preorder your tickets now for a discount!
Questions to help you reassess your childhood relationships
In a single day, my mind looked ahead 100 years
How mothers feed the universe
Listen to my podcast episode on how to find lost objects
Thank you for the reminders of beauty Malaka!
I loved Perfect Days! I watched it a couple of weeks ago, and wow—there are so many takeaways. The beauty of more analogue living was so beautifully shown in the movie. It captures the slower pace of life and the appreciation for the routine and repetition of everyday things. Thank you for all the book recommendations! :) I just added them to my list. I would love to attend your Non-Fiction and Memoir Writing: Using Journalism Skills to Tell a Story class, but I will most likely be traveling in Asia in March. Will it be recorded too, or will you offer more classes?