Reads from August 2013

The Magic and Logic of Color: How Josef Albers Revolutionized Visual Culture and the Art of Seeing

“A thing is never seen as it really is.”

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The Freedom of the Press: George Orwell on the Media’s Toxic Self-Censorship

“The enemy is the gramophone mind, whether or not one agrees with the record that is being played at the moment.”

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How Beloved Chef and Entrepreneur Julia Child Conquered the World: An Illustrated Life Story

“Oh, nuts! I burned the sauce.”

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How Einstein Thought: Why “Combinatory Play” Is the Secret of Genius

“Combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought.”

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Happy Birthday, Paul Barstch: Toast with a Cocktail Recipe by the Pioneering Zoologist and Explorer

“A bandage for the head in the morning would not be out of place.”

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Patti Smith’s Advice to the Young, by Way of William S. Burroughs

“To be an artist — actually, to be a human being in these times — it’s all difficult. … What matters is to know what you want and pursue it.”

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Frank Lloyd Wright’s Feisty Critique of Le Corbusier, Philip Johnson, Education, and the NYC Skyline

“Taste is a matter of ignorance. If you know what you are tasting, you don’t have to taste.”

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Inclining the Mind Toward “Sudden Illumination”: French Polymath Henri Poincaré on How Creativity Works

“The subliminal self is in no way inferior to the conscious self; it is not purely automatic; it is capable of discernment; it has tact, delicacy; it knows how to choose, to divine.”

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Vibrant Vintage Illustrations of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey by Alice and Martin Provensen

Ancient Greek mythology meets mid-century art.

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Religion vs. Humanism: Isaac Asimov on Science and Spirituality

“The soft bonds of love are indifferent to life and death.”

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Reads from August 2013

“A thing is never seen as it really is.”

“The enemy is the gramophone mind, whether or not one agrees with the record that is being played at the moment.”

“Oh, nuts! I burned the sauce.”

“Combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought.”

“A bandage for the head in the morning would not be out of place.”

“To be an artist — actually, to be a human being in these times — it’s all difficult. … What matters is to know what you want and pursue it.”

“Taste is a matter of ignorance. If you know what you are tasting, you don’t have to taste.”

“The subliminal self is in no way inferior to the conscious self; it is not purely automatic; it is capable of discernment; it has tact, delicacy; it knows how to choose, to divine.”

Ancient Greek mythology meets mid-century art.

“The soft bonds of love are indifferent to life and death.”

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