“Do what you want to do, because it’s what you want to do.”

14 June 202325 June 2023 patmcg1 Comment

One of my favorite books, I Suck at Girls, written by the Sh*t My Dad Says guy, is full of said dad’s advice, which happens to be both obscenity-laced and wise.

In this snippet, the son is deciding how to respond to his ex’s invitation to lunch while still hurting from a breakup. So he asks his dad’s opinion.

“You’re not fucking perfect,” says the dad.

The son is confused by this response and asks for some clarification.

Noting that “You do dumb shit. She does dumb shit. Everyone does dumb shit,” 😆 the dad gives some great advice.

Don’t do something, or not do something, to punish someone because you think they did something dumb. Do what you want to do, because it’s what you want to do.

The son follows the advice, which is brilliantly both forgiving and self-empowering, and goes for lunch.

Spoiler: he does not regret it.

Note: “what you want to do” should still fit in with ethical norms, legal constraints, and personal values. 🤷🏻‍♂️😆 Don’t do your own dumb shit.

“You’re only as good as your record collection.” 🎧

27 May 202325 June 2023 patmcg1 Comment

The little, square book Show Your Work has changed they way I think about blogging, processing my ideas, and has even helped me see my own music playlists differently.

And thus, my first book snippet.

Okay, it’s actually my second snippet – I just didn’t realize that the first one (also from this book) was a snippet when I wrote it.

This book says that creative people should embrace collecting as part of the creation process.

There’s not as big of a difference between collecting and creating as you might think.
Show Your Work

Great musicians, writers, and artists tend to collect and appreciate other people’s work. “The reading feeds the writing, which feeds the reading,” the book says. Or to put it another way:

You’re only as good as your record collection.
DJ Spooky, via Show Your Work

Hopefully this approach works for me as I dig into music creation.

To that end, here is my ever-growing list of new songs I like, built up gradually over the last few years, thanks to Shazam and a few coffee shops with their own great playlists. As of this writing, this playlist is over 49 hours long and could double as its own radio station.

Don’t hoard indeed. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Books

It’s time for book snippets ✄

27 May 202330 May 2023 patmcg2 Comments

I’ve been doing super summaries on this blog for a while now. The idea is to condense a great book into a super distilled version that covers the core concepts as quickly as possible. Hopefully the super summary is useful, and if your curiosity is teased enough, then you can read the actual book.

I think it’s a win-win, and these continue to be some of my most popular posts.

But some books simply can’t be super-summarized.

The book Show Your Work has has been sitting on my coffee table taunting me for months. I pick it up and read a bit, absorb whatever nuggets of inspiration I get out of it, and then put it away for a while.

I keep thinking I’ll write up a super-summary on this little 184-page book. I mean, how hard could that be?

Ironically enough, this tiny, square, innocent-looking book is so densely packed with good material that a super summary is nearly impossible. I think I could but the book in half, maybe? But who wants a 92-page summary of a book? 🤔

So I’m starting a new thing here: a book snippet. I’ll take one little concept at a time from a book and post it. And then post a series of excerpts over time for any give book.

This approach fits (so to speak) with my goal of keeping things short. So with that, stay tuned for the first snippet.

👉 First snippet: “You’re only as good as your record collection.” 🎧

This little book defies the super summary.

Books · Quotes · You

“If you work on something a little bit every day, you end up with something that is massive.”

1 November 202225 June 2023 patmcg6 Comments

I like this idea…

If you work on something a little bit every day, you end up with something that is massive.
Kenneth Goldsmith

The book Show Your Work references this quote and really brings it home with an image that illustrates how a good picture can outshine even the best words.

👉 By the way, Show Your Work inspires this blog and will most definitely be getting its own super summary (or series) here (eventually).