finalize october 2024
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David Eisinger
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[1]Austin Kleon
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• [2]Blog
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• [3]Books
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• [4]Newsletter
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• [5]Speaking
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• [6]About
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• [7]Contact
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• [8][9]
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You are here: [10]Blog / [11]Miscellany / A good assistant to your future self
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A good assistant to your future self
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Monday, March 20, 2023
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[12][IMG_2886-600x600]
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This morning I was flipping through my copy of the [13]Bicycle Sentences
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Journal that illustrator [14]Betsy Streeter sent me and I was quite taken with
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this final paragraph by Grant Petersen. (I’m a big fan of [15]his blog and [16]
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Just Ride.)
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He touches on [17]why I keep a diary, why I keep it [18]on paper, and the magic
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of [19]keeping a logbook. The mundane details can bring back sublime memories,
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and [20]what you think is boring now may be interesting in the future: “What
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seems bland when you write it down… will seem epic in thirty years.”
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I have a new studio routine where when I’m unsure of what to write about, I
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[21]revisit my notebooks each year [22]on today’s date. (I have notebooks going
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back 20 years, daily logbooks going back 15, but I’ve kept a daily diary for 5
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years now. That’s where a lot of gems are buried.)
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Flipping through these notebooks will usually yield something worth writing
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about. (This morning, it was [23]William Burroughs on language.)
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Reading my diary this way, which I first learned from [24]reading Thoreau’s
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diary, also shows me the cycles and patterns of my life.
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(For example: [25]Cocteau Twins and the beginning of spring are somehow
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intertwined in my life. What does that mean? And what does the fact that their
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lyrics are barely understandable mean when matched with the Burroughs? Spring
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is a season of rebirth… When babies are new, they babble and make noise without
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language… do they sound like spring to me for this reason? You can see how
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these thoughts, none of which I had when I woke up this morning, come forth
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from just reading myself.)
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[26][Screen-Shot-2023-03-20-at-11]
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Another way to think about it: Keeping a diary is being a good research
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assistant to your future self.
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This is the advice that art critic [27]Jerry Saltz has tweeted over the years:
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[28]Be a good assistant to yourself. Prepare and gather, make notations and
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sketches in your head or phone. When you work, all that mapping,
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architecture, research & preparation will be your past self giving a gift
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to the future self that you are now. That is the sacred.
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[29]I’ve never had an assistant. I am my own best assistant. My assistant
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-self is my past self loving my future self who’ll need this previous
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research when I reach for something in my work. My assistant-self has
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gotten ideas for whole articles, essays from minutes of research online.
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[30]Artists: The beautiful thing about giving yourself a little break & not
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working – those are the times when new ideas flood in from the cosmos & set
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your “assistant self” in motion, the self that will be there for your
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“future-self.” Curiosity and obsession always fill the vacuum.
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[31]Artists: Be your own best assistant. Do your research. Get your tools
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and materials in order. These will be the ancestors, spirit guides and
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self-replicating imagination of your work. This will allow art to reproduce
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itself in you. You’ll thank yourself during & afterwards.
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I have my many moments of self-loathing at my own lack of progress, but one
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thing I have done right, at least in the past half decade or so: I have been a
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good assistant to my future self.
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Joan Didion said of re-reading notebooks, “I think we are well advised to keep
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on nodding terms with the people we used to be.” This is especially true if
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they have bothered to preserve themselves so we can visit them later.
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Yes, a diary is [32]a good spaceship for time travel: for meditating on the
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present, flinging ourselves into the future, and visiting ourselves in the
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past.
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Filed Under: [33]Miscellany Tagged: [34]bicycles, [35]diaries, [36]jerry saltz,
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[37]NOTES ON WRITING AND DRAWING, [38]time travel
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[39][ ][40][Search]
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About the author
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[41]Austin Kleon
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[42]Austin Kleon is a writer who draws. He’s the bestselling author of [43]
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Steal Like An Artist and other books. [44]Read more→
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• [45]
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• [46]
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• [47]
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• [48]
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• [49]
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Subscribe to my newsletter
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Join the 200,000+ readers who get it delivered free to their inboxes every
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week:
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[50]On This Date
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• 2020: [51]Peanuts, remixed
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• 2019: [52]Drawers
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• 2018: [53]The right book at the right time
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• 2017: [54]Seasonal time
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Get the 10th anniversary gift edition
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[55]Steal Like an Artist 10th Anniversary gift edition
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Listen to the audiobook trilogy
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[56]The Steal Like An Artist Audio Trilogy
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Read my books
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[57]Keep Going [58]Show Your Work [59]Steal Like An Artist [60]The Steal Like
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An Artist Journal [61]Newspaper Blackout
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Order t-shirts on demand
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[62]t-shirts
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Recent posts
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• [63]How do you draw time?
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• [64]A plan and not enough time
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• [65]Autumn leaves (a September mixtape)
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• [66]Human resources
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• [67]Cut out verbs
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More about me
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• [68]Books I’ve written
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• [69]My newsletter
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• [70]Books I’ve read
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• [71]Twitter
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• [72]Instagram
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• [73]Tumblr
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Search this site
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[74][ ][75][Search]
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Follow me elsewhere
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• [76]
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• [77]
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• [78]
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• [79]
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• [80]
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© Austin Kleon 2001–2024
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• [81]Blog
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• [82]Books
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• [83]Newsletter
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• [84]Speaking
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• [85]About
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• [86]Contact
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This site participates in the Amazon Affiliates program, the proceeds of which
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keep it free for anyone to read.
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References:
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[1] https://austinkleon.com/
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[2] https://austinkleon.com/
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[3] https://austinkleon.com/books/
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[4] https://austinkleon.substack.com/
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[5] https://austinkleon.com/speaking/
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[6] https://austinkleon.com/about/
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[7] https://austinkleon.com/contact/
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[8] https://twitter.com/austinkleon
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[9] https://instagram.com/austinkleon
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[10] https://austinkleon.com/
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[11] https://austinkleon.com/category/miscellany/
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[12] https://www.rivbike.com/products/bicycle-sentences
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[13] https://www.rivbike.com/products/bicycle-sentences
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[14] https://www.instagram.com/betsystreeter/?hl=en
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[15] https://www.rivbike.com/blogs/grant-petersens-blog
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[16] https://geni.us/pLVPGGl
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[17] https://austinkleon.com/2018/02/20/what-is-the-point-of-keeping-a-diary/
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[18] https://austinkleon.com/tag/paper-is-a-wonderful-technology
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[19] https://austinkleon.com/tag/logbook
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[20] https://austinkleon.com/2021/01/31/what-you-think-is-boring-now-may-be-interesting-in-the-future/
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[21] https://austinkleon.com/2017/12/15/on-the-importance-of-revisiting-notebooks/
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[22] https://austinkleon.com/2017/10/21/on-this-day/
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[23] https://austinkleon.com/2023/03/20/errors-in-western-language/
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[24] https://austinkleon.com/2018/11/13/a-year-of-thoreau/
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[25] https://cocteautwins.com/
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[26] https://twitter.com/jerrysaltz/status/1556296370440400896
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[27] https://twitter.com/jerrysaltz
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[28] https://twitter.com/jerrysaltz/status/1556296370440400896
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[29] https://twitter.com/jerrysaltz/status/1559535799896576000
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[30] https://twitter.com/jerrysaltz/status/1559886618575732738
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[31] https://twitter.com/jerrysaltz/status/1606742728024494080
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[32] https://austinkleon.com/2014/01/19/a-good-spaceship/
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[33] https://austinkleon.com/category/miscellany/
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[34] https://austinkleon.com/tag/bicycles/
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[35] https://austinkleon.com/tag/diaries/
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[36] https://austinkleon.com/tag/jerry-saltz/
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[37] https://austinkleon.com/tag/notes-on-writing-and-drawing/
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[38] https://austinkleon.com/tag/time-travel/
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[41] https://austinkleon.com/about/
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[42] https://austinkleon.com/about/
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[43] https://austinkleon.com/steal/
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[44] https://austinkleon.com/about/
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[45] http://facebook.com/mr.austin.kleon
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[46] http://instagram.com/austinkleon
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[47] http://tumblr.austinkleon.com/
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[48] http://twitter.com/austinkleon
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[49] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8uQnyh7DAfp4uX9RN7XxEw
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[50] https://austinkleon.com/on-this-date/
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[51] https://austinkleon.com/2020/10/02/peanuts-remixed/
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[52] https://austinkleon.com/2019/10/02/drawers/
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[53] https://austinkleon.com/2018/10/02/the-right-book-at-the-right-time/
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[54] https://austinkleon.com/2017/10/02/seasonal-time/
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[55] https://austinkleon.com/steal/
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[56] https://austinkleon.com/steal-audiobook-trilogy
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[57] https://austinkleon.com/keepgoing
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[58] https://austinkleon.com/show-your-work
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[59] https://austinkleon.com/steal/
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[60] https://austinkleon.com/journal
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[61] https://austinkleon.com/newspaperblackout/
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[62] https://cottonbureau.com/people/austin-kleon
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[63] https://austinkleon.com/2024/10/01/how-do-you-draw-time/
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[64] https://austinkleon.com/2024/09/27/a-plan-and-not-enough-time/
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[65] https://austinkleon.com/2024/09/26/autumn-leaves-a-september-mixtape/
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[66] https://austinkleon.com/2024/09/24/human-resources/
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[67] https://austinkleon.com/2024/09/20/cut-out-verbs/
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[68] https://austinkleon.com/books/
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[69] http://austinkleon.com/newsletter
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[70] https://austinkleon.com/category/reading/my-reading-years/
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[71] http://twitter.com/austinkleon
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[72] http://instagram.com/austinkleon
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[73] http://tumblr.austinkleon.com/
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[76] http://facebook.com/mr.austin.kleon
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[77] http://instagram.com/austinkleon
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[78] http://tumblr.austinkleon.com/
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[79] http://twitter.com/austinkleon
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[80] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8uQnyh7DAfp4uX9RN7XxEw
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[81] https://austinkleon.com/
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[82] https://austinkleon.com/books/
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[83] https://austinkleon.substack.com/
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[84] https://austinkleon.com/speaking/
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[85] https://austinkleon.com/about/
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[86] https://austinkleon.com/contact/
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