Agent Palmer

While today’s browser wars are more about privacy, operating systems, and online integrations and ecosystems, that’s not the way it started.

I remember getting online early with Gopher and whatever Prodigy’s built-in browser equivalent was. I then moved on to Mosaic, Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, and eventually the first Mozilla.

Years ago, and much closer to its 2014 publishing date, I told you about Console Wars and its masterful retelling of the marketing and gaming dominance match between Nintendo and Sega.

The book is absolutely amazing, but the documentary also stands on its own. Since it clocks in at only 90 minutes, it’s best referred to as the abridged story of the Console Wars as they occurred.

It’s easy to say there were 10 things I learned or was excited to read within The Creative Act. Truthfully, I made 28 notes reading it cover to cover. Perhaps at another time I would have made 18 or 48. This book is unique.

While it is, in fact, a linear read about the inspirations, actions, energies, meditations, collaborations, and many other pieces that form the act of creating art, I kept getting the feeling that this stuff could just be picked up at any time and any piece might hit you as important.

I don’t know if this is the correct takeaway from Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, but it seems to me the “loud hate” minority is much more powerful than the massive “love and let live” majority.

By all accounts, Lilith Fair was an outrageous success. Yes, it took its toll on founder Sarah McLachlan. After all, in three years, it played 134 dates across 54 cities and raised more than $10 million for women’s shelters and non-profits.

Maus is the award-winning graphic novel by Art Spiegelman. It is a “Survivor’s Tale” specifically, Art’s dad, Vladek, and his survival of the Holocaust.

It is also Art’s story of dealing with his father’s history, legacy, and guilt. It is beautifully crafted in both form and function, in the black-and-white panels, text, and spaces in between.