Navel Gazing

In this week’s essay, John discusses instinct versus obligation, his daughter’s wit, how he has changed since episode one, and more.   Notebook Entries: Notebook 58, page 10. September 16, 2021 “You don’t measure your life the way you measure your writing.” - Nan Notebook 75, page 46-47. September 2021 When your dog dies and son goes to college and you are confronted with your life’s work it all boils down to one alarm: the clock is ticking. If a scream is better than a thesis, I was hearing some kind of scream, but what was the thesis? References: Everything Is Copy [https://www.max.com/movies/everything-is-copy-nora-ephron-scripted-unscripted/6ab8f646-3129-4091-b726-fc4d1847a9c1]– HBODocs   The Power of Regret [https://www.danpink.com/the-power-of-regret/]– Daniel Pink The Mezzanine [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/247000.The_Mezzanine] – Nicholson Baker  “The Creative Process [https://www.plough.com/en/topics/culture/art/the-creative-process#!]” – James Baldwin Slouching Towards Bethlehem [https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374531386/slouchingtowardsbethlehem] – Joan Didion “Three Paths Toward the Meaning of Life [https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/self-knowledge-philosophy-happiness/675868/]” - Arthur Brooks for The Atlantic Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

In this week’s essay, John discusses Mothers’s Day, playing tennis with the Attorney General, medical scares, and more.   Notebook Entries: Notebook 19, page 16. April 2011 Is it possible, through applied thought, to become systematic in an approach to life? If you were to do that how would you proceed?  Notebook 16, page 6. July 26, 2005 “I’m here with a bunch of midshipmen and wondering what there is to do around here.” - Boy trying to hit on a girl working @ The Reef in Castine, ME. Notebook 15, page 30. September 2004 Head problems: Sunday 9/5 morning Tuesday 9/7 evening Wednesday 9/8 before lunch Notebook 22, page 22. April 24, 2014 Question:  What did you want to be when you were a kid?  * What do you want to be now? * Why the difference? Notebook 9. 1995 “That’s just the ticket the doctor ordered” Notebook 13. 2001 “Free as a clam” Notebook 17, page 67. December 2006 The man sitting next to me has a face on the boil and garlic and old booze on his breath. When he sleeps, he sighs. For this leg of the flight I am wrapped in his breathy gumbo. Notebook 15, page 7. April 2004 “In all these there are messages for those who use their reason.” - Quran quotation Notebook 15, page 80. 2005 Would like to meet her. Notebook 54. July 26, 2020 “Writing requires a reader. You can’t do it alone.” - John Cheever Notebook 15, page 71. 2005 In the light of sobriety not sure what this means Notebook 13. March 2001 Yesterday I played tennis with John Ashcroft the atty. general of the U.S. Notebook 13, page 108. December 11, 2001 Anne just called. There is one little heartbeat beating in her today. Everything is okay for this hurdle. I must say, I was really worried. Notebook 20, page 10. December 24, 2013 “Sometimes Dad says weird stuff, just ignore him” - Anne to kids about me Notebook 15, page 84. “Life goes on,” Hayawi says. “We are in the middle of a war [in Iraq] and we still smoke the water pipe.” Notebook 45, page 24. April 16, 2019 Our savior lives by the manner in which we live. Notebook 19, page 23. 2011 People on their mobile phones in England say goodbye a lot: “Cheers, alright then, speak to you soon, ta.” (That’s four ways of saying goodbye). Amelia tells the story of a man who thanked a ticket-taker by saying “Ta, magical, cheers.” References: Disaster on the Penobscot [https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2000/december/disaster-penobscot] - John Henry Fay for Naval History Magazine One Man’s Meat [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10813.One_Man_s_Meat] by E.B. White The House at Allen Cove I E.B. White House Tou [https://newengland.com/living/homes/eb-white-house-allen-cove/]r - New England Magazine Little Plastic Castle [https://www.righteousbabe.com/products/little-plastic-castle-25th-anniversary-edition] - Ani Defranco “Two Years of War: Taking Stock [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2005/03/20/two-years-of-war-taking-stock/4732da82-6a9e-49ad-8c65-17d037ca03fa/]” - Anthony Shadid for the Washington Post Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Navel_Gazing&utm_source=podcast] to get access wherever you listen.   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

In this week’s essay, John discusses the differences between moving around New York in 1991 and 2021; remembering 9/11 twenty years later; and more.    Notebook Entries: Notebook 75, page 12. September 2021 Notebooks to Garret Notebook 75, page 13. September 2021 Can you make a typo with handwriting? What’s a typo with handwriting called? Notebook 4. 1991 We have to unplug the light to run the vacuum, so we do a lot of our vacuuming in the dark. Notebook 75. September 11, 2021 Fritz want something? References: Smythson Notebooks in Blue [https://www.smythson.com/us/agendas-books/notebooks/blue] 9/11 ceremonies, events and coverage on 20th anniversary [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSpjPAY7zKM&t=9301s] - CBS News Richard Drew on Photographing the “Falling Man” of 9/11 [https://www.cbsnews.com/video/richard-drew-on-photographing-the-falling-man-of-911/] - CBS News Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Navel_Gazing&utm_source=podcast] to get access wherever you listen.   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

In this week’s essay, John discusses the Pomodoro Routine (among other productivity routines), why he especially needs a meditation pillow, and how a particular teacher captured his heart.      Notebook Entries: Notebook 75, pages 8 and 9. September 2021 OReinstating the Pomodoro Routine… Starting Marshall again… Write Brice… Send Laura the larger project list… Work on budget to get accounts in order Meditation pillow upstairs. Notebook 18. December 6, 2009 Instapaper Alpha Smart Richard Hugo on poetry Degrees of Gray In Philipsburg. Notebook 18, page 105. June 4, 2011 Visit to Mr. Mead. He was playing piano as we entered. [During our conversation, he asked]: do you find your work fulfilling? Do you have a close circle of friends? Questions about life and living it well… References: Getting Things Done [https://gettingthingsdone.com/] - David Allen The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People [https://www.amazon.com/Habits-Highly-Effective-People-Powerful/dp/0743269519] - Stephen Covey  The Questions That Will Get Me Through the Pandemic [https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/questions-will-get-me-through-pandemic/613144/] - John Dickerson 43 Folders [https://www.43folders.com/] - Merlin Mann  The Hardest Job in the World [https://johndickerson.com/book/the-hardest-job-in-the-world/]- John Dickerson Essays of E.B. White [https://www.everand.com/book/204643364/Essays-of-E-B-White] “Merlin Mann [https://thegreatdiscontent.com/interview/merlin-mann/]” - Tina Essmaker for The Great Disconnect More about Ernest “Boots” Mead [https://www.meadendowment.org/mr-mead] “Because Buying New Running Shoes is More Fun Than Actually Running [https://www.43folders.com/node/47254/316673]” - Merlin Mann for 43 Folders Atomic Habits [https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits]- James Clear The Creative Habit [https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Creative-Habit/Twyla-Tharp/9780743235273] - Twyla Tharp Free Agent Nation [https://www.danpink.com/books/free-agent-nation/] - Daniel Pink “Sharon Salzberg On: Openness, Not Believing the Stories You Tell Yourself, and Why the Most Powerful Tools Often Seem Stupid at First [https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/sharon-salzberg-582]” - Ten Percent Happier Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Navel_Gazing&utm_source=podcast] to get access wherever you listen.   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

In this week’s essay, John discusses an onboarding memo for his assistant Laura, and recounts his early days living and working in New York City.    Notebook Entries: Notebook 75 Onboard memo for Laura Notebook 3, page 44. May 1991 June 17 start job. Good stuff Notebook 3, page 46. May 1991 Tips on buying renting in NYC Ask about broker 20s and 30s East side. Murry Hill Live on no major avenue Interest bearing account for security deposit Medeco locks Notebook 4, page 15 Scared standing on 34th and Broadway $6 cab fare Notebook 4, page 42 Getting lost in the village References: The Little Brown Book of Anecdotes [https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/clifton-fadiman/the-little-brown-book-of-anecdotes/9780316084727/] by Clifton Fadiman  Medeco Locks [https://www.medeco.com/en] “Here is New York [https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/campuspress.yale.edu/dist/b/3011/files/2018/08/Here-is-NY_EB-White1-yk0d8g.pdf]” by E.B. White “Silly Job Interview [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUIw_u-zY3o]” - Monty Python  John Cleese on Creativity in Management [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5oIIPO62g] Herbie Hancock: Miles Davis’ Essential Lesson On Mistakes [https://improvisedlife.com/2016/08/01/herbie-hancock-miles-davis-essential-lesson-on-mistakes/] Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Navel_Gazing&utm_source=podcast] to get access wherever you listen.    Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com   Host John Dickerson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]