Meadow

This page contains some misc links from around the internet that I think are worth sharing with others. They're not ordered in any specific way. This is in a perennial work in progress state, and I'll be adding to it as time goes by.

Blogs

You can see my current blogroll here.

Cool Posts Gumbo

I've given some thought to the problem of how to best show a bunch of links without them being too noisy. I eventually landed on the idea of just shuffling all of them together so you don't know what you're going to get!

Videos

• The creative act of listening to a talking frog | Kermit The Frog — Kermit The Frog gives a TED talk about the magical act of listening and telling stories, and what it means to be human.
• Kurt Vonnegut lecture on writing and storytelling — Wonderful lecture by Kurt Vonnegut. He goes on to talk about life and writing but doesn't really say anything concrete. However, in so doing he says everything there is to say.
• How To Be Positive | by Ajahn Brahm | 17 Oct 2008 — Very entertaining talk around the topic of happiness, and the need to be kind to ourselves. Ajahn Brahm is an awesome speaker, and his talks are a mix between Buddhist philosophy and stand-up comedy.
• 10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki — Wonderful glimpse into the mind and creative process of Hayao Miyazaki. For me it was eye opening to the fact that we only ever see the final result but there's a lot of unseen effort and determination that happens in the background. In the documentary we see that Miyazaki-san is just a normal human being, with his ups and downs, but what really sets him apart is his unwavering dedication to the creative process. (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | archive.org link)
• Henning Ohlenbusch - Maybe I'm Not Meant To Do Anything Remarkable After All — A song (perhaps I should make a separate music category?), about being unremarkable. Be ok with who you are, don't put unnecessary pressure on yourself. There's no need to be great in the eyes of society.

Games

• Stardew Valley — Cozy farming simulator with deep mechanics and wonderful stories.
• Celeste — A brutal game of skill, with a heartwarming story of self-discovery and acceptance.

Books

• Favorite books to read by the fire
  • Lord of the Rings (and accompanying legendarium) by J. R. R. Tolkien
  • Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss.
  • The Way of Kings (and greater Stormlight Archive) by Brandon Sanderson
  • Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  • Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. A bit long but worth it.
• Comfort books (as in comfort food)
  • All and every Discworld book but especially: Wyrd Sisters, The Last Hero, Thief of Time, Mort, Reaper Man, Hogfather, Interesting Times, The Truth, Equal Rites
  • Harry Potter. Rowling's view on certain topics is dubious, but I can't argue with the genius of this story.
• Other great reads
  • American Gods by Neil Gaiman
  • Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
  • The Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal
  • Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
  • The Abhorsen series by Garth Nix
  • Eragon by Christopher Paolini
  • Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
  • Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch
  • Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson
  • Tress of the Emerald Sea also by Brandon Sanderson
• Inspiration
  • Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
  • The Book of Tea by Kakuzō Okakura
  • Be Here Now by Ram Dass
  • The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
• Short stories
  • M is for Magic by Niel Gaiman