Tiny Drawings from the Big Apple
like a ninja turtle sketcher.
Dear Reader,
I was in New York this weekend, walking its Great Streets in search of Tiny Beautiful Things. I hung out with some wonderful people, caught an improv show, ran a workshop in Central Park, ate long slices of pizza like a ninja turtle, and drew in the middle of Times Square. On the subject of ninja turtles, I also saw Raphael at The Met.
Watch this:
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🤳🏼 Live from Times Square
On Monday morning, a couple of hours before my bus to the airport, I hung out at Times Square with Jason Chatfield. Jason does Substack Live because no one will sign up to his OnlyFans. I don’t know why I said yes. I felt a little dirty afterward.
Towards the end of the session, he thanked me for my thoughts, so I felt obligated to add for the audience’s sake that no one should actually listen to me about anything. I am a fool, just like Jason is a fool. Like, can you believe he flew all the way from Australia to New York just to tell jokes? That I came from India, abandoning a career in science, to make drawings? If we had only worked hard and applied ourselves, we could have been middle-managers somewhere, instead of playing with fountain pens in the middle of the street on a Monday.
I mean, jfc…
Anyway, watch it below or read Jason’s thoughtful reflections on our chat:
What started as a live drawing session quickly spiralled into one of the most profound, quotable, and vital conversations I’ve had in years…
🧀 This Summer, in Wisconsin
A couple of weeks ago, I spoke with old friend Michael Perry about my upcoming appearance at Eaux Claires, the premier music —and now, writer’s— festival in Eau Claire (Wisconsin). This will be my first visit back since 2019.
Mike is a New York Times bestselling author, humorist, corporate speaker, volunteer firefighter/first responder, and amateur snowplow driver (learn more).
Also, coming up:
🗓️ [Vancouver] My workshop for USk Vancouver Sketch Weekend still has some seats left.
🗓️ [Edmonds WS1 and WS2] Two workshops this August with Art Spot in beautiful Edmonds, Washington.
This week, I am -
📖 Reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee,
🎱 Speed-running through the Connections archives of NYT Games, and
🤖 Contemplating AI again.
NYC was so full of AI-startups posters that paid subscribers must now brace for a long-read later this month - on AI, Derrida, and That Thing You Do.
A shout-out to fellow writers I saw this weekend - Jason Chatfield, Samantha Dion Baker, Jillian Hess, Caroline Cala Donofrio, and asher.
Thank you for reading. I am glad to have a slice of your time and attention this week.
Looks like you had a grand time!
Always so great to see you, Nishant!