Austin Kleon @austinkleon Twitter profile

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Austin Kleon

2 years

The 10th anniversary gift edition of STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST. 📚 first time in hardcover 🔎 bigger trim size 💅 fancy ribbon bookmark & endpapers 🔭 new afterword Get it now:

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Last Seen Profiles

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 months

I wish I had learned this a little earlier: The point of any real relationship, and any real collaboration, is to go somewhere neither of you could go alone.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

8 years

Now that’s a lede.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

6 years

First draft motto

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 months

Nnamdi “Enyi” Azodo 🐘

@SimplyAzodo

3 months

Struggling so badly with writer’s block. I’m just going to go back to @austinkleon ’s “Show Your Work” for inspiration

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

2 years

On “understanding” poetry:

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

2 years

Another day at the office 😍

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

2 years

Happy Labor Day

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

Have watched this half a dozen times

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

2 years

Studio at night

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

6 years

“As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people... On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” –H.L. Mencken

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

10 years

I read 70+ books this year, new personal record. Here's what I recommend if you want to read more: http://t.co/rkR5Ie7Teg

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

As someone who’s worked from home for the past 8 years I recommend: 1) wearing a robe with pockets for your pencil and notebook 2) a long walk in the middle of the day to contemplate how beautiful life is and how much working in an office sucks ass 3) buying good coffee beans

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

2 years

“Don’t be fooled by the internet.” —Prince, 1999

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

6 years

I have a rule that serves me well: Don’t think too much about your life after dinnertime. It's a recipe for despair. Everything looks better in the light of the morning. Cliché, maybe, but it works.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

HOW TO BE HAPPY (notes to myself) 1. Read old books. 2. Go for long walks. 3. Play the piano. 4. Make art with small children. 5. Watch screwball comedies. 6. Listen to soul music. 7. Write in your diary. 8. Take naps. 9. Look at the moon. 10. Make dumb lists.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

5 years

To all my talented friends: please think about going back to a simple blog or newsletter that you update at a regular frequency. It would be so nice to meet your thoughts and words and images on your own turf, in a simple, peaceful context again. This site is no place to be.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

How to teach kids to read: 1. Read to them 2. Read to them 3. Read to them 4. Let them see you reading 5. Cover every surface of the house with books 6. Let audiobooks read to them 7. Turn captioning on the TV 8. Read to them 9. Read to them 10. Read to them

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

6 years

DOOKIE is 25 years old. I can’t tell you what a huge impact this record had on me when I heard it. (Age 12?) Made me want to learn guitar and start a band. (And I did!) thanks @GreenDay

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

“Country Noises,” by Saul Steinberg

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

10 years

Chuck Berry reviews classic punk records: http://t.co/7pAoH0Kfee (via @fchimero ) http://t.co/lyyFMZ3K3f

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

2 years

Ray Bradbury’s advice for being more creative Every night read: - one short story - one poem - one essay Do that for a thousand nights and you’ll be stuffed full of ideas

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

LOL

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

5 years

“Home is not where you are born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease.” —Naguib Mahfouz

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 years

Reading books is one of the few enjoyable, inexpensive, inexhaustIble activities you can do on your own, in private, without hurting anyone, and somehow we’ve managed to attach all sorts of rules and hangups to it

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 years

RIP Norm Macdonald

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

It's not hard to be an artist, you just have to dedicate every single day of your life to it and be ready for the universe's indifference or downright hostility NBD

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 months

“The antidote to envy is one's own work. Always one's own work. Not the thinking about it. Not the assessing of it. But the doing of it...” —Bonnie Friedman, WRITING PAST DARK

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

8 years

Richard Scarry’s THE SHINING

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

RIP Laura Helen Wilson Davis, my grandma, who died this morning of complications from COVID-19. Today I will listen to big band music, watch Astaire & Rogers dance, play the piano, and dream of her fried chicken and apple pie. Here she is with my son, Owen, in better days:

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

Me at 20. Girl in the photo was 21 and bought me beer. We’re still married.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

Guess I’m just gonna say “to hell with this I’m going to bed” every night for the rest of my life

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 months

This idea of “second-screen content” is totally gross yet seemingly inevitable

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

My 4-year-old's drawings of instruments. I think I need these on t-shirts...

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

5 months

Something I’ve noticed out in the world right now: basic pleasantries seem to be a superlubricant when dealing with anyone in the service industry. Your average person must just be an unbelievable asshole?

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

6 years

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” —Andy Warhol

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

As many times as you need

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

“It’s easier to be a parent this morning.”

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

5 years

“I don’t like school because it keeps me from thinking about important things.” –my six-year-old (He’s not wrong.)

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

8 years

Philip Roth on how to take a nap:

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

9 years

New favorite @EdwardTufte aphorism http://t.co/pHrP84SNEc

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

I’m not putting my kindergartener on Zoom calls. I’d rather him go feral and watch Spongebob for a year.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

5 years

“When I write a song and release it to the public, I feel it stops being my song.” Nick Cave is so SANE on the “art” vs. “artist” thing (and other things, too):

Nick Cave - The Red Hand Files - Issue #48 - I was lucky enough to be at your recent London show...

Dear Mark, I understand it is very difficult when an artist you admire reveals something about themselves which you feel casts an unhappy shadow across...

www.theredhandfiles.com

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

I firmly believe this country would be changed for the better if every affluent American was required to ride public transit at least once a week.

Laura J. Nelson 🦅

@laura_nelson

7 years

Elon Musk on public transit: "It’s a pain in the ass. That’s why everyone doesn’t like it. And there’s like a bunch of random strangers, one of who might be a serial killer, OK, great."

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

Trick to writing a book is finding a topic you want to think about for several years and then talk about for the rest of your life 😩

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

10 years

Next person who says "do what you love" has to post their tax returns online.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

8 years

Whether you're on a plane or giving a speech, when you say "get that baby out of here," you're not anti-baby, you're anti-mother

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

5 months

Just heard a Cybertruck called an “Incel Camino” 😂

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

2 years

What it’s like to go for a walk when you’re Liam Gallagher

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

6 years

My 5-year-old started a comics diary and it's just stuff I say that he doesn't like #owenkleonart

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

8 years

Library Extension is a Chrome plug-in that shows if a book on Amazon is available at your library

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 years

I am torn between a) knowing that everyone needs to be cut some slack more than ever b) my deep loathing of everyone, which is greater than ever

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

5 years

@hels @LauraMLippman I do love this book

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

6 years

“I want to keep the assholes in my life to an absolute minimum, if not zero. That’s worth real, real money — to not have assholes in your life.” —Anthony Bourdain “Real wealth is never having to spend time with assholes.” —John Waters

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

6 years

🙌

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

I feel like we were given this cultural chance to just shut it down and take a minute pause catch breath gape into the void a bit and instead we’ve rushed to fill the void with livestreams and podcasts and zooms calls and more shit I’m supposed to keep track of?

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 months

This Adam Moss book is really something, think I might tweet out some favorite bits as I go 🧵

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

8 years

Remember when rich people, like, built libraries and art museums and symphony halls?

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 months

Favorite shot from the eclipse today is actually a still from a video I took

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

1 year

Every time I see this meme — which seems to be everywhere — it bugs me seeing my words out of context. So I fixed it. Everyone deserves time to do nothing.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

Re-watching JOHN WICK, and at the end, when he’s stapling himself up at the vet clinic, my wife leans over and whispers, “Trumpcare”

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

8 years

How to read more. #WorldBookDay

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

2 years

An idea I’ve been toying with for 2023: THE YEAR WITHOUT STREAMING. No Spotify, no Netflix, no nothing. Just record stores and physical media and trips to the library.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

6 years

@StephenKing Why not post a link to his campaign site or at least @ reply him instead of just rattling this stuff off? @BetoORourke

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

. @realDonaldTrump

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

2 years

I went to a museum today and asked for a map and was informed that they had gone “paperless” and I could scan a QR code… to get a PDF of the paper map. Small thing, but it just felt like one more example of how stupid the world has become.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

I think everyone should celebrate President’s Day by not thinking about the president for 24 hours. Here is a list if you need help:

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

Note on my report card from my 1st grade teacher 😭

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

@Jonahlobe That's from my book! mind telling me what cafe it's in?

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

2 years

This is our vibe now: facing extinction, but with the holiday spirit

Giles Paley-Phillips

@eliistender10

2 years

The t-rex wearing a Christmas jumper at the Natural History Museum is a wonderful thing

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

5 years

We don’t have internet or furniture in our new house yet so at night all we do is talk and drink beer and play checkers and go to bed at 10PM and honestly I’ve never felt so good

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

5 years

Today’s the day! KEEP GOING is on sale now wherever books are sold.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

Some easy ways to ruin your passion for something: 1) go to school for it 2) make it your job

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

I just want my kids to know how much cooler life can be than the lame-ass default settings they’re being handed by their culture

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

1 year

“Overheard on the Titanic” I made this poem on this day 15 years ago

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

1 year

Thank you to everyone who’s read and shared this little book.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

1 year

🚨 🦉 🚨 WE GOT OWL BABIES!!!

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

1 year

“perfect all of your memories” is wild on many levels but it also misunderstands what photographs do for us over time: the thing you think is ugly or boring in a photograph now will be the most interesting thing later (something @claytoncubitt taught me)

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

8 years

Download and print. (By Nathaniel Russell)

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

5 years

Can I make a gentle suggestion? Instead of saying, “Glad I’m not trying to raise a kid right now,” say something like, “Godspeed to anyone trying to raise a kid right now.” We need the encouragement. Also? You ARE raising my kids. You’re making the world they’re growing up in.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 years

Many claim that writing is about having something to say and sharing it with the world. No, that is *publishing.* Writing is about finding out what you have to say. It is the art of finding what you didn’t know you were looking for.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

8 years

💯

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

6 years

Hey friends! I have this ancient thing called a blog. I post there every day. No ads, no algorithm, no Nazis. Just writing and art. You might dig it:

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

Tip for artists: Don't take advice about making art from people who don't make art.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

2 months

@joshgondelman Good question! @pjmaciak wrote about it

The Failed Promise of Binge TV

When streamers “dump” whole seasons instead of releasing weekly, they strip away some of TV’s most reliable pleasures.

newrepublic.com

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

What book do you love that has an unusual but brilliant structure?

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

6 years

Every single time North By Northwest is on I think of this genius Big Lebowski mashup @johnmartz made 😂 ✏️ 🍆

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 years

March 2020 March 2021

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 years

you will get 100% cooler if you stop calling what you make “content”

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 years

one of the greatest sounds in the world is hearing the people you love laugh

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

Books are so much better than twitter it's amazing

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

This puts eloquently and beautifully a major thing I was unequipped for as a parent: how your kids dredge up all the things you’d tamped down in yourself.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 years

VISUAL CONFIRMATION: THERE ARE TWO OWLS 🦉 🦉 #coconuttheowl

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

7 years

Great story by T-Bone Burnett about how they got Townes Van Zandt's cover of "Dead Flowers" for LEBOWSKI

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

4 years

Gotta admit: seeing the way they shot ELF with forced perspective kind of blew my mind

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

5 years

Two boys were born in Pittsburgh in 1928. One was poor, one was rich. Both had sickly childhoods. One was devoutly Catholic, the other became a Presbyterian minister. Both of them took the popular mediums of the late 20th century and changed American culture.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

3 years

🚨 🚨 🦉 🚨 🚨 OMG Y’ALL HE’S BACK IT’S MR. COCONUT!!! #coconuttheowl

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

6 years

My six-year-old just announced, “I finally know what to do! For the first time in my life!” Then he got off the couch, walked into the kitchen, and came back with a box of raisins.

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Austin Kleon

@austinkleon

2 years

Scenes I discover after dropping my kids off at school

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