I was sent a link today to the site of ‘writer who draws’ Austin Kleon today. I really love his ‘Mind Maps‘; maps of impressions and memories.

Via the Ernie Pook mailing list.

A recent episode of This American Life really struck a chord with me. I’ll just copy the relevant bit:

A couple of years ago some friends were travelling through Europe, walking through these old buildings. And these people do not know anything special about architecture, but, you know how it is when you’re a tourist. So they’re walking through these buildings and they’re looking at these doorways and pillars and they decide that this one building has a very Moorish influence. They’re pointing out details, saying ‘the Moors this’ and ‘the Moors that’. And finally one of them turns to the other and says, “You know, we sound like we’re in a magazine. A magazine called ‘Modern Jackass‘.”

The person who originated the concept, Nancy Updike, disarmingly compares it to Post-It Notes - we didn’t know we needed them, but once they were introduced we used them all the time. Modern Jackass is exactly the same. I am a contributing editor to Modern Jackass, as are many of my peers; I blame it mainly on the Sunday papers, from which we half-digest bite-sized nuggets of unreliable information. I love the concept so much that last night I designed a cover for a mock edition. Maybe someday we’ll see Modern Jackass on our newsagent shelves? Until that happy day arrives, we’ll just have to make do with all the other ‘by jackasses, for jackasses’ magazines out there.

There are many other Modern Jackasses across the web, who have shared their thoughts on and moments of Modern Jackassery in these blogs:

• The Anchored Nomad
• Murfins & Burglars
• Wandermama
• f-words
• Nick Hornby

You can get a printable PDF of the cover if you click the image above. And if anyone has any suggestions for cover stories for Issue 2, please send them to me at Modern Jackass Towers (hello {at} jeanobrien.com).

So cute and lovely.  I want some.

One of the many great things about having a tiny sidekick is the pleasure of putting together a library for her. I’ve found some excellent vintage children’s books recently, and this is one of my favourites. I got it in a bookshop in Hay-on-Wye, which is like a town from a fairy tale (twenty-seven bookshops!).

It’s a lovely annual from the year I was born, showcasing the work of various Puffin writers and illustrators. There’s stuff from Quentin Blake, Roald Dahl, Raymond Briggs and Tove Jansson; a Professor Branestawm story (I used to love Professor Branestawm); and the obligatory story on a member of the Royal Family - this time the hunky dreamboat Prince Charles. I wonder if kids annuals still do this? When I was growing up, we had a box of annuals from the Fifties and Sixties that belonged to my mother, and at one stage there was a Princess Margaret Annual in the collection. I would love to get my hands on that now.

My moo.com minicards arrived this week - they’re very cute and dinky, and the print quality is lovely. An informal poll carried out outside the Royal Oak in Kilmainham on Thursday night confirmed that they’re a good size for catching people’s attention. Also, regrettably, the perfect size and texture for picking the teeth.