I read. Alot. There’s a pile of books on my nightstand, and although I try to read one at a time, sometimes the topic doesn’t suit my moods or fill my current needs (you know, if you have to brush up on a new programming language, or you’re burned out on startup advice…).

One of the books in the pile is Austin Kleon’s latest release Show Your Work, which is a suiting follow-up to his uber-successful Steal Like an Artist, published in 2011. I like Kleon’s blog and books, not because they’re full of jaw-dropping insights, but because the are soothing for those of us struggling with the somewhat lonely life of running independent, creative businesses. We entrepreneurs are always looking for sources of inspiration to beat the struggle. Kleon delivers.

A question asked in the book as a stimulus for writing a journal is “What’s inspiring you?”. Funny enough, the book was. Beyond that, though, there are four other things that I’ve been mentally chewing on recently:

OnRamp Digital

One of Twisted Puppy’s creative projects is a new music video company called OnRamp Digital. We’ve teamed up with a cool development firm called Codesly here in Los Angeles, and although it’s a challenging project with a short fuse, it’s exhilarating to develop.

 

Tom Delonge’s Multimedia

You may know him as the front man from Blink 182, but there’s more to Tom Delonge than the pop punk potty humor from the 90s. He has a skateboard shoe company called Macbeth, a clothing line called Atticus and another band with higher-brow music called Angels & Airwaves. In support of Angels & Airwaves, he created a production company to make all kinds of related art, including a film called Love released in 2012. What’s inspiring is that the creation knows no limits – it can be music, film or books (there’s a few in the mix). The world needs more artists like this (let’s hope OnRamp finds some!).

 

Satya Nadella

Yes, Microsoft can change course! After watching Steve Ballmer run Microsoft from its zenith (bully) position atop the software world to an also-ran trailing Apple and Google, it’s a relief to see Satya Nadella’s impact in his first 90 days. We use a number of Microsoft technologies in our development. Now we can breathe a little easier with M$ opening up source, contributing to other open source projects and tightening up their platforms.

 

Howard Stern Learning Guitar

As I’ve struggled to teach myself guitar over the past few years, I’ve been blown away by how quickly Howard Stern has improved. Someone recently donated a guitar to the Sirius studio, and Stern’s been geeking out on it. It seems like he picks up a new song every day [the 3 days a week he works…]. Music is a gift. Stern found a way to embrace it.
I feel a resurgence of energy these days. You have to find things like I illustrate here to inspire you. Pick some new creative spaces to investigate yourself, and watch what it does for your energy too! I hope you find something…

Scott
Lead Dog
Twisted Puppy