Martha Graham

"There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."

Broken Down from storypeeps studio

Amargosa Opera House

Just seeing a documentary about Marta Beckett and her beloved opera house inspired me to keep going a time when I'd been ready to give in to illness. This silver fox is a professional ballet dancer and choreographer and painter who's still performing on toe and producing beautiful works! If you are boo-hooing over your current lack of fame and notoriety or inability to meet your iconic standards by X age (which you've just passed ... or perhaps you've long-passed) and yet you still long to do something meaningful and beautiful (if only, if only weren't in your way), then you must become familiar with this woman. If you're worried you won't be able to sustain your level of beauty or creativity much longer and (gasp) then what? -- She'll tune-up your attitude faster than Jiffy lube.
Warning: Not only for artists and performers and the beautifully vain.

FreeRice.com

People are starving. Your brain is starving. It's free. Do it.

Cheese Monkeys

If you went to university to get a BFA, you should treat yourself to Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd. If you are a gay man or know a gay man or would like to know a gay man and in any such case you like literature, read Edinburgh by Alexander Chee. If you are Native American or a shaman or want to be Native American or a shaman try Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore or Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King. If you are Buddhist or have big long ears or like the idea of supernatural beings getting in on the action of a good adventure try The Laughing Sutra by Mark Salzman. If you are more inclined to poetry, try to read e.e. cummings, if only to visit his universe next door for a little while. If you are sad and need a laugh, try to read something short by Steve Martin, especially if it has to do with medicine. If you are feeling philosophical then try Soul Mates by Thomas Moore. If you wish to savor your literature like a fine dessert try anything by Milan Kundra, but be prepared to be turned on for reasons you can't quite fathom. If you are rethinking your role in business or life, try Instructions to the Cook by Glassman & Fields. If you are feeling sick, try The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health by Michio Kushi -- in it you will most likely find the cure to what ails you and you can put it on your plate. If you are none or some of these things and would like to read something but don't know which of these things to read but are longing for something interesting but not too stressful but somewhat fun, try Cheese Monkeys.