In this episode I briefly discuss the bullshit that is war of any kind and I pay brief homage to Matthew Perry (R.I.P.) before reflecting on some favorite passages from Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet and Mason Currey's Daily Rituals: How Artists Work. In reflecting on what Rilke calls "the happiness of being a beginner," I announce my intention to begin writing a novel this month—and to complete 50,000 words of it—as a first-time participant in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). And in sharing some gems from Daily Rituals, I discuss some of my own sacred routines, as well as some words of wisdom on discipline and inspiration from Gustave Flaubert, Steve Reich, Samuel Beckett, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Bernard Malamud.