Literal and metaphorical fires are burning everywhere, and I do not have a sufficient water supply. Who does for this conflagration? But what is community for if not to bring those buckets together--those heavy buckets, rusty buckets, buckets with holes, buckets without handles, all the buckets belonging to those with sense and decency to know …
Well, I used to like Neil Gaiman. But I never read Sandman, and the first book of his stories I read, I only partially liked. I particularly enjoyed a story about an old woman who bought the Holy Grail at a thrift shop. A few stories I didn't like at all, and most of the …
One friend is in the hospital. I don't want to say much about it because her situation is ongoing and I don't want to throw her business too far into the internet. And really, there's a lot I don't know about her situation anyway. We message each other almost every single day, and something was …
You know what I don't need? Probably one of the same things you don't need! Another obligation. But not all obligations are equal, obviously. For the last year-and-a-half (with no sign of abating) I've been letting obligations smother and strangle my writing and art. It's not been pretty. Well, for a while, I've been a …
Oh, dear January!OrOh dear. January. Punctuate as you see fit. I suppose it makes sense that everything I like about January is everything I don't like about January. The month's name come from the the Roman god Janus, the god with two faces, protecting gates and doorways, looking into the future and into the past. …
Continue reading Oh Dear January (Weeknotes for the start of a year.)
'Tis the season for clearing out and organizing, is it not? Sure, there's spring cleaning, but end-of-the-year clear-outs and New Year's Resolutions are everywhere. One sign, in case you needed one, was the wall display at the grocery store. Gone were the Christmas dooddads and baubles! Instead were the very tempting storage containers. I don't …
Continue reading Weeknotes–Organizing Stories Edition and Our Sweet Sadie
I missed by self-imposed deadline by a few hours, but I did, at least, finished the Solstice edition of my newsletter! (Go read, like, and subscribe if you're so inclined.) What about this week? It was finals week at school. I still have a few essays to grade and grades to enter. The end-of-term seems …
How has your week been? This week involved a big argument. I can't write about it yet, but it consumed much of the week. But then today, in the midst of errands and required phone calls, we picked up our Sadie's ashes. I'm not the sort of person who wants to keep the ashes. That's …
Have you seen this book? I like it. Along with a similar book, The Art of Noticing by Rob Walker. (See his Substack. It's a favorite of mine.) If you know of other such books, please say so in the comments. Today, after taking three dogs to the vet, voting in a local run-off election, …
Pictured above is Sweet Sadie. We said goodbye to her yesterday. In September 2010, my son and I found her at the Humane Society. She was two. She was thin and sad, anxious about getting the car with strangers, worried about being in our apartment. But soon she settled in, befriended our other dog, Porter, …
Marta Bacon 