The There There Letter: Jam, Journaling, and Joy
Three things from DAH.
DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. I pen, promote, and make change (not the coin kind).
First up this week, Jam …
We have several varieties of citrus growing in our garden. One that I don't recall fruiting last year has given us a goodly crop of Seville (I think) oranges. It's marmalade time! For me, marmalade inspires thoughts of England and growing up and Paddington … all good things. I even have a few books about marmalade that I may reference if Christine agrees to let me make a small batch (she's ready herself to toil and boil). We don't eat much sweet preserve, but we certainly enjoy it with toast on Sunday. Santa Rosa plum jam was the last batch made at our home (thank you, Beth, for the fruit!). Small batch preserving makes me feel happy, no matter who jars the jam. I read recently about June Taylor retiring from her very-small-batch preserves and Christmas cake business in Berkeley. I immediately regretted not having regularly procured her goods. Support your local artisan food friends! Eat marmalade sandwiches! Get happy!
June Taylor is shutting down her 30-year-old business after a successful run in Berkeley
Second up this week, Journaling …
It's taken me some years to get to this. Like, my whole life. Diary-keeping or journaling, both seemed a little precious to me. Yet I've always kept lists in notebooks, and maintain all sorts of information in an online database (that I can access from anywhere using a mobile phone or computer). When I began freewriting recently I thought to take the whole journaling thing more seriously. I started with 750words.com to freewrite, then investigated apps and cloud-based sites for journaling. I'm settling back on a paper notebook and daily documents I can store in the cloud. I'm not convinced that the bells and whistles that come with a pay-for-it solution have any value to me. I don't need writing prompts. I don't need word count tracking. Winning achievement badges and cute imagery don't work for me. But I do think I can improve my life by writing more of it down. Once I got beyond the idea that I had to be writing for an audience (beyond myself) everything got easier. If only acting worked that way.
10 Surprising Benefits You'll Get From Keeping a Journal
Third up this week, Joy …
I was reading about joy. I read about all sorts of things. The idea of childlike exuberance struck me. That's not something I feel, ever, as an adult. And that seems sad. So, a bit more whimsy is called for, and a daily dose of pure joy (like the link below). I think I can make this part of my journaling, and my discovery of local artisan stuff. Probably listening to The Pointer Sisters more often would help (thank you, Bhavvy!).
Movie Stars Dancing to …'I'm So Excited'
And a bit more, my favorite poem of the moment (although spell-check has a lot of concerns)! Would that life were this whimsical and wondrous!
Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's poem "Sometimes" …
DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. I pen, promote, and make change (not the coin kind).
First up this week, Jam …
We have several varieties of citrus growing in our garden. One that I don't recall fruiting last year has given us a goodly crop of Seville (I think) oranges. It's marmalade time! For me, marmalade inspires thoughts of England and growing up and Paddington … all good things. I even have a few books about marmalade that I may reference if Christine agrees to let me make a small batch (she's ready herself to toil and boil). We don't eat much sweet preserve, but we certainly enjoy it with toast on Sunday. Santa Rosa plum jam was the last batch made at our home (thank you, Beth, for the fruit!). Small batch preserving makes me feel happy, no matter who jars the jam. I read recently about June Taylor retiring from her very-small-batch preserves and Christmas cake business in Berkeley. I immediately regretted not having regularly procured her goods. Support your local artisan food friends! Eat marmalade sandwiches! Get happy!
June Taylor is shutting down her 30-year-old business after a successful run in Berkeley
Second up this week, Journaling …
It's taken me some years to get to this. Like, my whole life. Diary-keeping or journaling, both seemed a little precious to me. Yet I've always kept lists in notebooks, and maintain all sorts of information in an online database (that I can access from anywhere using a mobile phone or computer). When I began freewriting recently I thought to take the whole journaling thing more seriously. I started with 750words.com to freewrite, then investigated apps and cloud-based sites for journaling. I'm settling back on a paper notebook and daily documents I can store in the cloud. I'm not convinced that the bells and whistles that come with a pay-for-it solution have any value to me. I don't need writing prompts. I don't need word count tracking. Winning achievement badges and cute imagery don't work for me. But I do think I can improve my life by writing more of it down. Once I got beyond the idea that I had to be writing for an audience (beyond myself) everything got easier. If only acting worked that way.
10 Surprising Benefits You'll Get From Keeping a Journal
Third up this week, Joy …
I was reading about joy. I read about all sorts of things. The idea of childlike exuberance struck me. That's not something I feel, ever, as an adult. And that seems sad. So, a bit more whimsy is called for, and a daily dose of pure joy (like the link below). I think I can make this part of my journaling, and my discovery of local artisan stuff. Probably listening to The Pointer Sisters more often would help (thank you, Bhavvy!).
Movie Stars Dancing to …'I'm So Excited'
And a bit more, my favorite poem of the moment (although spell-check has a lot of concerns)! Would that life were this whimsical and wondrous!
Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's poem "Sometimes" …
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
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