"Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and you'll find the real tinsel underneath." (Oscar Levant)

Three things from DAH.

DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. 
This Letter is Free every Friday!
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First up this week: Observer … 
I like to watch. Not in a particularly voyeuristic way (admittedly, I haven't experimented with that), but just in a "careful looking" sort of way. Looking at -- whatever, really -- until I notice something. What I notice might not really be part of the direct subject of my observation. What I'm observing can give me new insights, or inspiration, or ideas about other things to observe and notice. I've been working diligently to talk less (which can cause relationship issues, so use care!). Less talk leaves more room to observe and exhausts less energy thinking, "what should I say next?" 

Second up this week, Occupier …
And if I'm not busy talking or thinking about talking then observational inspirations have more occupation space inside my skull. These occupiers frequently ignite in the heat of my head and lead to manic moments of "I must take action NOW!" Allowing these occupiers to burn bright in my brain isn't always (or even usually) best. I've an unfortunate habit: observing and allowing occupiers, then taking action inspired by the vibrant, vital ideas now occupying my mind. Therefore, in addition to talking less, I'd like to encourage my occupiers to nap more. "Give it 24 hours," I think. "Before expending a lot of energy and income." A cooling off period for the fire inside.

Third up this week, Omnivore …
My diet (eating, not thinking) has become increasingly vegetarian and vegan. Animal-milk based dairy and bird eggs are long-term staples for me. They also have inherent vegetarian challenges (primarily that male cows and birds must be used somehow, since they don't provide milk or eggs). Our dogs still demand meat, which I don't begrudge them. And I do eat meat. Just not as much as I once did. My other diet (thinking, not eating) is wildly omnivorous, however. I'll devour practically any observation inspiration, granting the fire priviliged occupier status within. I'm proud of this, and have no ethical concerns regarding my thinking processes. If you think that I think inappropriately you're welcome to let me know so. Doesn't mean I'll take action with the fire extinguisher. 

A lovely book about growing through grief ... 
Finding Joy, by Gary Andrews
"Perhaps the sweetest and most poignant book of the year . . . It's often said that men don't talk about their feelings enough: this widowed father has doodled about them instead, and the result is more eloquent than any words" (one of the Daily Mail's Books of the Year 2021)
It's a sweet book. And not depressing as might be expected given the subject matter. It's more hopeful. Nicely thoughtful about old memories, building new ones, and joining old with new. The illustrations are fresh, human, and evocative. 

And a bit more: 

"Still Life", by Carl Sandburg

Cool your heels on the rail of an observation car.
Let the engineer open her up for ninety miles an hour.
Take in the prairie right and left, rolling land and new hay crops,
   swaths of new hay laid in the sun.
A gray village flecks by and the horses hitched in front of the
   post-office never blink an eye.
A barnyard and fifteen Holstein cows, dabs of white on a black
   wall map, never blink an eye.
A signalman in a tower, the outpost of Kansas City, keeps his
   place at a window with the serenity of a bronze statue on a
   dark night when lovers pass whispering.

And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's "Sometimes"