#96 / Humansitting
One piece and one poem.
#95 / I Survived Everything
In which he discovers a title for his newsletter.
#94 / Some Very Difficult News
I used to really enjoy sarcasm. I still do, but I used to, too. (Hat tip to Mitch Hedberg.) The title of this email is, unfortunately, not sarcastic. Not...
#93 / Poems While You Wait
I've been invited to join a poetry collective! It's called Poems While You Wait¹—the group sets up shop at event spaces and writes poems for people on...
#92 / Time Flies
It is finally springtime in Chicago—more or less. It's warm out most days, but only if you're walking in the sun. My mom was recently in town and we visited...
#91 / Helping
Thoughts on difficult things in the news, and an announcement
#90 / Phone Problems
In which getting a new phone becomes weirdly emotional; plus, a cool metaphor
#89 / Hello Again
The problem when I don’t write for a while is that life just keeps happening. And the more things there are to write about, the less likely I am to write,...
#88 / Favorite Pastimes
Our caterpillars are back for Year 3! Officially, the pillars are our Pandemic Project™️. We've learned a lot from our experience thus far, and our operation...
#87 / Mothers' Day
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there! And to everyone. I’ve just learned from the historian Heather Cox Richardson that the original version of...
#86 / Blossomings (Attempt No. 2)
I sent this last week, and several people reported that it went into their spam folders. I apologize if you've already read this—if so, please proceed with...
#85 / What To Do On Boxing Day
Until recently—okay, until this morning—I thought Boxing Day had something to do with the sport in which people pummel each other inside a ring. And I...
#84 / Self-Portrait
I saw Rembrandt walking down the street. I was sitting on my porch, watching the wind blow leaves down from the trees across the way. He was heading up to...
#83 / Pacific Daydream
Welcome to a special mid-week edition of the newsletter! It’s been a busy couple weeks of traveling and hosting family and friends, and we’ve got another...
#82 / Everybody Dreams
This is the first year I can remember where the first day of fall actually felt like the first day of fall. The temperature dropped ten degrees and it was...
#81 / Ask Me, Ask Me, Ask Me
I took the “L” train to my dermatologist appointment in downtown Chicago this week, and I took the bus back. This is remarkable only because I’m finally...
#80 / A Send-Off
We got home late last night from a quick trip to Omaha for Yom Kippur, thus the email lateness. The first thing we did when we came into the house was to...
#79 / Renewing Intentions
This morning we returned to Hollywood Beach to participate in a tashlich ceremony for LGBTQ+ and interfaith couples. Tashlich is a Jewish custom that you...
#78 / Important Bird Area
Despite living near the lake and despite our growing fascination with birds, we've never visited Montrose Point Beach and Bird Sanctuary. The middle day of a...
#77 / Living in Color
This weekend we did our first Beach Day in Chicago. We’ve been to the beach, and sat on benches at the lakefront, and all that stuff, but we never actually...