What to Say When Everything’s on Fire
This morning, one of the first things I saw was some ignorant dipshit grousing about a GoFundMe for a family that had lost their home in the LA fires. My...
The Fool Begins the New Year
Match-struck, fire-heart, this is an offering of flame to new gods, slowly fashioned, called from all corners, summoned with deft hands and above all, mirth—...
small gods of happenstance
It’s a chilly day today, so I am curled up with a favorite cup of tea in a favorite mug. I am currently trying and failing to unbork my back, while the cat...
Wolfwatching*
leaving means letting go, but also letting in, and here, we are open doors, undone locks, a song of dreams lit long into the night, darling, we have both...
To Offer Hope, When Things Are Hard
Yesterday evening, I wrote this on Instagram: Here’s to the laughter and the heartbreak. The ones who rush in when others run. The old memories that burn...
On Boundaries
Something, this week, reminded me that I don’t like having my boundaries pushed. At all. It was hard red light that caught me by surprise—because the...
Bits and Bobs, Holiday Edition
Since the holidays are barrelling toward us at alarming speed (seriously, who hit fast-forward on the end of this year?), I have gathered a few small...
Time’s the Greatest Gift You Can Give
I’ve been musing on this, this morning. It’s almost midday as I write this, and I have been thinking on the importance of making space. Of listening. Of...
Because Holidays Can Be Tricksy, Like Hobbitses
Tomorrow is American Thanksgiving. And I am sitting here, drinking coffee with an eye mask on, before I start my cooking. The calm before the storm, etc. I...
Food Is Love and Other Confessions
I am, occasionally, a cliché. I’m Italian-American. Holidays always revolve around food. And if I like you in some way, I will try to feed you in some way....
Joy Is Rebellion
In the wake of the election, I am grieving. And I am tired. And yet, life continues on. The bills don’t pay themselves. The food won’t cook itself, no matter...
How We Are Surviving This--Again
One breath at a time— one small joy gathered with the others, a bulwark against the dark, a reminder that starlight comes in many forms, but it will always...
All Hallows' Eve
It’s Halloween, and I am thinking on magic. Not spells or potions. Not floor washes or carved candles. But the ordinary magic, the easy incantations of...
What Matters
The other day, one of my dearest friends and I remarked that we haven’t gotten to hang out yet. We’ve been friends for 10+ years. (We're plotting something...
Caring and Vampire Moments
I’ve said this before, but I’m either the bravest person you’ve ever met or a vampire—you must explicitly invite me in, or I will assume I’m...
The Tenor of Warmth
“Ring the bells that still can ringForget your perfect offeringThere is a crack in everythingThat's how the light gets in.”― Leonard Cohen Thinking today on...
Both Moon and Lighthouse
This morning, the weather seems to have turned. I put a soft robe on over my clothing to dash outside to pet the neighbor’s cat, who was waiting on the back...
Again and Again and Again
Be good to people. Not superficially. Not looking for some eventual return. Just for the sake of being good to people. Because while things are a...
On Love*
I want to tell you about love—how it doesn’t know time or distance. It simply is, despite all the reasons why not. Despite all the odds and the obstacles....
On Grief: From Root to Sky
Grief is a complicated monster and mirror. It is a wild thing you cannot tame and yet, you make small progress with time, bit by bit. It’ll always have...
Reply Hazy, Try Again Later
I hit a wall the other day. A friend asked me a simple question: “Do you want to do X?” And my brain simply went, **R2D2 noises**. Loudly. Followed by a...
Stay
Tell me something beautiful. Let it be the soft fog on an early morning, where the world seems to vanish. The particular quiet, a cousin to snow-silence....
Detours
I used to be really bad at detours. I mean literal detours—when the road I’m supposed to take is closed, and I have to venture off into the unknown. Even...
AI Has No Empathy
I read this headline about AI in end-of-life care. Can it make those decisions easier? After my initial horror, I sat with the question for a while, looking...
Little Beacons
Yesterday, I stumbled across this, and it resonated with me: So I wrote this: I cross my 7s, because someone I loved wrote them that way. I take my coffee...
Show Me Your Fucking Heart
The other day, I wrote this: Life’s short. We are all often aching in one way or another. Send the text. Share the photo. Make a gesture. Love without...
Who I Am
Tell people how you feel. Today, this stopped me in my tracks for a moment. I think it’s one of the most important things we can do in this life. Scary? Yes....
Softness
I value being let in, leaned on, trusted. There are people I no longer speak to whose secrets I will always keep, no matter what. Because my...
Getting Home Safely
What I know of care is this: It is an active thing, never passive. The same can be said for love, but that’s a topic for another day. I’m very much a “text...
Time Passes, But It Doesn't
[Note: This was supposed to send last week, but glitched. So, I’m sending it now.] I’m drafting this ahead of time. I said they’re be no new newsletter this...
Yesterday and Another Lifetime Ago
The anniversary of my mom’s death is next week. I hate the word anniversary for that kind of thing. Anniversaries are supposed to be fun and good. This is...
On Caring
I keep starting to write a newsletter, only to stall out partway through. It is annoying, honestly. I have thoughts! But they aren’t necessarily cohesive in...
A Little Bit on Quiet and a New Poem at The Deadlands
A dear friend remarked yesterday that I’ve been quiet. Or, at least, quiet for me. And they weren’t wrong. That’s going to be the norm for a bit, probably....
A Kind of Bulwark
The best advice I can give is to move toward joy. That you can set down the things that make your heart ache. That sometimes you have to trust yourself,...
On Judgement
I remember having a conversation a few years back, where someone was just absolutely railing against X. On and on and on and on. It was rant. And I sat...
Enough
When the wolves come, breathe— do not offer them your throat, do not assume the walls will keep you safe, do not bury yourself in the dark— there are weapons...
Pasta Sauce? Pasta Sauce.
So, I posted a version of this on The Bad Place ages ago. Alright, kittens, who wants to learn how to pasta make sauce? I make this by the blender full, so...
Odds and Ends
It has been a good week. I mean, aside from it being hotter than hell. Surprising, yes. And informative, too. I’ve got a poem coming out in The Deadlands in...
A Few Bits and Bobs
Julia Rios, and a bunch of amazing writers, have put together an anthology to help Jessica Wick. I don’t know Wick personally, but she is a lovely writer and...
On Vulnerability
I am not always good at being vulnerable. I’m not sure any of us are, really. There’s a weird tension between wanting very badly to be seen be someone and...
Website URL
Soooo, I borked the URL to my own website, in the last email. I can’t fix it. *Captain Picard face palm* So, in case you actually want it: alitrotta.com.
In case you need to hear this today...
[The other day] on Bluesky, I wrote about how—and I firmly believe this—no one is hard to love. That, if someone makes you feel that way, it’s entirely on...
Cool Things: A Recap
The past couple of weeks have held some incredible joys. I feel beyond lucky. I had a short story published in Worlds of Possibilities from the wonderful...
Pain's Always a Sign Something's Wrong
At some point, the impossible will happen—and someone you trust will hurt you terribly. At that point, emotions aside, you have to figure out: was this...
Small Gestures, Little Bits of Kindness
One thing I value above a lot of things is consistency. Knowing someone is in your corner—will cheer you on or cheer you up—is everything. We all lead busy...
Cash (June 5, 2017-March 19, 2024)
It’s so strange, to me—the emptiness. The space that used to be filled has gone silent. The bed is empty. The food dish unfilled. I find myself haunted by...
Weirdos Unite!
You’re never gonna be too weird for me. I said this to a friend, the other day. It’s true. I like weird. I like authenticity. I like people to feel...