hi friends,

the seasons blur the lines between winter and spring for weeks on end, so i hope you’ll forgive me for doing the same with this belated newsletter.

winter has been tough - between the coldest January in 13 years, the most active flu season in 15, and the ~hostile government takeover~, it’s been hard to get out of bed in the morning.

i’ve been feeling like this:

rattling around the caverns of my mind

articles

• The Militia and the Mole over on ProPublica is a fascinating read about one guy’s reaction to Jan 6, and the groups he ended up embedding in

• i went down a Sally Rooney rabbithole, including this early essay (2015): “Participation in a game, any kind of game, gives you new ways of perceiving others. Victory only gives you new ways of perceiving yourself”

• one day i woke up and there were dozens of think pieces about the left’s relationship with popular podcasts. i liked this one from vulture.

• Aube Rey Lescure writes vivid windows into her life - i liked the glimpse from her article The Secret Pattern

shows

• we’ve been watching Severance each week - have you? are you also on team Ricken is a goat? we have much to discuss, clearly

  • side note: my theory is that reality tv shows have been able to capture so much of the public consciousness because they’ve filled the gap of weekly releases (and maybe the pendulum is starting to swing back 👀 ?)

• i enjoyed Shrinking very much. do you want to talk about how it blurs lines between therapy and friendship, and what makes that appealing/not? because i do.

  • if there’s one good thing to come out of this era of late-stage capitalism, it’s the tax write-offs that enable Apple to burn money making excellent TV

books

• if you’re also on a quest to find what you have in common with people instead of what you don’t, i recommend I Never Thought of It That Way

  • as this blogpost put it: “Deescalate all conflict that isn’t with the enemy”

• The Library at Mount Char is just a straight up fun book, where i didn’t predict the twist

• i think winter is the correct season for Greta & Valdin, where our lovable protagonist siblings are down on their luck but muddling through towards good things. it feels like the promise of spring

• Essays that Changed Australia gave me no shortage of talking points. my Dad is probably right to think that “Heaven and a Hills Hoist” is a title wasted on the essay that i summarized to him, but it did have great quotes. e.g.

  • “It endeavours to eliminate the element of danger in human affairs. But without dangers there can be no joy, no ecstasy, no spiritual adventures. The suburban home is a blasphemy. It denies life. Young men it would save from wine, and young women from love. But love and wine are eternal verities”

on the web

• play the stimulation game for ~half an hour and the rush of relief you’ll feel when it grants you a moment of serenity will be truly unparalleled

• like pinterest? like collage? you might like public.work

• Katy L Wood will send you a free mini cheat sheet for disaster prep - here

  • this winter we leveled up our go bags - this isn’t apocalypse prepping, NYC recommends everyone have one. hit me up if you’d like advice (or company) while you do yours

• Little Details is a website for people to ask/answer specific questions about the little details of life - often as research for writing

• i’m enamored with this Tolstoy diary entry: “I’ve fallen in love or imagine that I have; went to a party and lost my head. Bought a horse which I don’t need at all”

  • at the end of last year, we wrote down 12 possible resolutions — after burning one at random each day, mine for 2025 is to write my thoughts down more. i’ve been journalling, although i can’t say the entries are up to this standard

music

• whenever someone recommends a song, i shazam something, or i hear a new jam on insta, i take a screenshot. those end up in this playlist on spotify:

• do you know about Mongolian folk metal? i’m late to the game on this —in case you are too, check out The HU

upcoming plans

• Mar 31: a talk about Mt Everest @ The Explorers Club tix

  • we just met someone who is applying to join the club, which sounds very exciting (and mostly makes me think of Paddington)

• April 4: Beche, and a special Claire + Blue duo set @ Sleepwalk tix

• April 16: my community board’s monthly meeting @ Hope Gardens Senior Center

  • you can find your community district using this super neat tool!

• first week of May: NC, SC, WV

• May 10: Sorry Darling in Loud Women Fest @ 3 Dollar Bill tix

• July 12: i’ll be showing some photos in the Live Thrives showcase @ Bar Freda :)

where does the time go?

• tal and i are slowly chipping away at everything needed to sell “how the light gets in” in stores (imprint, ingram integration, etc)

• i’m about 6 months into attempting to think of work as a job rather than a Career…that exercise and the job itself are both keeping me busy

  • i helped spin up a new team in January to port an app from nodeJS → Go, starting with a database transition

• if you have thoughts on digital music storage, i’d truly love to talk about playlists (like, how do you get m3u files and picard to play nice? is there a better tool?)

photo diary

happy spring

(or autumn, hello southern hemisphere 🌏)

how are you doing? what worms are chewing holes in your brain?

much love,

beth