Commonplace : February 2021
Hello friends!
I probably don't need to explain why it's been - looks at calendar - so damn long since I wrote one of these, right? Anyway, I'm writing one now because of "The Princess Bride" and balance, both of which have been repeating themes for me in the last week.
I decided I would much rather keep this newsletter going in a loose format than give up on it altogether. So, there will still be links and quotes and updates on what I'm doing, but I also might hold forth on things on my mind.
So, why has "The Princess Bride" brought me back, you may be wondering. Well, it's because I had to share a link to the very fancy home movie version of the film. It seemed to follow me around, showing up in blog posts and my youtube recommendations and mentions on my work Slack until I finally relented and checked it out.
It's lovely, full of heart, and you can tell that the folks who made it (who are pretty much all celebrities as this was done for charity) did it out of a love for the film.
Having this kind of thing pop up and not making time for it showed me quite clearly that my life is a bit out of balance. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of wonderful things going on in my life right now (and I am grateful every day) but that doesn't mean I'm handling them all in the healthiest way.
The idea of balance, too, kept appearing to me over and over. We discussed what balance looks like in my day job's weekly "being humans together" meeting and then a few hours later Kelly Sue DeConnick's text encouragement group popped up and asked me about balance.
This newsletter is one of those things I let slide. In 2020 that made a lot of sense. Things were weird, to put it lightly. Now, life is still weird, but here in 2021 I've decided that I'm getting back to some of those neglected things I used to do purely for myself.
So I'm here. My intent is to be back monthly. We'll see how it goes. I missed you all and I hope you're doing well.
And now, a bit of ephemera...
News
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I published a story in Luna Station Quarterly's December Circus issue! You can read it here and if you pick up a copy of the issue, you'd really be helping me keep this magazine running in its TWELFTH YEAR!!!
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I started a digital garden, woolgathering, which is meant as a place to gather research on short topics, a place to share thoughts that don't work as essays, etc.
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I also have a great new job! I'm making a real difference in some people's lives. I am working with smart, capable, kind, thoughtful people. Things are great on this front.
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I'm currently reading "Deerskin" by Robin McKinley, which is dark and rich and reminding me why I love her writing. Last month I also read "Fangs" by Sarah Andersen which I wish was longer but was also a gem just as it is.
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My household is on it's second go around with American Gods (we just started season 3 last night so we'll be caught up soon) and it's a miracle something so dangerous can still make its way onto the screen.
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I just discovered Metric and know nothing about their history but they're good rock music, which we always need more of in the world.
A few quotes of interest
"But both breakthrough successes and catastrophic failures are nearly always the result of thousands of tiny actions that were mostly invisible because they did not rise to the level of urgency that would push them out into the spotlight". - Gregory Brown
"Maturity is learning how to start when you feel like procrastinating and learning how to listen when you feel like talking." - James Clear
"Happy new year 1 and all. Resolution? More unequivocal days, that is WORK days and PLAY days, not guilty play days and distracted work days." - Dave McKean
(This last one I share with people just about every year.)
Some reading
The unreasonable effectiveness of simple HTML – Terence Eden’s Blog
Go sit in an uncomfortable chair, in an uncomfortable location, and stare at an uncomfortably small screen with an uncomfortably outdated web browser. How easy is it to use the websites you’ve created?
That's it from me this month. See you later!