1. I just learned (from Robin Sloan’s newsletter) that Rudyard Kipling wrote two sci-fi stories. In 1905 and 1912. You can read both of them here.
2. I also just learned that Ram Dass, author of Be Here Now, has an Instagram account, where I saw this:
Far out!
1. This is accurate:
(Via)
2. This is hilarious (sound on, via my friend who finds all the best things):
1. I have next week ENTIRELY OFF, which is my first real break in three months of being the only writer at work. Lisa Congden posted this last week and I can relate:
2. This is my pile of projects I think I can get to next week: Three fancy blouses and a sweater. Can you tell I’m craving some color?
3. While I sew, maybe I’ll listen to this podcast Austin Kleon talked about. This quote got me:
“I’m trying to keep my heart alive,” Silverblatt continues. “I’m trying to keep my joy alive. And if I stand up and roar, I’m trying to keep my soul alive… That’s what we have all done, when we get to do what we want to do with our lives: We keep our joy, we keep our hearts, we keep our soul.”
4. I won’t be posting next week, to have a real break and to give myself a little space. This will be the first Thanksgiving without Mom; I can stockpile all the pretty projects I want but there will still be hard moments. “Breathe deep and let November be November.” Happy Thanksgiving, friends.
1. Take a break from feelings and read about cooking a good pot of beans instead.
2. Be the crow you want to see in the world:
1. It’s Samhain (well, it began last night at sundown) in the Celtic tradition, which means we are at the midpoint between the Fall Equinox and the Winter Solstice. Six more weeks of the darkness.
2. It’s also Dia de los Muertos, which I had never really studied, assuming it was just a take on the Roman Catholic All Saints Day. Turns out it has its origins in Aztec culture–2,500-3,000 BCE–and the Catholic Church just put its veneer over it.
3. And, since we’re talking about death and gray hair this week, here’s another take on it from Long Reads: I’m 72. So What?
[…] The approach of death puts pressure on life, to extract as much juice from it as we can. But it’s a different kind of pressure than the one I felt when I was younger—the social pressure to conform, to hit the required milestones, meet the right man, get pregnant, have a family, succeed in your career. Rather, it’s a new awareness of time being finite, the focus sharper, the purpose clearer. Simplifying, pruning, keeping only the essential. There’s a huge relief in attending to your core needs and goals, getting closer to the bone, a deeper spirituality.
1. More Danny Ortberg and music: The Problem With Opera
2. From Outside magazine, all the “wellness” tips you really need:
On a micro level, think about your acute environment daily. Is your phone always on? Are you constantly being interrupted by notifications? Are you in a space conducive to the goal you want to accomplish? Do you keep lots of junk food in the house? Do you surround yourself with junk content? The goal is to design your environment to support the behaviors you desire.
On a macro level, ask yourself these questions: Do I live in a place that feels unlivable? Does my commute totally suck my soul?
3. ACCURATE:
1. The Stages of Listening To Classical Music by Danny Ortberg.
2. I was really tempted by a $20 Target dress this week (let’s hear it for stress shopping!) but then I thought of this interview with the author of Fashionopolis: The Prices of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes and didn’t buy it.
After the stock market crashed in 1929 and all the rich people lost their fortunes, Hattie Carnegie, the retailer, to stay in business, started an off-the-peg ready-to-wear collection for the middle market called Spectator Sports…And one of those suits or dresses from Spectator Sports cost $19.99 — and this was in the early ’30s. And that’s the same price you pay at H&M or Zara [despite inflation over the decades].
Is anything else we buy today the same price as it was at the height of the Depression? Of course not. Is anything we’re buying today the same price it was in 1928 before the crash? Of course it’s not.
3. Accurate.
(Via)
1. It’s The Onion, but it feels right: Study Finds Owning Cool Leather Jacket More Rewarding Than Raising Children.
2. Not AT ALL related and no, I don’t feel personally attacked in the slightest, why do you ask?
ONIOCHALASIA is shopping or purchasing things as a form of relaxation or stress relief.
— Haggard Hawks 📚🦅 (@HaggardHawks) October 9, 2019
3. Useful information:
1. I’m always up for stories about opera. A Singer’s Journey: From Solitary Confinement to the Met Opera. (They’re doing Phillip Glass’s Akhnaten this season, btw!)
2. It has been a WEEK at work. This sums up my mood after the second rush project came through yesterday afternoon:
(Found randomly but here’s the artist)
