My weekly check-in with a few thoughts on my favorite topics.
What works
If it’s important and/or something I might procrastinate, I tackle it first thing or as soon as possible.
There is, however, a follow-up to this strategy that I will discuss next week.
What I’m reading
I have skimmed a few books this week that haven’t quite grabbed me, and I won’t name them because I don’t like to post something that may sound critical of another author’s work. I gain insights no matter what I read, sometimes about the craft of writing and sometimes about myself, my current mood/state of mind in the moment, which always affects what captures my attention.
What I’m writing
After dabbling with unnecessarily elaborate systems to analyze my characters and their arcs, I realized that all I needed to do was search for their names and then read those parts of the book, preferably all in the same day.
Democracy, yes, please
The unimaginable has become somehow commonplace. Of course the unhinged person-in-charge bombs another country because of something he saw on TV. Of course masked police kidnap citizens and noncitizens without identifying themselves or following the law, backed by members of our military who believed, falsely apparently, that they would never be asked to turn against their own people. Of course the Supreme Court makes rulings lacking in logic, compassion, legal precedent, and any hint of constitutional basis. Of course public statements from leadership read like they should be scratched on the walls of a high school bathroom.
I aim to share how I am navigating this nightmare, and one is that I will never accept this. I will never stop expecting people in power to behave responsibly, speak with courtesy, provide accurate information rather than lies and propaganda, and pursue policies that are ethical, compassionate, and just.
They want us to see chaos, cruelty, and buffoonery as normal. We won’t.
A quote I like
“There is nothing more terrible
Than waiting for the terrible. I promise.
Was the grief worth the poem? No…”
From Hala Alyan “Half-Life in Exile” read on today’s New Yorker: Poetry podcast, well worth a listen
reader. writer. 
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