I do not know how we are at the end of March. I am envisioning a line graph where the x-axis is “age” and the y-axis is “perceived speed of time.” You catch my drift. Alright, let’s get into the good stuff:
Quote of the week:
“Re-examine all you have been told… dismiss whatever insults your soul.” –Walt Whitman
What I’m reading:
I have a few books going at the moment. I’ve passed the halfway mark on Red Comet, the Sylvia Plath biography. I started reading Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader, edited by Maria Popova of Brain Pickings (which I guess is now called The Marginalian). I’m also reading Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski.
What I’m listening to:
I listened to Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach this week, and just started I Thought You Said This Would Work by Ann Garvin on my run this morning.
What I’m watching:
Life and Beth on Hulu. I love Amy Schumer.
Writing news:
This past Wednesday was the one-year bookiversary for All the Love: Healing Your Heart and Finding Meaning After Pregnancy Loss. I’m 7 years out from my own pregnancy losses, but still love to engage with and support this community.
A little more than a month until Ways the World Could End comes out! I’m really enjoying all the Instagram love from early readers. It’s weird to think that “bookstagram” wasn’t even a thing when I started writing books and it’s such a big deal now. The times they are a-changin’.
What I’m talking about:
- Ketanji Brown Jackson’s hearing this past week and the ridiculous display by some Republican Senators. I was so embarrassed for them and also infuriated. I can’t help but think of Brett Kavanaugh’s meltdown when he was questioned—a woman would never be allowed such a thing
- The passing of Madeleine Albright. I’ve always admired her. Smart, feisty, strong, eloquent—what’s not to love?
- One month of the Ukraine war. Still feeling helpless and angst-ridden
- Finding space and stillness in the midst of life’s craziness. I just bought this necklace as a daily reminder to myself
Interesting things I learned this week:
- Maya Angelou was the first Black woman to write a script that was made into a Hollywood movie
- The French term for someone who reads a lot is Le buveur d’encre, which translates to “ink drinker”
- The Greek root of the word “crisis” is “to sift,” which seems just right
- Today’s single and working moms spend MORE time with their children than married homemaker mothers did back in 1965
- Today, almost 30% of American households comprise just one person
- By 1889, the US had the highest divorce rate in the world
- Albert Einstein couldn’t read until he was 7, Beethoven’s music teacher said he was “hopeless” as a composer, Edison’s teacher labeled him unable to learn, and Winston Churchill failed 6th grade
- Every year, there are 11,000 sex-related deaths (eg, sudden-death heart attacks during the act), on par with deaths from Hepatitis C, brain cancer, and food poisoning
- The first women to win a Nobel without a male collaborator were Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier in 2020 (they won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their development of a method for genome editing)
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
“Lost cat dream.” I had a dream that my cat was lost and it was so emotional. According to certified dream analyst Lauri Loewenberg, “The state of the cat and the behavior of the cat in your dream will be similar to something going on in your waking life. A missing cat could mean you feel something is missing in the intimacy department” (source). Hmmm, interesting.
What I’m grateful for:
- My second 20-mile run and my last big week of training before the Boston Marathon next month. I’m feeling strong and healthy! Also, I found a $20 bill on my run today—my first income-generating run!
- A slower work week, which gave me some time to catch up on life
- My talented sister, who came by to do some author promo photos for me last weekend (see below!)
A few snapshots from this week:
I posted these on Instagram and everyone is in favor of my dog, Vinny, being in my author photo. I’m on the fence about this. My books are a bit heavy (at times), so not sure a smiling dog matches the vibe.
This might be more appropriate… but we’ll see.
