Happy 4th of July! It’s no secret that I’m quite displeased with the current state of the country. We’re in dark times. But I know there are so many of us who truly stand by what this country was founded on. A little history refresher: On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, declaring: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
Quote of the week:
“We have one life, one shot at all the glorious things of life, and we walk about constricted, apologetic, afraid. We have so little time; we have so little space upon which to spread our love and our talents and our kindness. Run toward life fulsomely and freely.” —Tennessee Williams
What I’m reading:
The Uproar by Karim Dimechkie. I’m going to finish this one after I write this blog post. It’s very engaging and interesting… about how one incident can lead to an unraveling of so many things.
What I’m listening to:
Boys Will Be Boys: Power, Patriarchy, and Toxic Masculinity by Clementine Ford. I love her writing and she’s great on audio too.
What I’m watching:
Season 4 of Vikings on Netflix. Season 4 of The Bear on Hulu. A very cool documentary–The Shark Whisperer on Netflix, about Ocean Ramsey. My boyfriend and I saw the F1 movie in the theater last weekend and that was a treat.
Writing news:
Woman on the Verge is officially OUT! I’m so excited for people to read this book and talk about it. Thank you to all the readers who have already reached out. It means so much to me.
Interesting things I learned this week:
- For only the third time, astronomers have found something passing through our solar system that came from outside it. It looks like a comet
- Eating dairy before bed may cause nightmares, according to a new study by Frontiers in Psychology
- Don Quixote, with 500 million copies sold since it was first published in Spanish in 1605 and 1615, is considered the best-selling novel of all time, according to this list
- The earliest known author is an Akkadian (ancient Mesopotamian) princess and high priestess named Enheduanna, who signed her temple hymns in 2300 BCE. This is the earliest surviving example of a single author signing their work. Many more were anonymous or are unknown today
- The world’s richest 1% raised their wealth by $34 TRILLION in 10 years, enough to eliminate poverty 22 times over
- The average Amazon warehouse worker would have to work full-time with no vacations or time off for over 1,000 years to pay for Jeff Bezos’ wedding
- An AI-generated band called “The Velvet Sundown” has gained over 300K listeners in just a few weeks. This is terrifying!
- A study says men don’t fully mature until age 43. Wait, men fully mature??
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
“Trump cologne.” I couldn’t believe he was selling this so had to see for myself. Who is buying all this merch? Embarrassing.
What I’m grateful for:
- My puppy is doing well after having her spay surgery this week. It’s so hard to see pets not feeling well, but she’s back to her usual energy
- My daughter’s karate belt test last weekend. It’s so fun to watch her. She got her orange belt! Her cousin came to cheer her on. Their relationship is something else I’m grateful for
- Playdates where both the kids and the moms have fun
- Our neighborhood bike parade this morning—my daughter won the bike decorations contest (this is largely thanks to her dad who is much better at this type of thing than me)
Snapshots:
Just catching up now – bit late, but I really needed this post. That quote by Tennessee Williams stuck with me more than I expected. I’ve been feeling this tension between wanting to live fully and just trying to stay grounded with everything going on lately. It’s like holding joy and outrage in the same hand, and honestly, some days it just slips right through.
Also – The Bear, season 4: I’m dragging it out on purpose, it’s that good. You mention your daughter’s orange belt brought up memories of my niece’s dance recital last month. They’re little, but somehow their confidence hits you right in the gut.
As for writing, I’m still circling around a draft I started ages ago… It’s all fragments, thoughts, pieces. I tell myself it’s part of the process, but I don’t know. Still no editor in sight. But your updates give me this weird sort of calm. Like, the mess is the work. I needed that reminder. And congrats on Woman on the Verge – really hope to get my hands on it soon.