READ ALL ABOUT IT
Since 2012, I’ve been writing about books. And the act of reading. And the importance of story and narrative. But, mostly, the underlying theme of all I write is how taking a moment to stop and digest some longform text — instead of scrolling, instead of watching a video, instead of multitasking — can be one of the most grounding things we can do for ourselves. Here’s the one-stop online home for all this writing.
You can read more about me and my work by moseying over here. Want to peruse periodic “essay drops” — excerpts from my work-in-progress essay collection about Homesickness? Here ya go.
Reading is Grounding
Until we moved, we were daily newspaper subscribers — meaning actual, physical papers. (We’ll get back to it!) I have a hard time keeping up digitally (we have a handful of digital news subs) partly for the reasons that Cal Newport discussed in a newsletter about unplugging (for a bit) after you vote: “I suggest you switch to a slower pace of media consumption. Don’t laugh at this suggestion, because I’m actually serious: consider picking up the occasional old-fashioned printed newspaper (free from algorithmic optimization and click-bait curation) at your local coffee shop or library to check in, all at once, on anything major going on in the world.” Personally, I like to see the news laid out in one place, not click around on some rabbit trail.
Obsessed With Home
Obsessions go hard, I guess. It’s not a shocker that I’m obsessed with the idea of home — and, specifically, that complex feeling of homesickness, which is its flipside I suppose. Matt and I are just about done emptying the house that will be undergoing a big ol’ renovation, and today I came across a box of all my old clips from the Tufts Observer. Here’s the first thing I ever wrote for the publication where I eventually creeped my way up to Editor-in-Chief. Color me surprised. (Not at all.) I didn’t know what I was writing, really; I just knew that my background and points of reference were a little different from the throngs of students mostly from NJ, NY, MA, and sometimes CT, so I guess I needed to get pen to paper to make sense of that somehow. The specter hanging over all this wondering via simplistic writing was my parents’ cross-country move to Washington, DC right before I wrote this. (ie Where is home?!?!)
Walking With Alanis
“To each of our children
I wish to bequeath two characteristics:
The capacity for independence.
The ability to love.
Much of life is lonely.
Most decision-making is lonely.
Independence of mind is the best
Insurance for a rewarding journey.”
— Rolfe Neill, former Chairman and Publisher of the Charlotte Observer, as quoted on the sculpture “The Writer’s Desk” outside of ImaginOn, a children’s library and the home of the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte.
Night Watch
With any crisis where one might feel somewhat removed, it takes a lot of self-imposed effort to (attempt to) understand what it’s really “like” to be in the center of it — whether that be due to time (a historical event) or location or any other seeming lack of connection with events. I find that bothersome (and I mean that about myself as well), but I suppose that’s human nature. We covet, crave, and glom on to what we know and what is familiar. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.
Colleen Hoover, Crocs, and Bestseller Lists
So what are bestseller lists good for? I mean, I know they’re good for authors and publishers and might give a book a nice zeitgeisty pat on the back, but from a reader’s perspective…what’s the point? Are they “good” for readers? The number of books I’ve read in the past few years that I’d put in the “excellent” category *and* were on some sort of bestseller list is minuscule. #venndiagram
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
The NYT’s “Overlooked” column, “a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times” — has got to be one of the most interesting recurring features in a daily newspaper. (Just my 2c.) I’ve posted about different ones before, including Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (author of Dictee). This one, about the 19th-century Black poet Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, was published toward the beginning of February, Black History Month.
Sartorialists, Fashionistas, Readers
Survey says? 💃🎩🪡🧑🏽🎤
Library or Police Station in McFarland?
Whooooo… (Picture me whistling in an ‘oh boy’ kind of way, not that I know how to do that). I picked up this article the other day. It’s part of the New York Times’ “Across the Country” series. In this installment, a reporter goes to McFarland, California, a migrant farming community. The Police Department needs more space, and it’s eyeing the public library. Not surprisingly, conflict has ensued. The library of course offers services beyond checking out books: “Perhaps more so than in wealthier places with more options, the library serves a vital role. On average, 200 to 250 people come through the doors daily.” And many would agree that communities need effectively staffed and resourced police departments. McFarland, in particular, is seeing higher crime rates and an uptick in violent gang activity.
