Hello readers,
I am here to send you content again after a long and unintended hiatus! It was pleasantly surprising to see so many people still subscribed, whether through dedication or error, after my months of inactivity.
For most of this year I have been going full STEM mode, and with one notable exception writing has taken a back seat in my life. Last time I wrote to you, I had just started my project synanthrope, the stated aim of which is to post an essay of exactly 128 words every day. It has since devolved into a less frequent but still regular effort; today I published #163, about a sea ice dictionary. Please check it out.
What else have I been doing? I’m afraid not too much. I have read some very good books, and some very bad ones. I have been piggybacking off my father’s Criterion subscription to watch strange things as much as I can. (Recent favorites include HAXAN and The Conversation.) I have been listening to the new Wednesday singles on repeat.
I would like to get back in the habit of writing about books on here, it makes me happy, and I have things to say about Rachel Cusk and Annie Dillard and Faulkner deep cuts. And I also just need to be writing in a way that is critical and serious. For a minute in July I was writing a lot of haikus, seeing how many horrible nasty things I could pack into seven or five syllables. While fun, this is not the way I seek to engage with the written word.
I am on one of my extended breaks from social media. I shut my phone off entirely for a week before I took a big exam, and it was a powerful and positive experience. I recommend it for anyone looking to change their life.
Thanks for hanging in here. And subscribe to synanthrope!