Dropping you a line just to say hello and give some updates! I am spending my days studying for a standardized exam and doing some neuro research on the side, but happily I have some writing news to share also.
Firstly, I’m very excited about my new writing project, synanthrope, where I write daily 128-word essays about technology or science or anything else I’m thinking about. I was inspired to start it after reading one of Catherine Lacey’s 144-word entries in Harper’s earlier this month. I am really enjoying the ritual of it, and the challenge of saying something good in a little bit of room. Writing, I have found, has a Projectile Vomiting component and a Careful Tinkering component; it is a good exercise to reduce the Vomiting in favor of practicing almost exclusive Tinkering. I feel like it has really unlocked something within me, and allowed me to grow a lot in a very short amount of time.
All this just to say, please follow synanthrope if you feel so inclined. Today’s was about Family Feud, as I found myself thinking on this clip for no reason whatsoever.
Looking forward: I contributed two articles to the Sage Encyclopedia of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, which was published in print in October and comes out digitally this month. It is 1,560 pages and costs $600, which is sooo absurd, a little more than 38 cents per page! Speaking of encyclopedias, I looked at my Wikipedia wrapped-esque feature yesterday, which informed me that my edits have been viewed more than a million times. That’s crazy to me! I love Wikipedia! I truly believe it is the public’s best source of free information, and is clearly a threat to the powers that be; if you have some extra money, win my heart and donate a few bucks!
Looking back: I obviously didn’t do a year-end column here; 2024 in many ways felt like The Long Sadness, and I am happy to be through with it, even as we stare down the grim barrel of 2025. In brief, my favorite album was Normal Sounds by Lia Kohl. My favorite book was Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte. As usual, I made a playlist of my favorite songs of the year, which you can find here if you want. IMO, the best piece of mine from the year is the Annie Proulx piece for the Cleveland Review of Books which kind of ruined my life when I was working on it, but was ultimately well-received, and isn’t that what truly matters? RealClearBooks (which I had never heard of, have you?) put me on a list with pre-flop Lauren Oyler and some MAGA woman writing for the NY Post. Kinda funny!
Besides Substack, I am not on Instagram, or Twitter, or Bluesky, or anything anymore; everything about being a person on social media feels embarrassing and unbearable! If I happen to feel better about it, I will come back, but I don’t anticipate this happening anytime soon.
I’m tempted to close this out with some revolutionary rhetoric (Buy a gun!!! Resist fascism!!!) but I will just say that I hope you are well and warm, and finding good ways to place your energy as we begin to experience what is doubtlessly a historic year (derogatory). It is a dark time and we must keep each other safe!
I love the idea of the project. Will be following along :)