22 January 2021
“Keep busy with survival.”
This Week
Well. I hope many of you found occasion this week to release a held breath and relax tensed shoulders. We know there is no magic solution, but the work might be a little easier now.
I am in the depths of winter and moving slowly, like cold water underneath the ice. Moving, but slowly. But I did break my long tattoo drought.
I showed the tattoo to my cat, who provided the inspiration, but she did not seem very impressed.
Links
This report is from a couple of years ago but its topic is at the top of my mind these days: “The Oxygen of Amplification: Better Practices for Reporting on Extremists, Antagonists, and Manipulators Online.”
How the Trapper Keeper took the ’80s by storm — then suddenly disappeared.
Susan Orlean on her cultish devotion to cults.
The most notorious “lonely hearts” killers of all time.
Yes, the pandemic is ruining your body.
“The ritual is soothing, nostalgic. It reminds me to slow down, to be kind to myself, to untangle my being from the capitalist slurry of work-life-work-life that the pandemic has wrought.” On oyatsu and how a snacking ritual makes the Chicago winter bearable.
Reading/Watching/Listening
Ruth Ware is one of my favorite modern thriller writers. Her books are just the right tone, for me, of sharp stories and emotional groundings. I’m a bit behind on her recent books, but I read The Turn of the Key and it’s as twisty and entertaining as expected.
In my ongoing quest to catch up on horror novel classics, I read Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon, a deeply disturbing serial killer examination revealed as modern vampire myth.
Hey, I finally watched Another Round. I had held off because I wanted to feel more emotionally stable before watching a story about adults approaching middle age and trying to figure out how to keep getting by, because reasons. But it’s a great film, real and thoughtful and sad and joyful.
Happy moments are good. It’s part of how you keep going.
Love,
Jen
Connections
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This week’s quote is from May Sarton: “Keep busy with survival. Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain, psychic pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go.”