It’s mid-July, mid summer, mid something, and somehow I naively expected the world to slow down for a moment. I thought maybe lemonade and bicycle rides or lazy picnics. I sense waves of panic and anxiety as I walk through the world, as if folks aren’t certain whether to be scared or happy or angry. And online, phew. People hate. And mock. And I just can’t.
The car rage is real too. People have no patience in these beasts and I’m constantly waiting for impact.
That’s Boston right now. That’s the thickness in the air. The heat & humidity with a side of society crumbling to pieces.
Liv and I have listened to Courtney Barnett’s Nameless, Faceless many times. It helps.
I’ve been thinking about homes a lot and what it means to have a home, how many homes I have had over the years, the packing and moving, the leaving behind. During the pandemic Patrick and I mapped all the places we have lived from childhood to now. I have lived in 17 places before this one. I wonder what bits of me I forgot to pack and what was lost in the rush. I think about how I packed all my books with each move, somehow thinking that this next place would be where I would settle. I’m like a snail, bringing everything with me. I set up house, and then pack it all up again.
The market here is crazy and while I really hope that we can really find our home-place, it’s not looking good. The interest rates are high, the stock is low, and we have too much anxiety to really go all out-yolo in our offers. I also wonder how my expectations are shaped by the staging I see in all the photos we have looked at.
Who knows. Maybe by next newsletter I will know where we’ll be and that change will feel good and purposeful. We will have a plan. We will be purging and giving away and unlocking the next step. 
My first home, so long ago.
Good News
- Lisa & I will have Mark Turcotte and Suzanne Frank on August 15 at the Notebooks Collective.
- We’re starting classes — the first one is with Jessica Johnson: Extraordinary Writing from Ordinary Life!
- I spent a weekend with Solstice alums and current students and faculty. It was a joy to be immersed in that space again. To talk about books and life and the beauty of line breaks with other like-minded people. I learned about Diné poetics, introduced Leah Falk, read from my zine at a talent show, met the new Spotlight poet, and got to visit with my mentors.
- Lots of strikes! And a UPS victory!
Recommendations
- Normal Gossip for some light-hearted, inconsequential story-telling.
- Check out my brother’s new business DAKSY Productions. He’s found a way to make music for a living and it’s so rad.
- As always, Lyz Lenz: Dingus of the Week: Climate Change Deniers. I recommend it. It’s not good news.
- And from the house-hunter in me (from Anne Helen’s essay): Zillow Gone Wild.
Last thing! It’s almost August, so get your stacks ready! I don’t know if I will have the wherewithal to participate in the Sealey Challenge this year, but I still have a stacks ready to be read. Show me your piles! What are you reading? Make me envious.