Ahh....that k you, my dear brother. For caring so deeply about me, my crazy, amazing kids, and my worries about them. And of course, for the bike rack!!!😁 We can't wait to ride with you!!!! Like when we were kids...and this one time...I fell of my bike, that I called black beauty, and skinned my knee.... Stop me if you've heard this before...so I was riding in front of Grammy's house, and that one slab of sidewalk...you remember the one... 😝😳😂🤣😂🤣🙄 "She's gonna go ON AND ON...." Love yew!
Glad to have found you via Chris La Tray - a nourishing piece of writing - like all best writing, it reminds me of what I already know but don't always manage, and helps me to feel less alone. Thank you! 🙏🏻
I agree with you about audiobooks. They certainly have a place, and help expose to literature to wider audiences. But listening to somebody else read means there's a degree of distance between your mind and that of the author.
Losing yourself in a good book is a form of direct communion - and one you can partake of at your own pace, lingering over a well-turned phrase, or pausing completely to savour the reverberations in delicious silence.
I'm compelled to respectfully disagree with you and my buddy Tom on this one. Not everyone can "read" a book the way those of us more completely-abled are able to, and I love getting this other, shared experience through audio. Audio books have been a huge boon to my "reading" of especially contemporary stuff that I wouldn't otherwise have time to.
Let me amend my statement: listening to books while commuting to work is a less immersive experience than focusing on the book alone, no matter how you ingest it. I do not want to dismiss audiobooks entirely, as stories were first told, not written... but they were not told while people were doing other things. Some people listen to audiobooks at higher speeds to get through them quickly! I don't like books to be "content" to be consumed, as many as you can... why, so we can brag on social media? When I was a kid, we were challenged to read the most books over the school year and it became a contest. And I began reading so fast that I could barely remember the books.
I've been listening to podcasts (and reading books, like Against the Grain) about the beginnings of the city-state and the use of cuneiform to keep track of grains and taxes. The written word may have been invented to make us subjects, but we have subverted it to make art and poetry and to stand against the empire...
Love the idea of taking your niblings out for bike rides, etc. I find the hardest part is getting everyone out the door (including myself) -- once we're out, we're golden, kids love exploration & discovery & generally being a lot faster and more daring than I am. :) I hope y'all have an amazing time.
And yeah, Jon Ronson is one of those writers who (I think) seems like he might be a bit of a crank what with writing about cults and internet trends and so on, but actually I find him pretty insightful and a good read. I'm glad you enjoyed him.
Yeah, I read Them back in the day, and it's how he got his start, but he's expanded and I am glad. And also yes about trips. We usually kill an hour at the house getting together and I have to make sure we don't lose steam.
Another great one, Tom. I particularly dig this: "I’m going to buy my sister a 3-bike rack for her car, and we’ll drag their little asses out to parks." Drag them out there. DRAG THEM!
Kids are funny and weird. A couple little ne'er do wells toodled by my house on their bikes last night when I was sitting on my front porch having just devoured an excellent bison burger. The boy gave me that surly side-eye so common to kids who can't possibly manage a poker face, but the girl flipped a U-ee to tell me she got new sandals earlier and then shared a couple other details. It made me happy, not only because it was a beautiful evening and I was happy to see them actually outside, but that she took the time to engage with me.
Also, if not for my own 1000 hours project, I might not have been out there at all myself! We ALL need to drag our asses outside more, don't we?
That's awesome, Chris. A neighbor being friendly! She's learning great things thanks to you just sitting there. I don't have a porch. My neighbor stands outside with his Akita and I go talk to him. I think people are very hungry for face to face connection because we've lost it with this decade of phones . It's connected many of us but also alienated more.
You can really see the difference in Livingston -- I have a handful of older neighbors who I chat with on the regular, and about once a year have a good long chat about who moved in/out, who the new people are, what's going on. And the newer neighbors, especially the younger ones, don't even make eye contact, or nod hello. I'm bossy, so I say hi, and engage them when it's semi-natural, because I don't think they mean to be rude, I think their default is being in their own head-bubble.
Luckily, the Montessori around the corner believes in Fresh Air for All no matter the weather. The toddler parade comes by about 11 most mornings -- there's chatting and crying and waving of sticks. The best.
I want to drop Twitter so badly. This week I spent far too much energy trying to figure out why/when someone in my writing genre community blocked me, both on their personal and public accounts. Really, I should just shrug it off and go on-we don't even know each other real life. And I know social media in general has messed with my attention span and focus. I never thought I'd consider reading a book through the end an actual accomplishment as opposed to a matter of course, but it's where I am now. And that's how I'm slowly staging my escape/refocus outside of the online world.
Your Substack helps, as do the other ones I follow/newsletters I get from writers.
I know we met there, and I'm thankful for the many friends I've made, I can't spend time on that anymore. I've had the same mystery happen to me. I've also had to figure out why I blocked someone, years later. It's exhausting! I hope you can escape, and I'm glad I help a little. I enjoy reading your news articles in Weird NJ and this season is no exception.
As for social media, I don't think we need to know this much about anyone. The headline on my morning paper is a documenting of a university president's liking of tweets.
I don't like how viewing a video of an entitled person getting their comeuppance makes me feel. I think we are too enamored of punishment, and meting it out. It's not justice. It affects us as much as it does the target, and not in good ways.
And yeah, at least I got to connect with people like you there, which leads to better places like here. Most people have been good, and it's fun to post things on the "weird" accounts that people enjoy. But I've never liked the pile-ons that people do, even if the recipient did have a crap take that one time (different story if they always have a crap take/never evolve). Like you say, it's bad for everyone involved.
"Never be the main character on Twitter" is a real thing.
Ahh....that k you, my dear brother. For caring so deeply about me, my crazy, amazing kids, and my worries about them. And of course, for the bike rack!!!😁 We can't wait to ride with you!!!! Like when we were kids...and this one time...I fell of my bike, that I called black beauty, and skinned my knee.... Stop me if you've heard this before...so I was riding in front of Grammy's house, and that one slab of sidewalk...you remember the one... 😝😳😂🤣😂🤣🙄 "She's gonna go ON AND ON...." Love yew!
Lol. I remember picking gravel out of my kneecaps after crashing my Huffy on that terrible industrial wasteland of a street we grew up on.
If you haven't ever picked gravel out of your knee, have you ever even actually ridden?
I face planted in the mud yesterday on a ride after heavy rain, so I never learn
Hey, at least it was your face! 🥁 [cymbal emoji]
Glad to have found you via Chris La Tray - a nourishing piece of writing - like all best writing, it reminds me of what I already know but don't always manage, and helps me to feel less alone. Thank you! 🙏🏻
Welcome! and thank you. I like that, I think I write these to remind myself of what I know, sometimes.
Yes, me too!
I agree with you about audiobooks. They certainly have a place, and help expose to literature to wider audiences. But listening to somebody else read means there's a degree of distance between your mind and that of the author.
Losing yourself in a good book is a form of direct communion - and one you can partake of at your own pace, lingering over a well-turned phrase, or pausing completely to savour the reverberations in delicious silence.
I'm compelled to respectfully disagree with you and my buddy Tom on this one. Not everyone can "read" a book the way those of us more completely-abled are able to, and I love getting this other, shared experience through audio. Audio books have been a huge boon to my "reading" of especially contemporary stuff that I wouldn't otherwise have time to.
Let me amend my statement: listening to books while commuting to work is a less immersive experience than focusing on the book alone, no matter how you ingest it. I do not want to dismiss audiobooks entirely, as stories were first told, not written... but they were not told while people were doing other things. Some people listen to audiobooks at higher speeds to get through them quickly! I don't like books to be "content" to be consumed, as many as you can... why, so we can brag on social media? When I was a kid, we were challenged to read the most books over the school year and it became a contest. And I began reading so fast that I could barely remember the books.
I've been listening to podcasts (and reading books, like Against the Grain) about the beginnings of the city-state and the use of cuneiform to keep track of grains and taxes. The written word may have been invented to make us subjects, but we have subverted it to make art and poetry and to stand against the empire...
Love the idea of taking your niblings out for bike rides, etc. I find the hardest part is getting everyone out the door (including myself) -- once we're out, we're golden, kids love exploration & discovery & generally being a lot faster and more daring than I am. :) I hope y'all have an amazing time.
And yeah, Jon Ronson is one of those writers who (I think) seems like he might be a bit of a crank what with writing about cults and internet trends and so on, but actually I find him pretty insightful and a good read. I'm glad you enjoyed him.
Yeah, I read Them back in the day, and it's how he got his start, but he's expanded and I am glad. And also yes about trips. We usually kill an hour at the house getting together and I have to make sure we don't lose steam.
Another great one, Tom. I particularly dig this: "I’m going to buy my sister a 3-bike rack for her car, and we’ll drag their little asses out to parks." Drag them out there. DRAG THEM!
Kids are funny and weird. A couple little ne'er do wells toodled by my house on their bikes last night when I was sitting on my front porch having just devoured an excellent bison burger. The boy gave me that surly side-eye so common to kids who can't possibly manage a poker face, but the girl flipped a U-ee to tell me she got new sandals earlier and then shared a couple other details. It made me happy, not only because it was a beautiful evening and I was happy to see them actually outside, but that she took the time to engage with me.
Also, if not for my own 1000 hours project, I might not have been out there at all myself! We ALL need to drag our asses outside more, don't we?
That's awesome, Chris. A neighbor being friendly! She's learning great things thanks to you just sitting there. I don't have a porch. My neighbor stands outside with his Akita and I go talk to him. I think people are very hungry for face to face connection because we've lost it with this decade of phones . It's connected many of us but also alienated more.
You can really see the difference in Livingston -- I have a handful of older neighbors who I chat with on the regular, and about once a year have a good long chat about who moved in/out, who the new people are, what's going on. And the newer neighbors, especially the younger ones, don't even make eye contact, or nod hello. I'm bossy, so I say hi, and engage them when it's semi-natural, because I don't think they mean to be rude, I think their default is being in their own head-bubble.
Luckily, the Montessori around the corner believes in Fresh Air for All no matter the weather. The toddler parade comes by about 11 most mornings -- there's chatting and crying and waving of sticks. The best.
Bossy is absolutely called for in this context! Kids gotta learn!
Yeah in the suburbs I think you need a dog to talk or people think you're a weirdo...
I want to drop Twitter so badly. This week I spent far too much energy trying to figure out why/when someone in my writing genre community blocked me, both on their personal and public accounts. Really, I should just shrug it off and go on-we don't even know each other real life. And I know social media in general has messed with my attention span and focus. I never thought I'd consider reading a book through the end an actual accomplishment as opposed to a matter of course, but it's where I am now. And that's how I'm slowly staging my escape/refocus outside of the online world.
Your Substack helps, as do the other ones I follow/newsletters I get from writers.
I know we met there, and I'm thankful for the many friends I've made, I can't spend time on that anymore. I've had the same mystery happen to me. I've also had to figure out why I blocked someone, years later. It's exhausting! I hope you can escape, and I'm glad I help a little. I enjoy reading your news articles in Weird NJ and this season is no exception.
As for social media, I don't think we need to know this much about anyone. The headline on my morning paper is a documenting of a university president's liking of tweets.
I don't like how viewing a video of an entitled person getting their comeuppance makes me feel. I think we are too enamored of punishment, and meting it out. It's not justice. It affects us as much as it does the target, and not in good ways.
"I think we are too enamored of punishment, and meting it out. It's not justice. It affects us as much as it does the target, and not in good ways."
Agreed. I just read this little book over the weekend which speaks to this pretty vigorously:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/we-will-not-cancel-us-and-other-dreams-of-transformative-justice-adrienne-maree-brown/14970781?ean=9781849354226
Thanks for the rec. I like Adrienne Maree Brown, she also edited OCTAVIA'S BROOD, a collection inspired by the work of Octavia E. Butler.
Thanks, Tom!
And yeah, at least I got to connect with people like you there, which leads to better places like here. Most people have been good, and it's fun to post things on the "weird" accounts that people enjoy. But I've never liked the pile-ons that people do, even if the recipient did have a crap take that one time (different story if they always have a crap take/never evolve). Like you say, it's bad for everyone involved.
"Never be the main character on Twitter" is a real thing.