Tuesday, June 29, 2021

The way to go

I'm only at the dentist a few minutes last February when the dental hygienist asks me if I do any winter sports.

I tell her that Leo and Mike went ice fishing. I wax for a moment about standing on the frozen-solid lake and the sensation of walking over a surface that's usually not solid, but she shakes her head. She's not about to wax about anything I am saying to her.

I assume she's going to dismiss outdoor winter sports or fishing in general or just the cold weather.

Instead, she says, "I wouldn't want to go that way. It makes me nervous."

She mentions dogs whom she's heard have broken through the ice on a lake, even when it's meant to be totally frozen.

Then she says it again: "That's not how I want to go."

She may be right about falling through the ice to a frigid, numb death. It's probably a slow descent through hell, if hell were a frozen wasteland (and it might be; see Dante).

But all I can think is, "There's no way I would want to go."

In her defense, some ways do sound positively grisly. Drowning to death. Falling off a cruise ship into the deep blue sea. Being killed or buried alive -- that's probably not fun or easy.

Yet still: I really can't name any way I want to go.

No, actually, I think I'd like to stay.

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Saturday, June 26, 2021

Who loves fish the most? (from the Leo Journal)

Looking at one of the mammoth fish tanks at Butterfly, the Chinese restaurant on Farmington, Leo says, “Let’s count by hearts who loves fish the most.”

Mike: “OK, I guess for me, two hearts.”

Leo: “Yeah, for me about 1,000 hearts.”

Let’s count by hearts. As if ‘hearts’ were a currency or a unit of measurement. 

Also, although he’s a boy, he was so mercifully young when he said this that hearts hadn’t been segregated yet to the girls-only section of interests. 

While Mike lowballs it with “two hearts,” Leo, living high on the hog, goes for broke: 1,000 hearts. 

He must really like little fishies!

And we have a winner.

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Lost diary entry

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

A love letter to libraries masquerading as a news story (CNN)

Did you know librarians have worked as contact tracers during the pandemic? Me, neither. It's one of many wonderful things that librarians have done since the Covid crisis began, and I wrote about it for CNN.

Here's the article:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/13/us/coronavirus-libraries-pandemic/index.html

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Sunday, June 13, 2021

Stealing Memories (for the Boston Globe)

I've been writing in my journal (and on the blog) a lot about my parents, and their declining health, and what we've lost by losing the simple ability to chit-chat. Who knew that chit-chat was at the heart of our relationship? Also the ability to make new memories.

Anyway, today I am writing about these things for the Boston Globe's Ideas section. The cracker-jack art department even made an amazing photo collage of three old photos I had photographed. You can see some of the collage in the screen shot I inserted here. The two color photos I found in my father's wallet. It felt like I was snooping around even though he was unable at the time to follow the nurse's instructions to take out his insurance card. We were out in the car last summer when I found them, waiting in the parking lot of a doctor's office. I might as well have found gold coins in there, given my reaction.

I think the piece might be behind a paywall but here's the link:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/13/opinion/stealing-memories

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Tuesday, June 08, 2021

How I write regularly (Jeanne's tips)

I share with my writing students at Wesleyan a list of tips for those who want to write more often -- to keep writing as a regular practice. The students typically aren't undergrads, but part-time graduate students who have lives like the rest of us, and don't have the luxury of a daily cache of hours to dedicate to write.

And I thought these tips might be useful for folks as the summer approaches and some aspiring /former/could-be writers with children will have little people home more often (or even more often, given the remote pandemic schooling saga). You can write around little people -- shoot, you can write ABOUT little people -- but writing does require concentration and if your kid is like mine, he has a lifetime supply of questions written on a series of invisible post-it notes that he keeps pulling out of his pocket. So some tips might be handy.

(If you are an aspiring writer without children, the summer is a great time to try out some new writing habits because the world as a whole is a bit looser, and you'll probably have a vacation or a weekend getaway planned. Take a notebook on that ferry to Fire Island! Buy a diary or even a day planner and write "Vermont Journal" on the first page, then see what you're inspired to jot down.)

Note, this post is not about how to publish regularly or how to land a book contract or an agent.

Simply, how to find time to write, and how to appreciate the small writing opportunities that come your way.

OK, here goes.

First step. Do an inventory of your days and/or of a typical week. Where are there already pockets of time that you could use for writing? To my students, I might say, for example, you take your laundry to the laundromat. Could you write while you wait for your clothes to dry? Or maybe you take a child to sports practice. Could you carve out a few minutes to write on the sidelines, even if what you write is more akin to notes or lists? If these two examples don’t fit your life, that’s no problem – and beside the point. The point is, what time do you already have at your disposal that you can devote to writing without making any large changes in your schedule or your habits? That proverbial 'time to kill.' Kill it by writing!

Second step. Where are there moments in your day or your week when you could be writing but instead are doing something that doesn’t have a real return on investment and isn’t a required activity? Maybe mindlessly scrolling on your phone or watching TV? That’s not to say either activities are bad or to be avoided at all times. But could they be reduced? Only you can decide. You may have appointment TV watching that you use for your own personal sanity. That’s understandable. But are there any habits of marginal personal return – often consisting of passive consumption of some kind – that could be converted into writing time?

Third step. Could you wake up 30 minutes earlier? (Maybe not – but what if you could?) Could you stay at work 30 minutes longer and jot down some ideas? I’ve realized (all too late) that I am a natural early riser and so now I wake up most mornings, brew an Italian coffee and get to work. No one else is up and I am alone with my thoughts and my writing (see below for more on this trick).

Also: What about exchanging work with a friend once a month? Knowing you’re expected – and have the chance – to share writing should motivate you to put something down on paper.

Tools. Can you carry a notebook wherever you go? A small one. Slip it into your shirt pocket or a purse. What about stowing a journal in your car? Keep it on the passenger seat (if it’s free!) and open it up at a stop light or write for a few minutes when you arrive early to an appointment.

Tricks. What’s something you love doing? Going to coffee shops? Eating chocolate? Taking walks alone or with your dog? Could you combine that activity with writing? Make it an activity you do not have to be convinced to do – something you love to do. And bring along a writing implement and get to work. Similarly, is there a place where you feel inspired or at peace? Maybe a beloved hiking trail or even the dog park. Could you go there and write?

For more about keeping a notebook, take a look at this piece I wrote for Longreads.

Happy writing!

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