Fam came for the weekend, for Mom’s birthday, for kayaking down a very low river and for visiting a winery and Monticello. Time with them is always very good; it always goes by too quickly.
♦
I used to keep much more fluid and interesting blog elsewhere. I wrote about people and events as if I was writing in a private paper diary. It’s a little shocking to me now, rediscovering my late high school and college blog, but I also think I was a better writer back then. Sure, I was self-righteous and affected, but it was far more scintillating. Now, when I look at this thing, which I have maintained over the course of seven or eight years, my mind feels empty. I have nothing, it seems, to say.
♦
Things I enjoyed reading online
- 20 Ideas on Marriage, The Book of Life. I found all of this incredibly readable, heartening and true.
- Who Goes Nazi? Harper’s, reprinted from the August 1941 issue.
- Young Men Are Playing Video Games Instead of Getting Jobs, Reason.
- Total Eclipse, Annie Dillard. In advance of the coming total eclipse, the Atlantic has republished Dillard’s beautiful and memorable 1982 essay.
(Hot tip: If you want to know what I enjoy reading online, you can sign up for the bimonthly email I curate: Story Matters.)
“God’s world is good. Only one thing in it is bad: we ourselves.” — Anton Chekhov
Writers I’d read on any topic
- Anne Carson
- Annie Dillard
- Lydia Davis
- John McPhee
Little Stories 
Wow – the Young Male Gamer describes my 28-year-old cousin exactly. He has never lived independently and the only thing he posts on social media are videos of himself or others playing video games. Before the article even turned to UBI, it was on my mind; having just read an article about the case for it earlier in the week. Very interesting. Women are becoming less interested in having children/families…will they soon be running the world while the men stay home playing Halo?
I know, right?? It makes you wonder what “work” and “family life” will look like for the next generation particularly.
I started reading my old high school and college blog a few weeks ago … oh my goodness. I find myself torn between profound embarrassment and tenderness towards my younger self. I’m more private and more able to self-regulate my emotions these days, and I appreciate that, but I also miss the free way I used to write.
Ivy, that is precisely how I feel! Mix of shame + little nostalgia for how freely I was once able to express myself.
Is there a happy middle ground? It would be nice to have some more writing to look back and shake my head at fondly in another ten years …
Hey lovely, I just tagged you in the Mystery Blogger awards on my blog 🙂 https://stylesteph.com/2017/08/11/and-mystery-blogger-award-goes-to/ xx