Reflections on a Sabbatical + Updates
Well, I’m back. Did you miss me? Please don’t answer that.
Well, I’m back. Did you miss me? Please don’t answer that.
I took the month of September off and, quite frankly, I could take the month of October off, too. But I have news to tell and things to complain about and lots of stuff I want you to buy because I want to buy it. And it is also my birthday today and I am using this newsletter as a vehicle for you to know this inane fact about me.
(I’m 33 today — has there ever been a more boring milestone to hit?)
I didn’t know how to really start this email, if I’m being honest. I was going to dive right into a “What Caught My Eye”, but had a lot of updates to share from the month and, once it was all put together, this email was too long to hold anyone’s attention. I was yawning halfway through and I’m a bit of a narcissist, so I can only imagine how boring this would be for you to have to slog through, dear Reader.
But lets’ start with this: The sabbatical was needed for me. I can’t explain it, but I just knew it was time to pull back. So little of everything matters and yet it all seemed to have been distracting me. Especially all the little things that didn’t matter. The unfortunate reality is that I need to be online for my freelance work and, living in the cultural desert known as Western Pennsylvania, Instagram is often the only outlet I’ve had, historically speaking, to a broader population with interests similar to my own. But it was getting old and stale and saturated in a way that bored me to death — and so I had to leave the party for a bit.
But I’m back now with no clear agenda and lots to share with you at the same time. With that, today’s newsletter will be a bit different. Bullet points. Just bear with me here, as there’s a few things to share and little updates to give. And then perhaps this weekend I can share with you all 10 things, like I normally do. But, in the meantime…allons-y.
First, I’ve taken on two new publications I’ll be writing for regularly: Huckberry and Forbes. I’m very proud of both of these and can’t wait to see how my work evolves for each publication. My first piece with Huckberry can be found here, with about one or two coming per month in the immediate future. As for Forbes, I’m their only contributor dedicated solely to menswear, with my first piece coming out sometime early next week, I believe.
Having deleted Instagram from my phone and paused this newsletter, I can’t tell you how much time I had to just read. I didn’t think I had spent that much time scrolling on my phone, but apparently I was wrong. Or perhaps it just felt like I had more time, so I took advantage of it (as you know, I’m quite the opportunist). Either way, I made it through five books in September: Territorial Rights (Muriel Spark); Reality and Dreams (Muriel Spark); The Paris Notebooks (Mavis Gallant); The Dry Heart (Natalia Ginzburg); and Ex-Wife (Ursula Parrott)
I need to talk about Ex-Wife. I say with no hyperbole that I consider this book to be the best I’ve read in years and one I would consider a masterpiece. As one prone to exaggeration, please know I’m being honest here. But, this brings me to a thought I’ve been having about my newsletter — I find it a bit restricting to just slap ten things that Caught My Eye on my keyboard and hit “send”. I think I’m going to begin a few new segments with a bit more thematic approaches. One will be for literary reviews (that is, if downloading Instagram doesn’t fuck up my reading pattern). One will be about a product I’m interested in and want to share with you all (working title of this segment is: Buy-Curious). And maybe more thematic lists, centered on French artisans or Swiss hotels or expensive chocolates. More to come.
I’ve a new novel idea that I’m thrilled to begin. I have had a few ideas floating around my notebooks since the release of my first novel Arthur, but this one seems to have stuck. I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s a bit Saki-inspired insofar as being episodic short stories that still has an overarching plot that arcs when read in order. Wish me luck.
In just under two weeks, I’m flying to Finland for a week. I was invited by the tourism bureau to visit Helsinki and write about it. I’m thrilled. Between Germany in the Spring and Helsinki in the Fall, I feel very grateful to have scheduled in some travel this year through parts of Europe I’ve not previously visited. I’m doubly thrilled as my husband will be tagging along, which is an excellent perk of the hotel room already being paid for by somebody else. While I can’t wrap my head around the Finnish language just yet (it’s an agglutinative language, making it so foreign to my precious Romance Language ears), I’m trying to learn the basics, such as “Kiitos!”, “Hyvää huomenta!”, and “Onko sinulla soija- tai kauramaitoa?”
Thank you for reading. It’s good to be back.