5 Good Sips

What are you loving as we head into summer?

1. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

   The craft book to end all craft books. I have read a lot of them, but this is the one I return to again and again. It has the magic ability to act as the bridge between what blocks you and your freedom both as a writer and as a human being. There are exercises in here and affirmations which will change the way you feel about your art and about yourself. Goldberg moves you through the levels of obstacle, doubt, and maudlin self-pity, then propels you towards the process of writing. It is in the act of making art where you will be able to release your resistance and find the compass point to lead you towards the good work.

   “A writer is all at once everything—an architect, French cook, farmer—and at the same time, a writer is none of these things.”

   —Natalie Goldberg

2. Book Stickers

   I cannot resist the stickers located by the register at any given independent bookstore in any given city on any given Sunday. I always tell myself I will give them away as gifts, but then, I cannot seem to part with them. I stick them on my water bottle, like the basic suburban mom I am. I scatter them all over notebooks and my whiteboard. I am astounded by how many new ones appear every time I venture to the bookstore. I don’t blink at the price tag and add them onto the already towering book stack collected during the visit. Perhaps they remind me of the photo albums of stickers we used to trade in the 1980’s and the visits to the local Hallmark store with the paper rolls of stickers they had by their register: scratch and sniff, rainbow hearts, glittery stars. All of them seemed small in comparison to the largest, brightest, mirrored purple unicorn in the center of a circle six inches wide in diameter. I never did find a reason to trade that one away either.

3. The Atlantic Magazine

   I love this magazine. I know that the subject matter they cover can often feel depressing, as well-written, well-researched naked truth-telling is at the center of its 165 year old mission. I don’t care. If I have to swallow my medicine, it better be swathed in an immaculate sentence created by writers and journalists I deeply respect. I, like many others I know, switched to ingesting my news through the written word. I don’t watch much television anymore, barring movie nights and the Mandalorian with the boys. Consuming news as visual candy is what got us all in this dire division in the first place. Tell me what you know. Tell me you have primary sources. Tell me you take the world and its flaws and triumphs seriously. Tell me something original and thoughtful. Tell me, so I can know, too.

4. Overalls

   Linen, denim, old, new, black, blue, brightly colored, fancy dress, reinforced knees for hiking, holes in the knees for air conditioning, cotton and loose, sexy and tight, with turtlenecks, or tank tops, over a bathing suit, under a cardigan, pockets for days, any combination at any time. Since the ‘90’s until I am 90. Enough said.

   

5. Hunter x Hunter

   My boys are super into anime. So much so that both of them are learning Japanese in their spare time so they can eventually turn off the subtitles. They think “dubbing is for noobs, Mom.” Most of the time, I half pay attention, or attempt to listen to why one anime is better than another, and also “DON’T call it manga, Mom, that’s totally different.” But, like many mothers in this highly personalized time of media consumption, where YouTube and Netflix, Disney Plus and CrunchyRoll all vie for our children’s attention, I wanted something to share with them. I wanted to have something to watch that we could enjoy together. So I sat down with my youngest, let him choose, and entered into the longest story arc I have ever encountered: Hunter x Hunter. At the center is the amazing friendship between two pre-teen boys. Their love and devotion to each other is the stuff of legends. Yes, they kick-ass and are imbued with magical powers, but it is their connection that matters. And, I can get behind that no matter the form.