DISTRACTIONS
If you are new to this substack, I talk about why reading sucks but also why I never stop doing it. Reading was hard in February, but it’s also hard every month. A few years ago I had a goal to read one book a week. I’m telling you right now I don’t remember a single book that I read. Reading as a sport doesn’t make you a good reader; it plays into the commodification of everything there ever was. Maybe the publishing industry should be regulated and only release one book per year. Just kidding that’s an awful idea, but what if artists were respected by the government and what if we never had to worry about having money to live or a job to have health insurance with? Then maybe we wouldn’t be collapsing over each other for a chance at divided lump sums that put us into tax debt. Anyway <3
-Olivia & I have been recording weekly episodes of Say More and it’s been the BEST. Subscribe to our patreon so we can keep the show AD-Free, unless it’s for Scrivener or Substack, in which case call us because we’re willing to sell out.
-I’m teaching HOW TO WRITE THE NOVEL IN VERSE again on March 23rd, 2024 at 3 PM. Sign up for it here.
-My Abuela went to Guatemala. When she found out we bought her tickets she said I’ve been praying every day for this. My mom was like, I bought you the tickets, not God. She and my mother took the Amtrak from Boston to New York so that she could fly a one-way with her sister from Newark. They stayed with us the night before and my mom asked if she could put on her money meditation podcast as she went to sleep (we were sharing a bed) — I said no. She insisted on doing my abuelita’s pedicure in the living room and we laughed as she fanned her tiny feet that are mine with our blow-dryer. We went out to a Mexican restaurant the next day and my 90-year-old Abuelita got drunk on margaritas. At the airport, Abuelita rode with her sister in a wheelchair to security, and we bid her a tearful good-bye. I always think about how special it is to be 31 and be able to have three generations in one room at the same time, and how many more rooms and moments I’ll have. Sometimes there’s nothing to do with this feeling except for getting trashed with your mom and boyfriend at the Irish Goodbye in Moynihan Hall.