Grab Bag vol. 13
Things I found interesting lately, what I’ve been up to, and whatever else comes to mind.
A reminder that photography is not always about capturing what we see with the naked eye, but revealing the magic hovering just behind our grasp.
Here’s another blog I enjoyed reading some recently, most notably his post about running a marathon. I’m not sure I necessarily agreed with him on many points, but I enjoyed this final sentence “red-lined the final three miles like gunning a car in second gear and made it over the finish line.” Which was basically my experience trying to finish Gorge 50K under my goal time (SO CLOSE!)
I was recently touting the gospel of Anylist again, so maybe that’s worth reiterating here: you should try Anylist. For all the frustration I give to modern technology at times, I don’t know how I could meal plan without this. You can import recipes from the web or manually enter from books, then easily make a meal plan and select what you need from the grocery for each of these recipes. Life changing.
Low-key obsessed with the podcast 60 Songs that Explain the 90’s.
This whole substack is excellent but I liked this post and this paragraph in particular, about how bitterness is not a useful emotion for writing:
“All emotions are useful for writing except for bitterness. Good writing requires the consideration of other minds—after all, words only mean something when another mind decodes them. But bitterness can consider only itself. It demands sympathy but refuses to return it, sucks up oxygen and produces only carbon dioxide. It’s like sadness, but stuck eternally at a table for one.
Other emotions—anger, fear, contentment—are deep enough to snorkel in, and if you keep swimming around in them, you’ll find all sorts of bizarre creatures that dwell in the depths and demand description. Bitterness, on the other hand, is three inches of brackish water. Nothing lives in it. You can stand in it and see the bottom.”
In trying to bust out of my writer’s block, I’ve been finding comfort in posts like the above, in searching for the motive and molding a narrative that is true to the story I want to tell. I’m back to practicing! Maybe someday I’ll be back to publishing.
As for life? No more big race goals this year. I cracked. Now, it’s chilling in the dirt, having adventures when I want them, and prioritizing feeling good. The big dreams can wait until I’m ready (or not, and that’s okay too).
