Hello friends!
Have you all recovered from Halloween festivities and the time change? I know that some of you reverted to standard time last week, and many of us made the change this weekend.
Can we just stop with this nonsense? Pick one and call it good?
Great. I’m glad we all agree on that.
Welcome to year three of That’s Gneiss! I’m glad you’ve joined me somewhere along the way and stuck with me so far. I started this newsletter with the intention of creating something outside of the usual social media channels most folks travel in, especially outside of Facebook.
We all know that FB has become a behemoth in our lives. I know some folks who have managed to tear themselves away completely, and I admire their fortitude. I toy with the idea, but at the end of the day I am connected to so many people there that I’m not connected with anywhere else. I have connected with family across the country, kept in touch with high school and college friends, and made new friends via FB. It’s not all bad, but it is getting harder and harder to justify using.
I did just delete the FB app from my phone. That won’t stop all of my bad scrolling habits, but it will help.
Some weeks when I sit down to write, I have a well-formed idea in my head. Other times, not so much. Sometimes we’ve done something during the week that’s worth noting, or I’ve spotted something that sparks a specific topic to write about. Either way, I enjoy the process of sending the weekly missive into the world.
I’m always on the lookout for interesting things to share, and in the process have discovered a number of websites worth sharing. There’s a lot of great writing going on out there, once you get off the downtrodden FB rut.
Some of these I’ve discovered via other newsletters I subscribe to. One in particular that never fails to deliver is the collected ahp. Half the fun of writing for you is the process of finding the things to share with you. I often find myself diving into long reads on Sunday morning, and it’s a great escape from the drudgery of the daily news.
Who knows what I’ll find in the coming year?
The past week was unusually busy. Besides Halloween (only 13 trick-or-treaters!), I had coffee with a friend from high school that wasn’t actually my friend in high school - one of those connections that I can thank FB for. On Friday I attended an all-day training with a variety of community organizations represented. As I was putting my things down after arriving, an outgoing cop in full uniform introduced himself - and as he said his name I realized it was somebody I had gone to school with! Elementary through high school! How funny after all these years to find ourselves so randomly in the same room. There were other meetings and adventures, perhaps to be spoken of at a later date.
Somehow I managed to finish Inktober. I did not pressure myself to do a drawing every single day, but I did complete 31 drawings by the end of the month. It is harder than you might think to do that many daily drawings following specific (but often vague) prompts. Here is the final page of drawings that I did:
Now that this is over and after I’ve rested a few days, I’ll be diving into the nature journaling class more fully. I’m excited to continue working on improving my drawing skills. If I can do it, you can too!
Work is going to get weird for the next couple of months, as I will be displaced during a big carpeting/construction project. I’ll frequently be working from different libraries, which is a good thing! I love to get out and visit different locations, but it’s going to be a lot of inconsistency. To help with the inevitable exhaustion and mushy brain, today’s question (below) asks for a few suggestions to help me make sure I’ve got some quick go-to topics for writing. What do YOU want?
One more cool photo before I go. Michael called me out to the garage to capture some magnetized dust. He’s been sanding the box of his next guitar pedal to prepare it for polishing, and this happened…
Nifty!
Have a wonderful week, and don’t forget to vote if you’re in the U.S.
~Anne
Tidbits
I’d forgotten about this comic!
Is it possible to be happy alone with yourself?
Amazing fungus and slime mold pictures by Alison Pollack (Instagram)
Making: resting for a few days, though I did make a little collage the other night
Recently eaten: food, and lots of it.
Reading: On to two new books this week! I could not get into Year of the Monkey, so sent it on to the next person waiting in line. Started The Calculating Stars and In Praise of Walking: The new science of how we walk and why it’s good for us.
Videos of the Week
Some mood music. Nothing to watch, just sit back and enjoy the tunes…
Question of the Week
If you feel like answering the question (or to just say hello), hit reply to this email. Answers will be shared next week - always anonymous.
The next two months are going to be crazy-busy for everyone - what would you like me to write about to help take your mind off things for a few minutes each week? Be as specific or vague as you like…
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Last week I asked about scary books and movies.
Movie wise, and I’m not sure why beyond the fact I believe in time travel- but Event Horizon does it for me. Also, coming from my background ’The Passion’ is strange and I always (simultaneously) love me some ‘The last temptation of christ’ which also has an absolutely fantastic album by Peter Gabriel called ‘Passion’. Also now we have a thing called ‘Passion Sources’ which may just be better. Anyway, R.E.I. currently has a neat podcast as well [Camp Monsters].
Two movies that are scary in totally different ways - Cookers (paranoid meth heads) and Threads (nuclear war aftermath).
Have I already mentioned Green Room to you? For about a second I wanted to type "Green Book" but that's another kind of frightening. The most frightening book I've read was likely something about the Soviet Gulags.
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