Happy Birthday
To me and this newsletter
Labor Day is an odd holiday to associate with birthdays. I have nothing against it, but as a kid, I had no idea what Labor Day meant, only that it was near my birthday and I usually got a long weekend. This is still true, only that I now understand the importance or organized labor, and why I get a long weekend around my birthday.
There aren’t many books dedicated to Labor Day, I think because it’s a holiday untethered from any religious tradition and reliant upon history. Many countries do have a Labor Day, but it’s usually May 1st, not the first Monday in September.1 Labor Day in each country has its own specific history, therefore there’s less universality to it than say, Easter or Halloween or Christmas. I don’t know, this is just my own observation. The only book I know that incorporates Labor Day is the book by Joyce Maynard aptly named Labor Day. It was turned into a movie with Kate Winslet a few years ago. Could I have read this book and reviewed it in time for the long weekend? Sure, but there’s always next year. I’m still planning on being around then.
I mention this because yes, this week has both my and my newsletter’s birthdays. I started this newsletter one year ago (on September 5th, technically) mainly because I thought it was neat and easy to remember. Besides, Virgos are a highly underrated sign. We’re often maligned as being overly nit-picky and neurotic, but really, we’re the best. Beyoncé is a Virgo, after all. Who can argue with that? (She’s also my birthday twin so therefore she and I are immune from any and all Virgo criticism thankyousomuch.)
As my newsletter’s first and my *mumbles* -nth trip around the Sun comes to a conclusion, here’s a quick look back at what I enjoyed this year on Substack, what I’d like to do for next year, and what I’d change.
What I liked
Substack’s flexibility. The platform is easy to manage, and doesn’t require much tech or blogging skills. I can import text and photos relatively easily, and there’s no extensive maintenance to keep this thing running. That’s rather helpful, since it’s just me running this whole showboat.
My own commitment. Early on, I committed writing two posts a week, and while I (basically) fulfilled that goal, I’m happy able to continue producing writing I like without killing myself over it.
My writing. I wrote a number of pieces this past year that I was really proud of and enjoyed. Here’s a sampling:
It is true that the more you write, the better you get, so now that I’ve settled into a groove here, I’m hoping to continue producing high quality writing with, as always, a dash of chaos.
You all, my lovely little Chaotic Reader friends. When I started this newsletter a year ago, after hemming and hawing for months about it, I wasn’t sure there’d be anyone who’d want to read my words. Now, there’s over 160 of you from 28 states and 19 countries. As much as social media conditions us to think anything less than 10,000 likes and followers is meaningless, that’s a huge number when you think about my own personal reach as an individual. Thank you for being here, and I hope you’ll continue to stick around and enjoy the ride.
What I’d like to do
Clean up the landing page. I’ve been meaning to do this for months. Remember what I just said about Substack being an easy platform to navigate? I literally have no reason to not do this.
Turn on paid subscriptions. At some point, this isn’t happening any time soon, especially now that I’m only down to one post a week. I do find value in writing, and pay others for their words, and would hope for the same value in return. I’m not sure in what context I’d do this, but it’s at the back of my mind as a long term goal. I’m not a ‘well-known’ writer, so I’m conscious of the legitimacy and value I bring to this little corner of the Internet, but I also don’t want to be part of devaluing writers’ work and talents. Writing is hard, and it is a skill, despite what the media and society at large would like you to think.
Query my novel. This isn’t Substack related, but writing related. It’s been on my mind for too long, and I’m working really hard on letting my perfectionist tendencies go. I’m working through another big edit right now, and then after that, I need to let her out into the world. Otherwise, I’ll keep line editing forever.
What I’d like to change
Bring back Artist Interviews! This is entirely my own fault, and I’d like to get back into doing these. I have a transcript from May I still need to edit, when I was still under the absolute delusion that starting full time work again wouldn’t throw off my routine. Of course it did. Who am I kidding. The bigger issue is that it will never take me as long to edit these transcripts as I’m afraid it will. So might as well bite the bullet/jump the gun/insert metaphor here and get on it.
My scheduling. I’m not sure how quite yet, but currently, I’m deciding on a post topic usually the week of. It’s not the worst way to run a newsletter, but it’s not the best. I have a whole list of ideas saved up in a Word doc, so I’m not at a loss for ideas.
There you have it, a little retrospective for you as we head into Year 2 of The Chaotic Reader. Now, the chaos updates of the week.
No New Books™️ Challenge
Please clap, I went into a bookstore this weekend and though I touched many books I DID NOT BUY ANY.2 This is what we call growth. Only 36 more days until I catch my record.
Streak to Beat: 50 days (January 1st - February 19th)
Last streak: 12 days (June 28th - July 8th)
Current streak: 14 days (August 20th - Present)
Mug Moment of the Week
I need to start a Hall of Shame here, because one of my mugs BETRAYED ME last week. How does a mug deliver such a betrayal? you might ask. By not holding its sealant and immediately leaking boiling hot water all over my desk. Thankfully, no electronics, books or fancy math rocks were harmed in the makings of this catastrophe.
Instead, I shall give you this, a lovely guest mug courtesy of Fancy That, a high tea place in Walpole, MA.
I went with a few lady friends for my birthday, and what you don’t see here is the tiara the tea folks gave me. You don’t see it because I was wearing it.
Anyways, Fancy That is a delightful smorgasbord of English tea culture, hot pink, and Marie Antoinette coquettish style. It was also reasonably priced, not that far from my house, and very, very tasty. 10/10 aesthetics, and you can buy tea by the ounce and have it shipped.
I do find it useful to mark years, whether they be calendar, birth years, whatever the case. So I’m off to go do some journaling on what I did this past year, and what I want to do in the upcoming year. Always helps that my birthday is also synonymous with Back-to-School, so sharpen those pencils and get your notebooks ready, another year of The Chaotic Reader is on the way.
https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/common/labor-day#:~:text=Labor%20Day%20%2F%20May%20Day%202025&text=Labor%20Day%20is%20also%20known,day%20to%20defend%20workers'%20rights.
I did take a picture of a book I thought was interesting but I did not buy it. Again, #growth.
cheers to another year around the sun for you AND the chaotic reader inside you (and on this page). Substack wouldn't be the same without you :)
Happy Birthday!! And to our Substack!