In like a Lion, in like a Lamb

Weekly Roundup #17

Mar 01, 2024

I really, really need to learn to keep my mouth shut. Why am I trying to impose order on the chaos, and instead let it take me where it will? Who knows, honestly. I had a plan of what I was going to write this week, in fact, I even stated it in my last weekly roundup! I should have known then I was doomed to failure - never announce anything, for now I have egg on my face.

If I’m being honest, though, this is the beauty of Substack. It’s flexible enough that I can maneuver around my schedule, and still make posts. I’m just holding myself to my own impossibly high standards, which is why you’re getting different posts than what I had planned. Or maybe this is some cosmic lesson meant to get me to finally understand that I need to go with the flow.

In short, I’ll have my posts on why Italian women seem so miserable and my Artist Interview next week. I had big plans to get lots of writing and transcribing done last weekend, but then I graded and then I dogsat for a friend and then I had brunch with another friend then I visited yet another friend who’s recovering from surgery and we watched The Fellowship of the Ring1 and then I had yet to plan for any of my classes and then I stayed up late reading and the wheels fell off. All this to say: despite my orderly exterior, I am still a chaotic mess. Never let the facade fool you.

*This is Bagel. He is perfect and asks you to forgive me for denying you book content this week. He’s trying his best and so am I.*

Ahead, what got me through the chaotic miasma of the end of February. As

Emma Gannon

put it best: February was February-ing and I am very glad it’s over.

What I’m reading:

To finish off the Short Books Short Month phenomenon, I’m reading Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. Dictee was first published in 1982, and defies genre. It’s often considered a novel, but includes poetry, visual images, text in English, French and Korean, translations, and other stories.

I don’t remember when I first read about Theresa Hak Kyung Cha - I want to say it was in The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson, but I could be making that up. It’d make sense as The Argonauts is another genre-bending book. But I saw Cha’s name coming up frequently in the non-fiction I was reading, and decided I finally needed to get my hands on what’s considered her magnum opus.

Cha was murdered in 1982 - the year Dictee came out. She was a prolific artist, performer and director, and her archive is at UC Berkeley.2 I’m enjoying the book so far, and specifically am intrigued by each of the nine sections devoted to the Greek muses.

Great for: multi-linguists, interdisciplinary artists
Bad for: once again, people who don’t speak French

What I’m writing:

That short story about the cat and the vampire and the cat that is maybe a vampire. I got sidetracked with some papers, but I’m back and devoting myself to getting this sucker done.

Great for: my contract to myself
Bad for: my overdue papers

What I’m listening to:

I’m always on the hunt for a good instrumental album. I can’t listen to songs with words when writing. Back in 2022, I read a profile of artist Joy Labinjo in Dua Lipa’s Service95 newsletter. She mentioned listening to ‘Prickly Pear’ by the Portico Quartet while she painted, and while I immediately listened to *that* song, I didn’t listen to the whole album. That was my mistake, because this album is fantastic and full of what I can only call “fun sounds.” It’s jazz but not, instrumental but not, and makes me think of being knee-deep in the ocean. The song ‘Monsoon’ is a new favorite.

Great for: jazz and instrumental enthusiasts
Bad for: people who need words in their music

No New Books™️ Challenge:

I can finally reveal what books I bought that broke my streak! They have been gifted to their intended recipient, my dear friend Emily, who is recovering from surgery.3

A few weeks ago, Emily mentioned she hadn’t seen the movie Practical Magic before, and had just watched it and really enjoyed the spookiness of it all.4 I mentioned it was based on a book (Practical Magic) and that author Alice Hoffman had spoken at my MFA program. The history behind Practical Magic and how its sequels came to be is interesting, and it’s a good story for another day. But! I own all four books and Emily asked if I could borrow them. I thought, let’s do one better.

For you see, Emily just donated a kidney. Because she is an absolute angel of a human being, she became a living donor. Her surgery happened on Valentine’s Day, and both she and her recipient are doing well. If there was any reason to break my No New Books™️ Ban, it was to make sure a dear childhood friend had enough entertainment in her recovery.5

I visited last Sunday, and we watched The Fellowship of the Ring, and I gave her the bookish presents (as well as some punny kidney ones because I could not resist.) Because there had to be *some* element of chaos in this gesture of goodwill, though I bought all four books at the same time, they shipped in two separate packages and the last book only arrived the day after I saw Emily. Of course.

The streak to beat is still 50 days, and of course I’ll keep you posted on how I fare. I know there will be another failure in March,6 so stay tuned for those scintillating details.

Streak to Beat: 50 days (January 1st - February 19th)
Current Streak: 2 days (February 27th - Present)7

Mug Moment of the Week:

I had a ~time~ tutoring on Thursday, so when I got home, I made myself tea so I didn’t rip a hole in the space time continuum.

Tea was the Yogi calming tea, for obvious reasons. The mug has a lovely little sloth on it, and a reminder to keep things simple. I think I got the mug at TJMaxx? I honestly don’t remember. But I was hoping the lovely little sloth would remind me to take a deep breath and not punch anybody.

Great for: my agitated mental state
Bad for: micro-managers everywhere

Rabbit, rabbit everyone, and I hope your March is in like a lamb, not a lion. I’m not into animal harbingers of weather, but I remember this one from elementary school: the first day of March portends how the rest of the month will go. If it’s a nice day, it comes in like a lamb, if it’s a blustery day, it comes in like a lion. The irony is that with my lion’s mane, every day is in like a lion. Rawr indeed.

The Chaotic Reader

Discussion about this post