5 Quick Things #380 🍁

homemade ice cream, dumbphones (again), a 90s band, & feeling old

Oct 03, 2025

Hi there,

I can’t begin to tell you thrilled I am to say this… I’ve officially submitted the manuscript for my next book! It’s been a long labor of love, something I’ve worked on for all of 2025, but most especially in September for the last six miles of this marathon. It’s all I’ve done the past four weeks—except for teaching my class and (kinda) feeding my family—and so far, I haven’t yet remembered what it’s like to not have a book to write. I still feel that residual panic of “why am I just sitting here; I’ve got a major deadline in front of me!”

I know it’s good to finally have this monkey off my back when I’m actually craving a day of folding laundry, mopping the floors, and organizing a closet. What am I doing this weekend? …I don’t know yet, but I know it’s not writing a book.

All this said: on our walk last night, I told Kyle this book feels different from all the others I’ve written at this stage, in that I STILL CARE ABOUT IT. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve cared about my other books. Of course. But by this point I was happy to just throw the manuscript into my editor’s inbox, relieved to think about something else for a few months (before the first round of edits). This time, I’m still thinking of things I’d say, another chapter I may need to add, and how to best present to you guys this book when the time comes to pre-order. This is, by far, the book I’m proudest of yet.

*Autumn Sunset* (19th century), by John Constable #

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. This happens every time I take an extended break from the internet (like during the summer or the holidays), and it’s happened again, now that I’m wading back into the online waters after a month of living in my writing cave: The internet is so, so loud. Especially on social media (and I include Substack’s Notes feature in this category)—it’s basically everyone screaming “Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!” Even with good, ennobling things. Sigh… It all just makes me want to go on a hike in the woods near a brook and look at leaves.
2. I bought myself a little treat to celebrate my book manuscript submission. Any favorite recipes out there, especially if they lean keto and/or carnivore? I’m all ears.
3. I know, I know, another story of someone living life just fine without a smartphone—but I really do find them intriguing and encouraging, including this one about
Peter Kwasniewski
with
Edward Pentin
: “It crystallizes, intensifies, magnifies, and accelerates everything that is wrong with the internet. From that point of view, a world with internet but without smartphones would already be significantly better for human beings.”
4. My fifteen-year-old son is currently in a deep-dive obsession with the band—wait for it… Green Day. Thank you for your prayers during this difficult time.
5. And finally, I found this conversation about The Imitation of Christ between two of my favorite “internet priests,” Fr. Gregory Pine and Fr. Mike Schmitz, absolutely delightful.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

Persuasion, by Jane Austen (for book club—IYKYK)

Quotable 💬

“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.”

- Nathaniel Hawthorne

When you consider your age (in your own mind), how old do you picture yourself? 👵

I loved this question from a reader submission, because I think about this often. I’m at least 10-12 years younger in my head, and I only even think about how old I am when I either see a photo of myself and wonder when I started looking like a forty-something, or when it’s super early in the morning or super late at night and the bathroom mirror screams in horror. 😱

Hello, I’m Tsh Oxenreider, and I’m about 34 years old. (Don’t worry about the fact that my oldest is almost 21.)