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Hey there,
We wrapped up The Great Gatsby in my English class this week, and I was reminded how even though there’s no character to root for, it’s a depressing ending, and the themes are bleak, it’s one of my all-time favorite novels because of just how good the writing is — and how good writing can carry a sad story because it conveys the timelessness of it all. Those characters in the early 1920s can be copy + pasted into 2020, I tell you (just replace “old sport” with something ...more current. I’ve got no examples, which shows how hip I am).
Also, we’ve been having some WEIRD weather here in central Texas! Highs in the mid-70s all week, muggy as heck... It feels like a solarium at an indoor water park. Nothing like mid-January. I hear weather’s weird in a number of spots in the world right now. How about where you are?
5 Quick Things ☕️
1. I made a BIG announcement I’ve been sitting on since September. It feels so good to finally let you know! And I’ll share more in-depth throughout 2020 about how I feel about all this.
2. Andrea lists 10 artists she loves following on Instagram — now this makes the app redeemable to me. I love finding good artists!
3. In this weeks’ The Good List episode, I share an unassuming Twitter account all about micro-storytelling — and why I love it so much. (p.s. New episodes officially drop on Thursdays, so make sure you subscribe!)
4. The New York Public Library’s shared their most check-out books of all time (it took me a million guesses to name number one — I ended up naming almost all of 2 through 10 — and then my teen daughter called it!).
5. Wasn’t Tom Hanks’ Cecil B. DeMille Award acceptance speech just a delight? “Show up on time” and “You’re a dope if you don’t steal from everybody you work with” is just the best advice ever.
Quotable 💬
“If every event which occurred could be given a name, there would be no need for stories.”
―John Berger
Time Machine ⏰
Three years ago (has it really been that long?), I wrote about making friends and partial solutions.
Have a great week!
xo, Tsh
p.s. On my current reading wish list: this, this, and this. Read ‘em yet? And I’m super excited for the release of this one.
5 Quick Things, #123 🥂
Tsh, The Immoveable Feast is wonderful. I'm converted to Catholicism as an adult and a year or so ago gave it to friend who has been looking into the Catholic faith. Another great adult conversion story is Jennifer Fulwiler's "Something Other Than God" and her follow up book "One Beautiful Dream."