June 2025 Update
O, call not me to justify the wrong
That thy unkindness lays upon my heart
— Shakespeare, Sonnet 139
One of the hardest things a person can do is the same mundane task every day. It is not hard because the act of it is difficult, but because it must be done every day, and because there is no break from it. Art is certainly accomplished this way. Athletic training is accomplished this way. Good deeds that change the world are accomplished this way. Even harder, consider a task that no one else wants to do because it brings no glory, like the tasks that are usually asked of slaves, or parents. Anyway, it is summer. Not sure what I would do without Shakespeare.
Writing
Have been plugging away. Am closing in on a readeable-for-other-people manuscript of book 2/3/endofseries. Have also been querying with a couple encouraging rejections. Grit is all I have left at this point, even though I do enjoy the process when I actually sit down to do it.
Music
Have been playing but not producing much. I mean I did write a song. I've got to make a habit to record more often when I am inspired, and more importantly when I am not.
Reading
Revived my ambition to read Death's End or 死神永生 as it is called in Chinese, the third book in the Three Body Problem series by Liu Cixin. I read a page a day and jot down at least five characters I don't know, then use Pleco to make flashcards and acquire vocab this way. I have to say that this feels a lot more effective than using a random app or flashcard deck. I did also listen to the English version some, just so I know what's going on a little bit. My goal is to be able to get my reading level high enough to not need the translation as much to just enjoy the story.
In English I have been reading Orlando by Virginia Woolf. Gotta love Virginia, she never lets me down. Orlando is perhaps her weirdest book, about a time traveling gender changing noble dude girl who likes writing. I believe she wrote it after To The Lighthouse, and if I remember correctly from her diaries it was a way for her to experiment and have fun after the strain of producing her vision so meticulously in Lighthouse. And I have to say that it is a wild ride, and very fun to see such a titan of an author just enjoying herself and having a good time in between her masterpieces.
As always, it's almost impossible to describe her books in a marketable way, because Virginia is all about the execution. Her imagination is so incredibly vivid and true to the weirdness and terror and ecstasy of existence that it's like trying to answer the query: so what is it like to be you? in a way that actually satisfies the hidden depths lurking over the abyss of that question mark. Here is a little excerpt about the rollercoaster of writing that I enjoyed:
“He soon perceived, however, that the battles which Sir Miles and the rest had waged against armed knights to win a kingdom, were not half so arduous as this which he now undertook to win immortality against the English language. Anyone moderately familiar with the rigours of composition will not need to be told the story in detail; how he wrote and it seemed good; read and it seemed vile; corrected and tore up; cut out; put in; was in ecstasy; in despair; had his good nights and bad mornings; snatched at ideas and lost them; saw his book plain before him and it vanished; acted his people's parts as he ate; mouthed them as he walked; now cried; now laughed; vacillated between this style and that; now preferred the heroic and pompous; next the plain and simple; now the vales of Tempe; then the fields of Kent or Cornwall; and could not decide whether he was the divinest genius or the greatest fool in the world.”
Honorable mentions also go to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl on my son's Yoto Player. The Charlie narrator is particularly inspiring, and as amazing as Gene Wilder is, I still like the book better, especially the full Oompa Loompa rhyme about Mike Teavee.
Listening
Still listening to Twenty One Pilots, getting hyped for their new album. Have been listening to Clancy but feeling the urge to get back into Trench. An honorable mention also goes to Beethoven. We have an album on my wife's old ipod touch that we play for the kids at bedtime and my goodness, I love Beethoven. According to my wife it is this CD which she got at Target back in the day. Moonlight Sonata, Fur Elise, and Ode to Joy are of course, beloved classics, but this Piano Trio in B Flat is just so gorgeous and dynamic. So many times Beethoven has kept my soul afloat waiting for my kids to fall asleep. Put on some headphones and let the song tell the story. I recommend giving it your full attention.
Thank you for reading! I greatly regret that I will most likely never be able to meet you in person and shake your hand, but perhaps we can virtually shake hands via my newsletter, social media, or a cup of coffee sent over the wire. They are poor substitutes, but they can be a real grace in this intractable world.
Send me a kind word or a cup of coffee: