How are you doing? How are you feeling? Do you have any great summer plans?
In brief, I’m helping my daughter plan and pull together her wedding, calling my elected representatives weekly, and attending a protest once a month. Next one, No Kings, is scheduled for the day of Trump’s Soviet-style birthday parade–June 14th. My roses are blooming, the hellebores have come and gone, I’m waiting for more butterflies. I’m really truly learning Spanish, bit by bit, and for the most part getting done what needs doing in time.
In truth, and less briefly, I feel a little rusty writing here. So much of what I think about now is either secret until September (wedding date), done better by others (Heather Cox Richardson), or quiet and personal about being, well, a person. But I’m slowly reinhabiting my typing fingers, so you can perhaps bear with me. If there’s anything you might be interested in reading, please let me know.
And I’ll ask again, how are you? How is your morning, if it’s morning there? What are you finding to be important right now?
Have a wonderful weekend.
29 Responses
Good morning, Lisa.
I understand that uncertain rusty feeling. What to write about as the world falls apart, and yet continues to pump and hum? I feel it too.
I am wondering, however, about your novel. You’ve mentioned it over the years but I have lost track. Would love an update / preview / excerpt.
All the best!
Pump and hum. What a wonderful turn of phrase. My novel(s), ah yes. I should follow up on that. I will. Thanks for asking.
I’d love to have superficial posts and conversations about clothing, what’re women our age buying, doing to be not invisible or invisible, feelings about aging – you know the drill. It seems most of us could use a mental break and something fun. XO
I do know the drill, and the joy of finding someone still writing about the part of life that is more recreational. I’ll make sure not to use every moment on the page on The Miserable Stuff.
I agree with KSL- love to read your blogs on clothes especially!
OK. Ideas are bubbling…
Thank you for telling us about No Kings. I’ve been feeling helpless a lot lately, and it does help to see others speaking truth to power.
Had a slow start today too — it’s one of those days where nothing I do seems to go right. It always cheers me up to read your posts, though, and I agree with everyone else that we need little bright things to distract us in these troubling times (clothes, novels, nature photos, fun festive/cowboy events :) ). And go you for learning Spanish! I’m very rusty with that and have been meaning to find a course online. Are there any you would recommend?
Have a lovely weekend, everyone. ❤
I’m so sorry you’ve been feeling powerless:(. I find protesting does help – surrounded by like-minded people, listening to long-time activist leaders.
My Spanish course is in our local community center, and I also do Duolingo. It’s really helping to do both.
Little bright things it is:)
Hello from Ireland. I’m with the ladies above. A mental break is badly needed and I have always enjoyed your posts on clothes, accessories, and style generally for us older women who love clothes and don’t want to be invisible .
Hello to Ireland! I am happy to know that I can be of service!
I am also struggling to find things to write about but I, like other commenters have said, do enjoy some distractions, so please share. I live in a large city so I’m sure there will be a No Kings protest here too. We had a great turnout on April 5th so I hope to see at least as many people out on June 14.
Distractions ahoy. With the occasional serious moment, I cannot help myself. I hope you get a huge crowd on 6/14. It’s so great when the photos show up in the papers and we can see ourselves across the country standing together.
I have followed you for years and enjoy reading whatever you have to write!! Please continue!
Thank you so much <3
Glad to see you in my inbox again, on any topic. Takes a while to get back into a routine after a well-deserved break, plus history’s been happening in hyperdrive.
Had a lovely time at a sheep and wool festival with younger son and daughter-in-law today. And tomorrow I’m heading down to see older son and help close up his old apartment — he just moved to his new home this past Thursday.
Yes to whichever version of resistance I’m able to manage, to include savoring happiness (what is WITH the glee at making people miserable???). Meetings, phone calls, signing in on bills. Love to see all the efforts to make participating feasible for people, like virtual protests for the homebound, etc.
Hope your daughter’s wedding preparations are going happily and smoothly. So looking forward to seeing more of whatever you’re able to share there.
Hyperdrive is right. A sheep and wool festival! That is not something I’ve ever seen, or even knew existed, although it makes sense now you say it. Here’s to our children, their partners, our acts of resistance, and also truly doing our best not to make ourselves or others miserable. Thanks a million for being here.
I too plan to protest in my city (Kansas City) June 14th. It will be the first time I have ever participated in a protest!
Go you! I have found them fun and encouraging! The more the merrier!
Thank you for asking, have been moving along, helpless and unable to concentrate, tasking at any and all domestic chores involving CONTROL.
Ten closets, emptied, sorted, boxed, reboxed, scrupulously replaced, controlled.
Laundry that didn’t even need laundering, folded, put away and controlled.
Garden beds, weeded, pruned, accumulated leaves and clippings, raked, bagged, set out for pickup, controlled.
But it wasn’t until the Pope vote that I could obsess myself out of my mind. An Art History major is supposed to be fluent in Michelangelo’s Sistine walls and ceiling – but these years later, I wasn’t, panic – hurrah, something to control again! Went to a Sistine source, overjoyed to see the familiar words spandrels, pendentives, prophets and sibyls, central stories, Bramante, Julius, Buonarotti again! As I said, thank you for asking [though I’m sure this is TMI, see you on the other side of my second Sistine mastery]. xo
https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/cappella-sistina/volta.html
Flo, I love this. It makes total sense that we would want to organize and rationalize our own domains, faced with this chaotic unknown. May we all refresh our personal Sistine Chapels.
Happy Mother’s Day to you and your readers! I agree with earlier comments about some lighter topics to occasionally distract us from the insanity in our world. I love your content and your beautiful writing style.
I would also like an update on your novel. I self published a book nearly 3 years ago and now after completing my goal, I continue to work on getting the book in front of as many readers as possible. Self publishing has challenges but it gave me complete creative control. Writing a book (even a short one) is a long and winding road and I wish you the best of luck.
Congratulations on publishing your book! I will tell the story of where I am with the writing of fiction. And thank you for your very kind words. Much appreciated.
Hello Lisa,
I very much enjoy your writing. I have to agree with others that a mental break or distraction from the political news is very needed. We certainly get more than our fill, if we choose, from other outlets. Looking forward to all the wedding details. :)
Thank you. So, mental breaks, but from the perspective of someone who is also doing the best she can to keep up some kind of fight. The wedding details will follow whenever they can be released;)
In my opinion: The leadership chaos is intentional. Chaos throws everybody/everything off kilter giving leadership (attempted King?) greater control.
Holding steady and fighting back/protesting is key.
The courts are having some success.
EM is returning to his auto business because it is tanking.
Europe is forming stronger military to protect borders knowing they can not rely exclusively on US.
Wall Street is saying they need to know what kind of a table they are sitting at, round? or square? Once they know, they can manage well. The uncertainty (chaos) is disruptive and Wall Street has made this clear.
I hope you keep writing Lisa. The exchange is always appreciated. Thank you.
I agree with every single point you make. And I am gathering my qi to keep going, as we all do, right? I appreciate the exchange very much.
My especial interests at this time: how to build community, how to be Of Use, how to help people who are grieving (and/or depressed) and how to not be angry with them when they bite you.
It is *weird* living a relatively normal life while watching some of the national foundations get removed via bulldozer and not really knowing which bits of government/society/commerce will fall down and how disastrously and how soon and whether those breaches will be propped up by someone/something or repaired before they do *too* much damage? So I have a hard time reading Cheerful Things That Don’t Touch On That unless I know the author knows about this stuff, but you Definitely Do and have solidly demonstrated that, so: colors! shoes! balance of outfits! gardens!
All that to say: this is a weird moment. I’d welcome anything you write.
Did you get the pink silk bigshirt and pants [in a smaller size] after all? Your post was my first introduction to “barrel pants,” and I was in shock. [I kept wanting to release that knee dart so they’d hang straight.] Now they’re everywhere. Consider deconstructing the barrel pant phenomenon for us, still mystified.
Always happy to read about your garden. As always, thanks for still keeping at your blog.
Me, I’m coping by spending gobs of money at Wild Birds Unlimited. My backyard friends are very happy. Me too.