Friday miscellany: Sonnets, podcasts, newsletters, etc.

This has been a short week in many ways. We didn’t get back from Florida until Monday night, and then I’ve needed to fit two kid doctor appointments and two of my own physical therapy appointments into the remaining four days. Next week I won’t be at my desk much either, though that’s work related.

Anyway, a few things from this week to check out. My Before Breakfast podcast featured a tip called “Magic is just labor, hidden well,” which takes its title from a Christmas sonnet I wrote. In an episode called “On this day” I recommend figuring out what happened on this day in the past.

I’ve been publishing an essay every weekday morning through my Substack Vanderhacks newsletter. Four of those posts are free each week and then the Thursday post is paywalled. This week’s Thursday post was on “Laura’s family packing hacks” — how we manage to travel for up to a week with carry-ons only.

I’m continuing to write a sonnet each week at the pace of two lines per day. Here’s one from a few weeks ago!

The Muse, on a Saturday I Hoped to Get Some Writing Done

A dozen dishes just from lunch alone…
I scrub the pan I washed three hours before.
I spy some socks, perched on the counter, thrown.
Two others scrunched up somewhere on the floor.

A child calls for something else to drink.
The laundry, upstairs, must be put away.
In all of this, am I supposed to think?
To catch my musings lest they float away?

I send myself a note, then wash a plate.
I write in snatches, trusting that the muse,
a woman, gentle, wants me to create,
and in these little moments won’t refuse

to help me, like the genius in the tower.
He waits in space. I grab each precious hour.