I may be taking a break from blogging over the next week or so with some travel. So if you don’t see any posts, that’s why.
Since I’m listening to Beethoven, reading Anna Karenina, and writing 2 lines in a sonnet every day, being on the road does require some adjustments to those daily habits. I decided to get a day or two ahead on listening and writing just so I have a buffer. And since I didn’t want to bring Anna Karenina with me (it’s a big book) I decided to just read ahead the number of chapters for the days I’d be gone. I’m only about 200 pages from the end now, and Anna is currently very happy, and (obviously, given the famous plot) that doesn’t last so a lot needs to happen as Tolstoy is ending this thing.
Over at Before Breakfast, I interviewed Henley Vazquez about travel. She made me feel better by noting that she, like everyone, just wants any given plane flight to be over quickly. And she doesn’t sleep well on planes. Fora is a fascinating business concept (gig economy for travel agents) so I’m enjoying seeing how it’s grown. In the shorter episodes I noted that “There will always be emails,” and that you can “Wait 5 before you take 5.” Breaks are very good things, but it’s best to take them intentionally when you can.
Over at Vanderhacks (my Substack newsletter) I wrote about how it’s wise to “Schedule time for the next steps.” A meeting isn’t over when it ends. There’s usually some follow-up that needs to happen, and if you don’t build in time for that, then the meeting won’t be as effective as it should be. Behind the paywall I wrote about “How not to forget about your little to-dos,” and about “The mechanics of having it all.”
Thanks for supporting me and my work! And here’s another Golden Hours sonnet – I’m doing a series of them, so this is Golden Hours 2.
Golden Hours 2
All day the rain has fallen, water pours
along the creek bed, rising up the sides
creating chocolate ribbons. Here, indoors,
we watch the weather, as the sunshine bides
its time, awaiting evening and the lull
in all this dampness. Suddenly, a hint
of wind, and heat, the clouds, so gray, so full,
turn thinner, part, up in the sky a tint
of light — it spreads, and in this golden sheen,
the water drops, like diamonds, start to glow.
What once was hidden lets itself be seen.
An hour of extravagance, this show,
that played before the hills, which does not care
who cares to watch — who breathes this summer air.