Proof of Life
And other updates
Where has the time gone? How have you been?
Hey There Friends!
The last several weeks I have been busier than usual. I can’t say I haven’t missed you because I have. I like writing you. Things have been busier than usual lately, and truth is, I’m not used to managing my time like I did before the pandemic. It takes a few minutes to get ready for a video call. It takes much longer to go out in public where you have to factor in things like actual weather, and traffic or maybe even a train. Needless to say, I am slow at relearning how to function in the world.
Now, I do have some new posts ready to send your way. They’ll be coming soon.
I have holiday musings starting early, or on-time if we’re measuring time according to the displays in the stores. Did you know it’s never too early to shop for Hallow-Giving-Christmas? Do you ever wonder if Pumpkin Spice might someday get a holiday all its own? These days it seems like anything is possible. Pumpkin Spice!
To all of you who’ve been with The Knead for a while, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve placed one of these essays in a little publication dedicated to all things “Jersey Shore.” If you remember The Summer of Sol (see the excerpt below) and want your very own copy in print, you can find it now inside this second edition of Beach Badge from Eight Stone Press.
In other news, I did a poetry reading in Brooklyn recently and I expect to do another there in December. If you’re running around the area, go grab a coffee, tea or a tasty dish from the Pink Frog Cafe in Williamsburg. It is run by artists who launched their café in 2020. They would love your patronage, and I would love the space to persist. For anyone wondering, I have not yet tried writing poems about bread, but I might. I wrote one about an egg and it was a hit, but that egg is well, kind of a trouble-maker. More on that later.
Last thing that has been keeping me busy is working with my dear friend, Elizabeth Taggart. She and I have been creating a series of writing courses, Yogic journaling courses to be exact. She’s the brains, I’m the sounding board. Together it works.
There’s a three hour Getting Started workshop introducing the whole experience to anyone interested. It’s $75USD and happens this week on November 10th. There’s also a much longer five week course on Yogic Journaling, also starting soon, but that’s only open to people who take the intro course, or this Getting Started workshop I just mentioned. If you’re curious about the concept of Yogic journaling, sample the experience from this free recording. You’ll have to trade your email for the sample, but the people hosting the course will not spam you I promise.
So dear friends, you realize I have not forgotten you! I have been busy, but you’ve been on my mind. Without you I wouldn’t have had an essay ready to submit to Beach Badge. Without you a lot of things in my life wouldn’t be happening.
I’ve been busy and so have you. Keep going. Keep reinventing your life. Don’t hide in that corner of who you were. Don’t you dare hide from embracing your amazingness, even though it can be daunting. You have no idea how long it took me to get packed for that first day trip back to New York. You have no idea what it was like when the return train broke down and I had to decide between an expensive taxi ride the rest of the way or two more hours sitting on the tracks. I could not imagine sitting there, at night, with strangers. Nope.
I’ll add some bells and whistles here to keep The Knead relevant and fun. I’ll keep growing The Knead because of you, but the deal is you have to make your wishes know. So, get demanding! Think about your time and your travel. Think about what you need from me to keep us together.
Let me know in the comments if there’s anything you want in the lead up to the holidays. Let me know if it’s emotional, culinary, or anything in between.
Let me know if you know people I should talk to about the role of food in their lives, because we do this together. No writer has ever existed without their readers. No writing has persisted by staying in its little corner. Adventure is part of growth.
Love You,
Mariette
Oh, Here you go — a few emotional links — to keep you warm from the inside out.
Another one because “Hot Stuff” is what you are:
And in the slightly more disturbing area of life, something named Hero is selling more bread online than Wonder. Expect musings on this one. Wonder to Hero - a bread parable for our times? Something like that.
OK. that’s it!