Hi!
Four weeks into this newsletter thing – getting tired yet?
I turned 27 on Tuesday and celebrated in the best way possible – with pizza, bagels and a 17 mile walk (Anne knows me well – click here for the graffiti we saw). Lucali pizza was every bit the religious experience I’d been promised, and so it was only natural for us to devour it on the steps of a Brooklyn church. Some things just can’t wait to be brought home.
Our lives are getting back to “normal” in Brooklyn. Everyone is out and about and clearly warming to the idea of being social – as Julia Marcus put it in The Atlantic, “coronavirus fatigue is real.” The West Village on Saturday afternoon looked like it has in any other year and a lot of people weren’t wearing masks at all. That’s probably not the correct response right now but there’s a definite spirit in the air, and I don’t think it can be restrained through the summer. I got news last week that I’ll be working from home through December (cue the gasps!) but at the pace things are going, I can’t imagine working from home next fall looking anything like it does right now. It feels like it did when my parents let me watch my first PG-13 movie. Once the seal is broken, it’s hard to justify going back to the old rules. For those outside the cities, who have an easier time staying indoors, it’s probably harder to imagine, but here in Brooklyn there is a collective deep breath being taken.
Anne and I are also thinking about getting a dog, and we’re finding, much to our dismay, that we’re not the only ones with that idea. Adopting a dog has probably never been harder, particularly if you’re only looking for cute, fluffy puppies. That had me thinking about supply and demand during corona, and all the weird stuff that is suddenly in low supply. Flour. Puzzles. Open space on hiking trails. It’s funny to me now that we thought it would be so easy to adopt a fluffy golden retriever at exactly the moment when everyone else, cooped up as we are, was thinking the same thing.
I’m working on a series of short stories about a magician, and published the first installment this morning. I also experimented with posting a sort of stream-of-consciousness/free write about cheeseburgers. I read a couple of books, some of which were better than others, and have updated my Research Bible with some wisdom from a great book by Haruki Murakami. Remember – you can always find 20-30 minutes in your day to sit down with a book.
Stay positive out there and thanks for reading!
– Emmett
Recent Posts:
Blood Magic Part 1: Origins – Would you believe me if I said I was a real magician?
Burger – Free Write – 3,000 word free write on burgers. Raw & unedited
Research Bible: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami – A beautiful meditation on running, writing and life
What I’m Reading:
When a 20-Year-Old Returns Home – Todd Purdam, The Atlantic
What I’m Listening To:
John Dudley: The beauty in archery, the love of practice, and a model system for life – The Peter Attia Drive
Sam’s Town – The Killers