March 2024 Update
February actually felt like winter, both physically and spiritually. I felt like I was hunkering down and just surviving. Nothing extreme happened, but I just barely maintained a writing habit. This month is looking pretty busy as well, but I'm going to try and keep chipping away.
Writing
I am now at the end of any previous draft material, so it is exciting but also difficult to keep pushing. One page at a time though. I also wrote a lent reflection, which I will post on here after this. Subscribe if you want to read it!
Audiobook/Music
Work on the audiobook fell to the wayside. I'll get to it eventually. I've been playing more guitar and feeling some of the old amp/gear lust I felt in high school (I used to watch the proguitarshopdemo YouTube religiously). In the end though, a good guitarist can make almost anything sound good, and my gear is more than adequate. I've been transferring some tracks to audio.com, which will be the new home for my music. I'm kind of amazed that it exists, and really grateful for an ad-free, unlimited platform to share and collaborate on.
I also entered the TinyDesk concert for the first time. Thank you to my friend for encouraging me to do it. You can watch my entry here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4jY1hLQ_sM
Podcast
I think we're coming out of hibernation. Hopefully you will hear something by the end of the month!
Reading/Listening
I read Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin and loved it. There is a great podcast in which Dr. Cornell West says that James Baldwin wants to be an honest man. He tells the painful truth with so much tenderness and passion, and the story of salvation and the struggle of faith resonated with my soul. John's (the main character's) conversion is some of the most visionary and powerful writing I have encountered.
For listening I enjoyed Son House, and also discovered Earl Hooker, who as far as I can tell is a criminally underrated blues guitarist. He has an effortless style and a great amount of restraint when playing, but the effect he achieves is really impressive. I found him because I was looking for some examples of slide playing in standard tuning, as I'd like to use the slide more.
Here's a quote from Go Tell it on the Mountain:
“Out of joy strength came, strength that was fashioned to bear sorrow: sorrow brought forth joy. Forever? This was Ezekiel's wheel, in the middle of the burning air forever — and the little wheel ran by faith, and the big wheel ran by the grace of God.
“Elisha?” he said.
“If you ask Him to bear you up,” said Elisha, as though he had read his [John's] thoughts, “He won't never let you fall.
“It was you,” he said, “wasn't it, Who prayed me through?”
“We was all praying, little brother,” said Elisa.”
First, thank you for reading! To echo a sentiment from Thomas Hardy, I greatly regret that I will never be able to meet you in person and shake your hand, but perhaps we can virtually shake hands via my newsletter, social media, or a cup of coffee sent over the wire. They are poor substitutes, but they can be a real grace in this intractable world.
Send me a kind word or a cup of coffee: