august in review

Hey! You’re Here. Thank you!

We made it, friends. We made it to the -ber months. I know not everyone feels this way (hi

Traci Thomas

), but to me, moving into September feels like coming home.

Look out, I’m gonna say it…. THERE IS A CHILL IN THE AIR!! It’s crisp, people. It really is crisp. I live in a college town and all the students are back and at the bookshop everyone is getting new books and notebooks and good things feel possible.

To me, this is the real new year. We’re here, we’re trying our best, and dammit we are going to be read books and learn new things and be cozy.

Before all this coziness gets truly out of a hand, though, here’s a little recap of the best of August.

AUGUST THINGS

favorite read:

Colored Television by Danzy Senna // This is a perfect end of summer read. One thing I love is when writers write about writers, and here Danzy Senna’s protagonist is a failing novelist desperately trying to “sell out” in Hollywood. I was gripped from beginning to end and was sad every time I had to put it down. It’s entertainment with a kick. You’ll be left with questions and opinions and hot takes. No spoilers but there are some American Girl Doll scenes that get it right.

one bright glimmer:

what is a glimmer?

We went to the fair! We ate wood fire pizza made in the back of a van by lesbians from Vermont. We saw this incredible motorcycle show that I can’t even really describe to you in a way that will ever make sense. We met a one day old lamb. Ten out of ten out of ten. I love the fair. I love being gay at the fair. The Demolition Derby was sold out (boo) but we’ll get ‘em next time.

books I’m looking forward to:

This is the place where I usually share a book I am especially looking forward to in the coming month, but I wrote a whole newsletter on that this month. Check it out!

biggest surprise:

We were driving home from a trip to visit family in New Jersey, and Rebecca suggested we make a detour to visit the Carson McCullers house in Nyack, New York.

I love Carson McCullers. This year I read a giant biography of her and her classic 1940 debut, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, for the first time. The more I learn about her and her work, the more I want to know. She is not done with me.

Currently her home in Nyack, where she spent the later years of her life, is under renovation and restoration, and will soon be a center for writers and musicians. It’s so moving to see her legacy get this kind of attention and care. We walked around the outside of the big stately home overlooking the river and I thought about her sitting at one of these windows smoking and banging away on her typewriter. Dunkin barked at some innocent passersby. Yaya was unimpressed. I loved it all, and especially I love Rebecca for always being up for a little literary detour.

Read Carson McCullers!

I’m still learning:

August is a tough month for me. Every August contains my sister Anna’s birthday and the anniversary of her death nineteen years ago. Grief is the one thing we all have in common, and it’s never done with us. It feels like we lose her over and over every August. I’m still learning how to live with that. And I’m still learning how to remember every good thing about her. Every good thing about the time I had with her. Anna loved sunflowers. Last week I came home to find Rebecca had placed a vase of Sunflowers on our table. Anna loved buffalo chicken wings. One of my clearest memories is her hissing in pain because the spicy buffalo sauce stung when it got under her press on nails. And I remember her smiling at me and going in for another one. So Rebecca and I sat at the table and ate spicy buffalo wings for Anna. I’m learning to tend to this work of memory. I’m learning to make room for all of it.

Wherever you are in these early September days, I hope there is some softness. Whether you are clinging to the waning summer sun or reveling in the cool mornings, I hope you get exactly what you need.

I love you.

Love,

Rosamond