I’m fudging that number a bit, only because I needed a title, and my mind is already by-and-large a desert wasteland today.

Which is unfortunate, because there’s a poem lurking somewhere just beneath the surface, and I strongly suspect it’s gonna decide to break the skin when I don’t have easy access to paper.

I’ve been trying to read more, and am currently in the middle of (I think?) 6 books, which is not the way I prefer or am used to reading, but hey, it’s what works for me right now. I’m getting a lot of recommendations (finally) from Natalie, and also from Warren Ellis’ newsletter (you can read a sample – I can not recommend subscribing highly enough. Without this and the NYT crossword, no Sunday starts off right.) which almost weekly has something new that I’ll enjoy.

Part that I realize I’ve spent too much time glued to a TV for the past decade (no totally complaining, as I’ve witness some phenomenal story-telling), and not enough letting the printed word stimulate my imagination; part too that I want (need) to start creating again. Music, writing, whatever — I’ve been uninspired for too long and far too fucking lazy for longer.

So that’s part of this year. The other is a resurgence of discovering new music. I’m not sure how I stopped that for so long — perhaps a lingering bitterness over losing (The Show With No Name), perhaps I just wasn’t tuned into the right sources. Regardless, this has been a banner three months, in which I’ve stumbled across Wilderun, Zeal & Ardor, Astronoid, Chelsea Wolfe, Oceans of Slumber, Nilufer Yanya, Rolo Tomassi and Persefone, along with new discs by known quantities — fucking fantastic for these ears. And Natalie is introducing me to a wider range of pop and (fuck me) country, some of which I find actually sticking.

It doesn’t help that my YouTube algorithm is forever shattered at this point.

Let’s hope I can make some headway into a reread of Cat’s Cradle today, for inspiration (if not to whittle down my number of concurrent reads…).