May you be well. May you be happy.

Hello my friends! And Happy New Year.


This is a little drawing given to me by Lynda Barry at the end of a workshop she did. As you can see, it is from a time when we could go places and do things with other people. I am so grateful to have spent time with her. I hope I can do it again someday.


Lynda is, as you probably know, a cartoonist, the author of a number of books on drawing (they're also about creativity, neurology and narrative), and a MacArthur Fellow. To me, she is a writer of some of my friendliest "Friendly Books" aka books-what-are-friends, books-as-kindred-spirits, me being the kind of person who's always leaned heavily on the print transmission of love, friendship and useful info.


I hope in some way I can be that for you. This newsletter, obviously, is not a community; it takes so much more to build community than writing a weekly note—even if you do it for more than a decade. 


But I really want for you to experience some transmission of friendliness, good cheer, grounded hope and utility. Every time.


Thus next week—in the spirit of indomitable optimism—I want to talk about the ways I've completely fucked up my brain and body around eating, haha. And about all the help I've had in creating this experience of broken food, eating and hunger. And about what I've had to do to repair it all. Oh, what japes!, as my son would say.


Planner links updated.

In the 2022 Planner I included two bonus Notion worksheets, with links to the originals that you could copy and modify. Then I moved them and broke the links, durrrrr. So I give you all the new links below, with a promise not to repeat my mistake.


But maybe just make your own copies quickly anyway.


Next round of Total Reset.

How it started. Welp, I had expected to spend both last week and this gathering you together for another round of Total Reset, this time live. And I was properly EXCITED about it, because: improvements!!  


How it's going. Instead, I've got a life circumstance here that in December was five feet high and rising; now it's 85 feet high. And not really subsiding.


Those of you inclined to worry: fret not! I personally am fine, physically and otherwise. It's just that life made other plans for me this January. And now I am wow, BUSY. And: 


WE WILL HAVE CLASS AGAIN SOON.


I will let you know here as soon as I can schedule our class. In the meantime, if you have specific eating concerns I can help you with, let me know. We'll talk about them here.


Other things are...

READING

  • An Alien Light, Nancy Kress. Published in the late 80s, this is SF with exactly the amount of political commentary I like best: no misogyny; critiques of sexism, tribalism and violence; zero perfunctory wokefulness. Now you know how old I am. Recommend.

  • The substack of Freddie deBoer. A newsletter about politics, education, weightlifting, baseball, football, mental health, etc. With a book club. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. Freddie has a huge heart and is incredibly prolific; have a look.

WATCHING

  • Itaewon Class. Romance, revenge and class struggle in hipster Seoul. Recommend.

  • Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999, James Acaster, who mostly does standup except for, well, when he gets on his knees. And that can be much of a show. CLHM99 includes a surprising tale no one else can tell. Also best intro music. Recommend.

LISTENING

  • As always, I really appreciate Clementine Morrigan and Jay LeSoleil's podcast F*cking Cancelled. Like the hosts, I am mystified and kind of appalled by the prevailing idea that the phenomenon of cancel culture is beneath contempt, not even worth talking about. In particular the most recent episode with therapist Maria Paredes—content: discussions of suicide—was useful. I recommend this ep for therapists, coaches and other providers.

WRITING

FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021

  • How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Identifying 29 Wild, Edible Mushrooms, Frank Hyman

  • We Are Watching Eliza Bright, A.E. Oswirth

  • I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, Claire Vaye Watkins

  • Two Augusts in a Row in a Row, Shelley Marlow

  • The Hologram: Feminist, Peer-to-Peer Health for a Post-Pandemic Future, Cassie Thornton

  • A Pillow Book, Suzanne Buffam

  • The Past is Red, Catherynne M. Valente

  • Towar

  • Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival, Norman Ollestad

  • A Really Good Day, Ayelet Waldman

  • The Sunset Route, Carrot Quinn

  • Screaming Women nos. 1-3, or The Spinster at the End of the World, Jessa Crispin

  • Mean, Myriam Gurba

  • Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart, Carrot Quinn

  • Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger, Lisa Donovan

  • All the Murderbot Diaries books, by Martha Wells

  • F*ck the Police Means we Don't Act Like Cops to Each Other, Clementine Morrigan

  • Conflict is Not Abuse, Sarah Schulman

  • Pioneer Girl, Bich Minh Nguyen

  • Why I am not a Feminist, Jessa Crispin

  • The Way of Integrity, Martha Beck

  • Outlawed, Anna North

  • Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

  • Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir

  • Trouble is What I Do, Walter Moseley

No surprises; I've written about all these here before. But if you like space and you like humor and you like puzzles and unguessable plots and haunted houses and lesbians and swordplay and animated skeletal remains, please let me urge you again to pick up Tamsyn Muir. Just 🤯.

Max DanielsComment