A gentle close to the week
Including 8 things that made life brighter. / Issue 1,519
Oh, hi friends!
I had the perfect, pithy little closer for the week.
It was a phrase or lesson that summed up where we are, and where we’re going.
And I forgot it!
But maybe, since it wasn’t caught in the sieve of my brain, it wasn’t perfect.
Maybe it was just OK.
I used to scramble to take notes — conversations, recommendations, idea scraps.
It’s smart to be a hunter and gatherer. There is plenty out there to make a feast.
But maybe it’s also smart to hold ideas with loose hands. To trust that you’ll find the right words when necessary. And to not look backwards at what might have been perfect, but to peer into the future at what might be imperfect and true.
That’s one way to close the week: full of trust in our ability to create, again and again, without end.
8 Things That Made Life Brighter & Better This Week
“The only thing I ever think about when figuring out what’s next is to only make things that I myself would watch,” says Fey, “and that can be many different things.”
I haven’t seen her new show The Four Seasons yet, but as a longtime fan, I so enjoyed this profile of Tina Fey. Making work we want to see in the world — a very good starting point.
Um, did you know the Notes app on the iPhone can scan documents and turn them into PDFs? How to do it: Create a new note, click the paper clip icon, then choose Scan Document. Take a photo of your document and yay! Simple and clear!
My friend Carrie Seim — who you might remember from our podcast episode that I continue to think about weekly — has a wonderful new book out Tuesday in her Horse Girl book series. Carrie and I met when we were travel writers and I’ve been in awe of her expanding accomplishments ever since. (Her recent wedding also made the NYT! Pure joy.) Check out Horse Camp here.
You write that a producer’s job is to get the first 50,000 people to see a show, and after that it lives or dies on word of mouth. Do you really believe that?
Yeah, I really do. You either won them over, or you didn’t.
Golden quote from theater producer Jeffrey Seller. This reminds me of a book editor once telling me that if a book sells 10,000 copies, it tends to keep selling. Word of mouth is a beautiful thing.
Still thinking about Valerie, the pet dachshund that went missing on Kangaroo Island and was found after 529 days. The endurance!!!
As an over-analyzer, I liked this Jonathan Fields newsletter on ways to make easier, faster, and better decisions. Thanks to Liz Callaway (check out her Substack!) for sending my way because we have the same brain.
I was so taken with Champion, a 13-minute short film written and directed by Kimberly Han. I met Kimberly at a new writer’s group and her film, about a 9-year-old Korean girl trying to find her place in the world after her family moves to California without her father, is moving and brilliantly understated. Please enjoy.
Finally, you know me, always on the cutting edge — we are watching Breaking Bad because apparently I stopped somewhere around Season Two back when it aired. Pretty good show! In case you’ve never heard of it.
What a week! What made yours brighter and better? I’d love to know…
Also, Colin and I are heading to London and then to the New Forest for what Aransas described as the perfect vacation for us: Sondheim, cycling, and animal sanctuaries. (Monkey Haven, we’re coming for you.)
I’ll write to you when we’re back…
In the meantime, stay hydrated, stay well, and maybe go out for a mile or two in the sunshine for me, if you feel like it.
Love, Kara
Thank you for sharing the Notes paper clip!
Have a great trip!