Howdy, dispatchers! Happy Friday! This week, I am 29 AF (as foretold). I’m getting ready to ditch town, yet again, for more birthday festivities. Last weekend was my actual birthday. My boyfriend and I went to Lake George, where we:
shopped at the World’s Largest Garage Sale (Myles got a baseball bat AND a golf club) (I got a locket and a rabbit’s foot and some nail polish and a tissue box cover)
played TWO different games of minigolf (I lost both games but did get a couple hole-in-ones, which was thrilling) (and also learned a lot of cool pirate facts!)
went on a sunset steamboat cruise
won a couples’ DANCE CONTEST on said steamboat cruise (it was the twist) (we got a gift certificate for a local rib restaurant, which we gave away – all we really wanted was the glory)
rode horses up a mountain (mine was named Girl and she looked a lot like Dottie)
ate a whole cheesecake
went to Frankenstein’s haunted wax museum (unclear if monster or scientist was proprietor)
saw foliage
swam in a heated pool, splashed a little in a cold cold lake
called my family from the hotel and opened all my presents on Facetime, then packed alllllll the presents in the car to take back to NYC
Extremely big shout-out to my mom for constructing a seaworthy cardboard box big enough to hold 32 pounds of presents, and to Myles for diligently loading/unloading gifts into the car so I could open them on my actual birthday and STILL finding time to surprise me with roses. I am the luckiest!
This weekend is another time-honored tradition: a big sleepover with all my friends. My dad teased me because, between my pink glitter Caboodle1, lip gloss, unicorn-themed accessories and Tamagotchi, the gifts I got for my 29th birthday aren’t THAT different from what I got when I turned 9. But I also got some poetry books! And candles! And, hey, the video games my brother got me are rated “teen and up!”
This is kind of a short newsletter but I have a favor to ask.
Can You Please Ask Me A Question?
Next week I will start up a new column in this newsletter, for paid subscribers, called Solicited Advice. I have already banked a few questions and will be writing answers for you all, but I want to work as far ahead as possible. So!
Please send me your writing-related questions. You can reply to this newsletter, or email me, or text me. Whether it’s a question about poetry, fiction, or essays, whether it’s as granular as comma usage or broad as writing philosophies, I want to help you! Next week we’ll be talking about establishing a writing practice – how to do it without making yourself miserable – and in the coming weeks we’ll touch upon organizing longform stories, how to break the rules of semicolon usage, and whether you NEED to go to school to write (and what to do instead).
Okay! Please email me. Thank you. I love you.
What I Didn’t Buy This Week
Last night, I mentioned that I needed to get a socket wrench in order to change the bearings on my roller skates. When I got up this morning, Myles had gone to the hardware store and bought a full socket wrench set so I could deal with my skates before leaving town. A hero and ally! A member of the skate sqaud!
My mom sent me a lot of Goose Creek candles and lotion for my birthday, but she warned me NOT to go on their website because I will want EVERYTHING. I wasn’t sure how that would be possible…until I actually smelled my Cosmic Brownie candle and my Sugared Donut lotion. Uh oh. I, somehow, haven’t spent my money on the full
sweetsuite of Candy Land candles and lotions. But will I? When Queen Frostine and the Gumdrop Forest and Grandma Nut are RIGHT THERE?!It’s a good thing I like both styles of this Lily-of-the-Valley necklace, because my indecision and frugality are the only things keeping me from buying either one of them.
Okay, I’m off to do crafts, sing karaoke, and wear three different Sailor Moon shirts in one weekend. I’ll chat at you soon – have a happy Hattie’s Birthday Weekend Part Two!
I had a pink glitter Caboodle previously and had to get rid of it in college because a mouse pooped in it! But now…all is right in the world.