🌞 The Sun, My Old Nemesis

Dear friends,

Whoops! I never sent out July’s second newsletter. Fittingly, I was planning to talk about my lyric game Gossamer Dawn, which is about not doing the project you’re supposed to be working on and just staring out the window for a while instead.

It’s been very hot and humid by me, as it has been in many places, which means I’ve been spending lots of time having and managing migraines and being sweaty and cranky. When I took the dog out for his walk this morning and it was a beautiful 62 degrees, I actually felt my brain whirring back to life. Like a Discworld troll, my noggin functions better in cooler temperatures.

To continue the theme of Attention, I want to tell you about what’s been capturing mine laterly. (It sure hasn’t been my writing!)

The Artist’s Way

I’m participating in ’s book study for The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron’s classic 12-week program for creative unblocking. I’ve owned a copy of the book for a while and started it a few times before, but I’m honestly not sure I’ve ever made it past Week Two.

Each week, you read a chapter, take yourself on an artist date, and complete tasks and writing prompts. Plus, every single morning, right after you wake up, you’re supposed to handwrite three pages of brain dumping.

I’m hoping I can make it a little further this time (ideally all the way) by not aiming for perfection. I’ve been doing my reading and my artist dates and some of the tasks and prompts, and I write one page most days when I first sit down at my desk—not three pages and not in bed. We’ll see how it goes!

Sashiko

For my artist date this week, I started an online class on sashiko, a traditional Japanese embroidery style that I’ve been enjoying getting into. Sashiko has been getting kind of trendy lately, which means it’s fairly easy to get supplies and patterns, but also fairly easy to fall into cultural appropriation.

The course I’m taking is taught by someone who grew up in a sashiko family, and I’m really enjoying learning more about the craft (and hopefully staying on the side of cultural appreciation).

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Oh yes, I am very much still spending lots of time exploring the highs and lows of Hyrule. Right now I’m very focused on becoming extremely fashionable by searching for the hidden outfits of canonically nonbinary style icon Misko. Although I’ve had the drag queen fairies upgrade a ton of my new looks, I am mostly wearing my very funky desert guy outfit in weather-inappropriate places. (Why does the ladies-only oasis clothing store sell men’s clothes, you may ask? Answer: gender non-conforming Gerudo!!)

This is the first open world game I’ve played, and while I thought I would want more structure, I’m really digging just wandering around, chatting with people, looking more closely at anything interesting, trying on my outfits, and figuring out how to bake desserts. If only I had my desert clothes IRL to keep me cool on hot days.

Songbirds 3e

Finally, I’ve become totally obsessed with Songbirds 3e, a new game by Snow that you can download and read for free! They describe it as “a tabletop roleplaying game about undeath, supernatural powers, and the blue dreams of the moon.” Don’t you just want to play that right now??

Songbirds is such a fresh take on a classic fantasy adventure tropes. You clear dungeons to put monstrous spirits to rest, not to loot tombs! The rules outline how to get gender-affirming care! Classes are called “Gifts/Curses!” In your downtime, you can go on dates, get techno body mods, and have orgies! On top of all that, Snow’s design is striking and her writing is just incredibly good.

Thursday Garreau did a very fun read-through of the whole book, which I’d recommend if you want to see someone else nerd out over small details. I want everyone to read Songbirds so we can all nerd out together (and I want to play it SO BADLY).

What have you been really into lately? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Announcements & Updates

• My partner and I will be vending at the second annual Somerville Yart Sale! “Yart” is a beautiful/terrible combo of “yard” and “art,” and this event is kinda the Porchfest of garage sales. We’ll have lit mags, games, and zines available from 12-6pm on Saturday, August 12; more info will be available soon from the Somerville Arts Council 🎨

Current Projects

• I’m still bouncing between projects, but there are some jam deadlines coming up that I’m hoping to finish pieces for! The Classic Explorer, Skyrealms, and (of course) Songbirds jams are at the top of my list 🕊️

Other Things I Loved This Month

• Iced oat milk cortados & almond croissants (friendship ended with iced latte! now iced cortado is my best friend)
• Acupuncture and restorative yoga sessions, also known as “learning how to nap”
• “History Books,” the new song by the Gaslight Anthem feauring ACTUAL BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
• The Bob Fosse retrospective my partner and I have watching (so far consisting of Fosse/Verdon, Cabaret, and Chicago)

Thanks for joining me today! We’ll (probably) finally take a look at Gossamer Dawn next time.