Last weekend I went to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. I’ve been there several times in the summer and once in the winter. But never in March. Not much to see outside at this time of year, so here are photos from the conservatories.
I’ve been using Substack to send my monthly newsletter for the past 3 years. I wanted to change to a different platform, and I wanted to remove my posts from Substack.
I reviewed my past issues on Substack to see if there was any content I wanted to keep. I wasn’t interested in re-creating past newsletter issues, but if there was something worth keeping, I could turn it into a blog post.
But here’s the thing.
The way I build my newsletter issues aligns with POSSE. I post to my sites during the month, and then I select from there what goes into the newsletter. I do add some notes, but not info that’s worth keeping (like brief commentaries on movies or TV shows I watched).
Sometimes I include zine previews in my newsletter, but eventually that info makes its way to a blog post later.
There wasn’t anything I had to migrate out of my Substack posts, because the main newsletter content comes from my sites.
This is probably my best personal example (so far) of the benefits of POSSE. Leaving Substack wasn’t a lot of work because the content I wanted to keep was already on my sites, and not exclusively on Substack.
If you’re interested in signing up for my newsletter, you can subscribe on Mythical Type.
Robin Sloan opened a shop to sell his zines. 😍
I added a few new links to my Resources page. New additions are marked with a ✨.
I updated my Now page. ✨
📺 Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (streaming on Disney+)
I really like the animation style! The colors and character designs are very inline with classic comic book art.
No spoilers, but it seems like this Peter Parker is in a different universe from Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. It’s interesting to watch out for differences.
My February newsletter is out.
In this issue:
Canva added automatic page numbering in October, but I just found out about it yesterday. 🫨
Finished reading: Crossover Vol. 1: Kids Love Chains by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw 📚 I liked the premise, but I’m not sure I’ll read more of this series.
Updated my Now page. ✨
This has been a tough week, especially in the U.S., especially if you’re not a straight white male.
Here are some friendly reminders from me. It’s not much in the grand scheme of things, but I hope it helps.
No one gets to define your gender. The way you were raised doesn’t have to define your current beliefs. Your family and your friends don’t determine what kind of person you are. You decide who you are, and you can change whatever you want, whenever you want.
Other people’s standards are other people’s standards. They don’t have to be a measure for you. Your value does not depend on how much you do (or don’t) work. It does not depend on how much you do (or don’t) rest. It does not depend on how, when, or if you meet stereotypical life milestones.
Everyone deserves a life where they are happy, safe, loved, and cared for. I support freedom and equality for all people, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, disability, or religious beliefs.
Life can get overwhelming in a lot of ways, for a lot of reasons. When you have a lot to deal with, try to find ways to break down what you have to do. Focus on one task. Ask for help with one thing. Plan for one day. Taking small steps is totally fine. You got this.
I saw lots of posts this week with recommendations to make something as a way to help with feelings of sadness, frustration, disappointment, anger…but I didn’t set aside time to make something until today.
I made a collage on an index card. I used outer-space related imagery that was already on my desk, because of a zine I’m slowly working on.
It’s a small collage and it didn’t take much time, but yeah, it helped.
Why Short People are Awesome by Karen Goldsum. Check out her work on Instagram and Etsy.
Zines and stickers by Charlie T tea. See their work on Instagram and Etsy.
My January newsletter is out.
In this issue:
A lot of my friends on Instagram are moving to Bluesky. I’m debating starting a Bluesky account vs. not starting an account but following friends through Micro.blog. 🤔
Even if I started a Bluesky account, I would be mostly cross-posting from Micro.blog. Same as I do with Mastodon now.
🍿 I watched First Man today.
Making a movie about real events can be difficult because the audience likely knows the outcome of the story. The movie felt boring to me most of the time. But despite that, I recognize the cast was great, and the filmmakers included a lot of details to make the movie authentic to real life.
Finished reading: How to Resist Amazon and Why: The Fight for Local Economics, Data Privacy, Fair Labor, Independent Bookstores, and a People-Powered Future! by Danny Caine 📚
Good overview of Amazon’s workplace conditions, unions (and union busting), data collection, and effects on the economy, small businesses, and politics. The book is written from the perspective of a bookstore owner, but a lot of his points apply to any kind of small business.
My favorite part of the book was the end, which encourages people to be pro-small business and engaged in your local community.
Here’s the list of movies I watched in 2024. Titles with an asterisk after them (*) are ones I recommend.
If you’d like to see movies I’ve watched in the past, I have a list going back to 2015. 🍿
I had a slow year for reading books in 2024.
Here are my favorite 2 from the year:
And the other 3 I read:
I have a whole bookshelf of unread books, so here’s to more reading in 2025.
If you’d like to see books I’ve read in the past, I have a whole list going back to 2011. 📚
Perks of living in the snack belt. Potentially unnecessary flavors, but fun to try. 🤭
