vol. 90, on time
Time is bizarre. Adulthood is even weirder. One day you're 25 and feel as if you’re holding everything together with duct tape, and the next, you’re 35 and watching TikToks on how to get rid of soap scum and then buying a steamer. I’ve recently come to enjoy this trend where people say their age and then subtract 2 years for covid. I’m 35, minus 2 for covid, so 33. That feels fair to me. Two years ago, only a small handful of my friends had children. Now, I'm a well-intentioned but inept child conversationalist. "What books have you read recently?" does not work well with a two-year-old. Aside from trying to find common ground with toddlers, I've been driving around the midwest a lot. There was a 24-hour stint in Milwaukee a few weeks ago and another 24-hour dash through Grand Rapids. It turns out that pretty much everything shuts down on Sunday throughout the Midwest. These quick trips have been for photo projects, but I'd have a few takeaways even if they weren't. The one thing is you can find great coffee shops all over the Midwest.
Anyway, these days I've been:
Reading The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking. It’s a long read, but I’ve found it clarifying. Some positive thinking trends and accounts make me feel like I’m going to break out in hives, and now I understand why!
Recommending some of the articles I’ve been reading via Pocket. I’ve been waiting for a longform replacement and, in its absence, have started organizing my own reads.
Watching ‘Chainsaw Man’, one of the most anticipated animes for this year and am completely unsurprised to find that MAPPA is responsible for the excellent animation work.
Sharing some film photography from this summer.
Enjoying outdoor fires now that Eli and I have picked up a solo fire pit.
Pondering this article on hiring consultants versus building in-house teams. I’ve spent the last 2 years contemplating both approaches as I’ve managed creative teams and found this breakdown interesting.
Convincing my new parent friends to make me gift guides for children because, as I’ve noted, I need all the help I can get.
Diversions is a newsletter I’ve been on and off writing since 2014 with random thoughts I’ve been stewing on and links I’ve been sharing. These days you can find diversions on substack.
Till next time,
Sandy Noto