#1 The Good Enough Newsletter

Hi everyone:) New things: The Ponder is now The Good Enough Newsletter.

Why? I want to talk with you about art, literature, food, and worthiness. (And probably other stuff too. What can I say, I’m a generalist.) I spent 2022 finishing my novel manuscript, which is now resting in a nice soft drawer. Working on a long project was isolating – and left me with flotsam and jetsam in my head. Fragments of the novel. Unanswered (unanswerable?) questions. Feelings and more feelings. It's time to reach out.

How will this newsletter work? On Fridays, I’ll be in your inbox with short notes on my writing, reading, and cooking. Or with a conversation with someone (you, hopefully! Reply if you'd like to engage in a slow email convo.) This newsletter is a practice of working with the garage door open (a line taken from Robin Sloan, who I found via Austin Kleon.) Come on in.

Worthiness? The working title of my novel manuscript is Good Enough People, and I am still obsessing over the idea of “What does it mean to be a good person?” Who defines it? How do we derive our individual worthiness? How does a family or environment, or country impact our feelings of worthiness? How are feelings of worth and actual worth different? I want to continue this line of questioning in this newsletter when I’m talking with myself and you.

Reading: Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux (translated by Tanya Leslie.) Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood by Jessica Grose. “Let 2023 be a year of experimentation and invention!” from Robin Sloan’s newsletter. There Is No Such Thing As Italian Food by John Last. Eve Babitz Bares It All by Lili Anolik. Everything I can find on Claudia Roden, including her 1968 cookbook A Book of Middle Eastern Food (updated in 2000) and this article about her latest book.

Writing: A pitch for Cake Zine (due 1/13.) Revising my first chapter to submit to Tin House’s reading window (open 1/7-1/8.) Applying to Ann Friedman’s newsletter fellowship (due 1/15.) Website copy for a new service project I'm part of.

Cooking: Lentils. Rice Krispy treats to get rid of marshmallows and puffed rice. Black bean and tomato soup. (And yes, I’m fully stealing this endnote format from Alicia Kennedy’s luminous newsletter. Subscribe so my theft isn't in vain.)

A passage from Simple Passion made me laugh and nod, seeing myself: "To go on writing is also a means of delaying the trauma of giving this to others to read. I hadn't considered this eventuality while I still felt the need to write."

I've been thinking about starting this newsletter since August. And it's time to be assured, self, there's no more reason to delay.