My dad, a history professor, once told me that when church fathers disagreed at church councils in 300 AD, a popular move was to get a bunch of friendly desert monks armed with clubs to march into town to demonstrate their theological disapproval. That image stayed with me.

This made me think of Japanese toilets with bidet settings for cleaning yourself after doing your business. Imagine being praised/ scolded by a voice in your toilet for your hygiene procedure? 😥

#WinterIsComing

Apart from real life being what it is right now, I would really have loved to be there to listen to you and other authors I deeply admire. I hope you have the best time! 💜💙🩵

PAIR EVERYTHING WITH BOOZE. Maybe the theme is "find the right booze for this trauma"?

"I believe he was right. But I suspect his absence shaped me more than his presence ever did." 3/ (Jonas Hassan Khemiri, in an essay on stories and the death of his father.)

"It's not strange that we frenetically strive for control, narrative structure, a happy ending. But when my father died I didn't think about writing, maybe because I'd already mourned him. He said 'Everything you have, I gave you. You wouldn't be a writer if it wasn't for me'. 2/

For the past year I've been doing focused reading on medieval literature, English history, the folklore of Scotland and Wales, and I can't express how just learning things changes a person. It will make you more interesting. You will fall in love with this world.