Happy May Day!
Frolicking, dancing around the (two!) maypoles, singing, shouting out what we’re looking forward to this summer, hugging, dressing up in white and flower crowns, watching the Morris dancers, admiring Rachel’s stunning May Day banner, more singing, do-si-doing, having breakfast together after, feeling the sun on our faces as dawn moves into day, welcoming in the May together again.
Listen, was it a total slay? I don’t know. But a few years ago I promised myself I’d be bolder in wearing interesting clothes that felt more free and playful: more like the me I want to be. (And if you can’t dress up for the opera…where can you!? So I went for it :)
As ever, there was one group of people who lifted me up while I was out and about: Black women. One patron in the Met museum and a security guard at the opera—both free with compliments and celebratory in their kindness. In my experience, it is ALWAYS these Black ladies who know how to breathe life into each other who are most generous when someone takes a risk. And I am determined to follow their example!
Soooo…. I’ve become a Papa :)
Which means I’m a donor for my friend H, who now has a beautiful daughter who I get to snuggle and smile with and love. Every day I get texts with pictures and little updates and it makes my heart so happy. And the thing I keep learning is that there is no limit to our love. There may be limits to time and money and a hundred other things. But love is like air. It will fill whatever space we let it grow into.
Working on a new book!
Full info in my newsletter ;) And yes, that was sixteen drafts of the proposal… A humbling process—but I’m so excited.
Big shoutout to @lisadimona1 and @amanda_feinman for all their support along the way—and I’m so excited to work with @jonathan_merritt as my editor!
/p/sixteen-drafts-later-i-can-finally?
I was always a mint tea and sensible sweater kind of guy. As a non-drinker, I don’t love being around people getting drunk. Gay nightlife spaces intimidated me. But, over the last few years, I’ve found my way onto the dance floor. Now I’m the one texting friends about our favorite club night. Last month, I stayed up past sunrise for the first time. Turns out, it’s never too late to discover a new thing to love!
And this weekend? I’m going out dancing :)
With no shelter and temperatures over 100°F, we humans would last only a day or two in the Namibian desert. And yet, while climbing the aptly named ‘Big Daddy’ dune, I saw geckos and beetles underfoot (who harvest moisture from fog!) and larks flying overhead. The desert might not have been made for me, but it was made for life.
Glad I got to visit, though :)
Saying Goodbye to Harry Potter and the Sacred Text
I just sent out a newsletter celebrating the podcast, our listeners, and the biggest gift the project has given me: becoming @vanessamzoltan ’s family :))
—
“I never meant to become a Harry Potter guy.
These days, the cringe factor is high and the politics are ugly. But as we record the very final episode of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text after a decade on the air, I want to celebrate the gifts that this book, our podcast, our listeners, the team, and my beloved co-host Vanessa have given me.
It all started for me in my Introduction to Hebrew Bible class when I admired the way in which we were engaging this weird and wonderful ancient scripture. There was only one problem—the Bible didn’t feel like mine to interpret; like I was looking through someone else’s family photo album trying to decipher who was who and exactly what had happened.
I wanted to study a text that felt authentically mine, that I might have some hope of understanding. I started by looking for a way into a familiar story—gathering friends to watch a movie marathon of all eight Harry Potter films in the first week of January 2014. But it wasn’t until I witnessed Vanessa Zoltan gather a group of women to study Jane Eyre as a sacred text, adapting the practice of Lectio Divina as taught by our professor Stephanie Paulsell, that everything clicked into place. I felt in my bones that Vanessa and I could create magic together. And when, months later, I met Ariana Nedelman, I knew I’d found the person who could help us shape it into a compelling podcast, connect with the Potter fandom, and share our project with the world.“
Keep reading: /pub/joyfulbelonging/p/10-years-of-harry-potter-and-the
Favorite new Italian word is “strapazzate” meaning “scrambled.” :))
As in, “Potrei avere due uova strapazzate senza speck e una tazza di tè con latte, per favore?”
A song for winter and the melting of ICE.
“Witch Hazel” by Tom Gala.
I am looking at a witch hazel blooming in a garden
The bright yellow flowers in the middle of wintertime
And I tell heart be strong like the witch hazel flower
And you will not be injured by this dark and troubled time.
I take myself along to a place I know in winter
And I look at that south sloping bank covered with ice
And I tell my heart it all will melt and run down to the ocean
And you will not be injured by this dark and troubled time.
I am looking at a witch hazel blooming in a garden
The bright yellow flowers in the middle of wintertime
And I tell heart be strong like the witch hazel flower
And you will not be injured by this dark and troubled time.
We will be here when the cold wind blows, we will be here through the winter
We will be here when the biting frost chills you to the bone
We will be here when it all thaws out and the sun shines on the morrow
And you will not be injured by this dark and troubled time.
I am looking at a witch hazel blooming in a garden
The bright yellow flowers in the middle of wintertime
And I tell heart be strong like the witch hazel flower
And you will not be injured by this dark and troubled time.
Thanks for teaching me this one @anneedden !
