Blind eels and Sparky's Studio
aka how I spent the end of November
Eel Messages
A fun thing about this newsletter and my little eel obsession, is that people send me eel news. I highly recommend telling everyone about your weird interests. It is delightful to be sent an eel article with a “thought of you!” or “you might be interested!” OF COURSE I AM INTERESTED.
Anyway, this is how I found out earlier this week that there have been a few new fish and eel discoveries this year near Australia’s Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park. Look at this new to everyone blind eel covered in “loose, transparent, gelatinous skin.” Apparently, the female of this blind eel species give birth to live young! Nature!
Imagine a little tiny baby blind eel being born and being like, MOTHER, to this strange and beautiful eel. Ocean animals are the most mysterious.
There are more eels that were discovered, but I’ll let you decide if you want to click through and look at their pictures; the congridae eel in the article is especially memorable (extremely ugly imo and very gnarly). Fun fact, the congridae eel family includes garden eels, my personal favorite type of eel.
Winter Weather Reading
I’ve been cozying up with mostly picture books and some longer fiction perfect for escaping the snow and wintry weather outside.
Rise Up with a Song is about composer and suffragette, Ethel Smythe, and written by Diane Worthey, who is a talented violinist, teacher, and one of my picture book critique partners! It’s her second non-fiction picture book about a woman who carved her own path in music.
I loved the sweet pictures and story in Dress-Up Day, the emotions and relationship to food and home in I Hate Borsch! and enjoyed how Twinkle, Twinkle, Winter Night is a inclusive celebration of winter.
I was ready to pack my bags and head to Seoul in I Guess I Live Here Now, Claire Ahn’s debut YA novel. I love books that make me want to travel and explore and kick-off a whole bunch of research, like learning about hanok houses along with main character, Melody.
The Holidays are Here!
Which means it is time to buy books and give them away. An extreme sport I like to play and a specialized skill on my resume. I had a blast recommending books as a visiting author and guest bookseller at BookPeople of Moscow for Small Business Saturday. Here is a nice little photo of me in the picture book room, getting ready to recommend all the books.
Honored to be featured and grateful to BookPeople for having me on such a busy day! If you want a signed copy of Crocodile Hungry for the holidays, just make sure to let staff know and I’ll be down there!
Sparky’s Studio and a Room of One’s Own
I stumbled upon the Charles M. Schulz museum while visiting family in California, and it was one of my favorite things on a long weekend family visit and touristy soaking up of the California sun and red zin. I love seeing where people work. The ways that the space is uniquely theirs. Below is Charles “Sparky” M. Schulz’s studio recreated in the museum, exactly as he had it at One Snoopy Place (a combined office and studio space for Schulz). I love that the pencil sharpener is on the wall at the height that it is. I love that it’s not near the table, but directly above the waste bin which is overflowing with crumpled paper. The hockey puck paper weight, photos taped to the wall, the inks, brushes, and pencils, the beautiful curated mess of it all.
About his studio, Schulz said, “I have the feeling that working in the same room is the only guarantee of keeping going. Somehow, a change of scenery makes working more difficult, but sitting down in the same place each day turns on the creativity.” I’ve been thinking about this sentiment since visiting, and how closely it aligns with Steve Job’s block mock-turtleneck uniform. “The way he [Jobs] settled on a uniform to reduce the number of decisions he had to make in the mornings, the better to focus on his work.”
I do not have a One Snoopy Place, but I have a desk in a basement, which is less of an office and more of a room with a furnace, boxes, and a desk in the corner. But, realistically, I do most of my morning writing at the dining room table, and if I have time to write on the weekends or evenings, that’s when I sneak to my desk in the basement. When the work is unknown, which it often is, or filled with creative wanderings, it helps to be grounded in the familiar. Whether I’m at the table or my desk, both spaces feel like the right place to think and write, which I’m guessing is what Schulz was looking for. The right place to be creative.
I’ve got a few projects to take care of before the end of the year. It’s been a weird year creatively, and I’m hoping to finish 2022 with some great writing momentum. Wishing you all the cozy reading time in this last month of the year. Thanks for reading and enabling my eel obsession.