Marie at 1 Write Way

The Last Day of August 2024

Five things …

Writing

At this time, I still don’t know if the year-long program with Summer Brennan on Substack will resume. A few weeks ago, one of our group reported that he had (finally) talked with Summer’s agent and was told that she was fine but dealing with a family tragedy. The relief that she was fine was palpable … even in an online group. But we are still in limbo, only being told that she planned to “update” us later, in the next session which starts September 1. And while that is tomorrow, my sixth sense tells me we will still be in limbo. And so the anxiety continues, especially among those who feel they should get a refund for the missed sessions. Lesson learned: Substack is not at all helpful in that regard. Firstly, the platform prefers that you work that out with the writer. Secondly, if the writer is incommunicado and you’ve paid for a full year (as I did), then there needs to be at least six months of inactivity in order for a refund to be considered. Not that I was planning to ask for a refund. Like I said, lesson learned.

Friendship

A friend mentioned in passing the other day how she was planning to go to Maui with a few girlfriends. It made me feel sad. I thought about when I last had a group of girlfriends. It was the early 80s and I remember four of us (including the above-mentioned friend) getting together at someone’s house. The four of us worked at the same engineering firm in California. I don’t remember where we were and why we were together but I do remember we had fun and it was a rare occurrence for me to enjoy being with more than one or two people at a time. In fact, most of my friendship have been duos or trios. When I was working on my master’s in English at Florida State University in the 90s, three of us became attached, to the point where one professor said, “When I see one of you, the other two aren’t far behind.” The trio is no more. One of us moved and married and had children. The other realized she really didn’t like me after all.

Reading

I have many books to review, and to read and review. Along with reading, I want to start a Commonplace Book, defined as such by Jillian Hess in her Substack newsletter (https://open.substack.com/pub/jillianhess/p/the-commonplace-book-club-cbc-starts?r=385dg&utm_medium=ios):

The commonplace book is an ancient tradition for copying out quotations. Brilliant thinkers throughout history have kept commonplace books including John Milton, Lewis Carroll, Virginia Woolf, and Octavia Butler.

I used to copy quotations all the time when I was a student. It was the most fun part of keeping a journal, and I still consider those journals the most insightful about my life during those times than the seemingly endless and always boring rants of being unlucky in love or under-appreciated at work.

As a book reviewer, writing down quotes goes a long way to helping me write the reviews. Sure, if I’m reading on my Kindle, I can “highlight” and review those highlights. But it’s not the same as picking up my notebook and pen and jotting the quote down.

I have a few blank notebooks lying about (of course). I doubt that I will actively participate in Jillian’s club (see link above). I’m already far behind in reading and connecting online.

Healthcare

I’ll spare you the rant I shared with a friend earlier today about the compartmentalization of our healthcare system. To wit: regarding a swollen foot, I was referred to my primary doctor who referred me to a vascular clinic who referred me to a vein specialist who I have yet to see. At this point, three doctors with none of them having anything definitive to say about my foot. If the vein specialist refers me to another specialist, I might give up on healthcare altogether.

(I am fine. Really. My right foot tends to swell but I’m doing all the right things and pretty soon I’ll have a bunch of compression socks to wear … when it gets cooler.)

Cats

Need I say more?

Raji relaxing with me on a lazy afternoon.

Marie A Bailey

, , , , , , ,

22 responses to “The Last Day of August 2024”

  1. Compression socks work really well. About five years ago I was getting swelling as a side effect to blood pressure meds. The socks did the trick until a new BP drug came out without that effect. Most of my friends are heading out to new adventures on the other side. Those that are left, we still talk each week.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. You got me with “The other realized she really didn’t like me after all” because been-there-had-that-done-to-me but then writing down quotes (which you remind me I used to love doing and need to do again) and compartmentalized healthcare and cats. Well. If you were or ever are looking for a long-distance writing group, here I am! I know writing is solitary and all that, but sometimes you really, really need to talk about it. Anyway, I do.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks, Jan! I guess if we live long enough, we’ll all have our share of been-there-had-that-done-to me events ;-) I take solace in the fact that I’m still close to friends I made when we lived in California so long ago. Talking and writing about writing is a need I have too, but I’m so conditioned to keep those things to myself. Which has not been helpful ;-)

      Like

  3. Such an assortment of topics to comment on, Marie!

    Sorry about the substack thing and being stuck in limbo.

    “The other realized she really didn’t like me after all.” Ouch! I had a close friend who decided that we weren’t friends anymore. She created narratives in her mind that became the truth to her. A few years later I found out she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

    Commonplace books were a thing among educated early Americans. Once summer when I was working in the Quaker Collection at Haverford College, a group of us were working on overlapping projects. Two of the scholars later published an edition of a woman’s commonplace book that included previously unknown poetry by female Anglo-American poets. Good luck with your project!

    (I have tons of books to read and review, too–I probably should do the same thing, but I probably won’t.) 😉

    Raji is such a cutie!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Raji is really turning into a snugglebunny. The other day he curled up against my armpit while I was lying down. He wasn’t there more than 10 seconds, but it’s a good step forward :-)

      Regarding the friend who dumped me: it hurt at first but I eventually realized that, outside of our interest in writing, we didn’t have much else in common. Plus I think she felt like she was slumming when she was with me (she had a typical middle-class upbringing, I didn’t).

      I am sorry to hear about your friend. It’s scary how Parkinson’s can mess up the mind.

      I am excited about this new project. It won’t be time-consuming, and I think it might help “grease the wheels” in my writing in general :-)

      Liked by 1 person

  4. That is so inefficient with Substack. The system needs a way to operate when a writer has such a tragedy that can be easy on them but work for the attendees. I was so impressed with your one-year commitment, and I’m sorry it fell apart. On the other hand, I guess, Substack gave you the inspiration to keep a Common Place book. Ah, well. Such a cute photo!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks, Ellen! Yeah, Substack does leave something to be desired … the platform obviously has not considered all the various scenarios possible. And the experience has taught me that maybe I should just stick to brief writing challenges ;-)

      Like

  5. Regarding your health care issues … my PCP referred me to urology. The urologist prescribed me a medication to address the issue. It had some unfortunate side effects, so I followed up with urology. Over the course of a couple of months, the medication regimen was changed a bit. I had some concerns about side effects again, I messaged the urologist. My PCP responded and advised me to stop taking one of the medications. “Oh,” I think to myself, “I guess this has gone back to my PCP.” So, this week I messaged him about side effects. Again. This time, he said since it is about the drugs Urology prescribed, I should be asking them. Huh?

    Liked by 1 person

    • Ugh. I think it scares me more when anyone other than the PCP is prescribing meds just because the docs (obviously) don’t communicate with each other. A friend said recently that it’s like we have to be our own case managers!

      Liked by 1 person

      • It really surprised me when he said go back to Urology. The last time I did that about my med cocktail, they didn’t reply. He did. Of course, he doesn’t remember that. How could he?

        It’s still somewhat frustrating and alarming.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Always nice to hear what you’re up to, Marie, and to see your cats in their natural habitat. 😺

    Hope you get your foot taken care of soon. It’s tough gritting your teeth through discomfort over the long-term.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks, Kevin! Good to hear from you! I don’t have any pain in my foot–thank goodness. But I know I can’t be complacent about blood flow. Here’s hoping the medical industrial complex helps me out ;-)

      Like

  7. How awful about Substack! I hope you can get a refund. Even if the author returns (and I’m sorry for her loss), you shouldn’t have to pay for being in limbo. Also sorry about the friend who is no longer a friend.

    Love my compression socks! 😄😄

    Liked by 1 person

    • Oh, good to know you love your compression socks! I just got mine and they are currently air-drying … plus it’s still too hot … but I’m looking forward to giving them a try :-) I’m not interested in getting a refund for the course in part because I think it would be too much of a hassle to even try. I did get a lot out of the first two sessions so I’m willing to walk away, but–ugh–what an experience!

      Liked by 1 person