“I feel like one of the things I really learned was that you have to hold space in your heart for both the difficult moments as well as the happy moments or the stories of resilience. And oftentimes, I would feel both things at the same time.” – Ava Chin, author, Mott Street
Notes:
Opening quote: Author Ava Chin, speaking about the process of writing her stunning new book, Mott Street. You can learn more about it from Publisher’s Weekly.
On the radio: I actually listened to two great shows that featured Ava Chin talking about Mott Street: first, the NPR podcast Code Switch and next, the WNYC radio show All Of It with Alison Stewart.
We met decades ago: Full disclosure! Ava also edited a book of essays, Split: Stories from a Generation Raised on Divorce (Contemporary Books, 2002), which included an essay written by me.
Uncertainty: I’m still coping with PTSD after getting hit by a car more than 20 years ago. But you don’t have to have PTSD to feel anxious about what’s happening today, do you. The kids, especially, are not all right; insight worth reading on young people, Covid 19 and climate change in Southeast Asia from The Lancet and in the UK from the National Library of Medicine.
The Future is Now: Written by my brilliant friend Susie Kahlich, who is the founder of Pretty Deadly Self Defense and the CEO of SINGE. You can read the full essay on Medium.
Lalalandia and The Curse: Lalalandia was a mind-opening phenomenon, I’m not sure how else to describe it. The Curse was an amazing zine published by the artist Daisy DeCapite that I loved and am still saving all my copies of.
In the park: My neighborhood parks are Rainey Park and Socrates Sculpture Park. Many of the images in today’s post are based on observations from them. These parks as well as my home nearby will be below the tideline with 2 degrees Celsius of climate change.
Thank you for being here with me.