I’m exhausted from taking care of poor Paul, who is currently getting his second corneal debridement. He has an 80% chance of getting better in 2 weeks. In 4 weeks (ish) we leave (?) for France. I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since Thursday.

What else is happening? Surely this isn’t the only thing I’m thinking about. (Or is it?) I’ve read a couple of great books lately: one was Maggie Nelson’s The Red Parts, chronicling the trial of the man who murdered her aunt. It’s a stark, disturbing, thoughtful, beautiful book, and what can I say, the darkness appealed to me given my mood.

The other was Laura van den Berg’s The Third Hotel, which is a disorienting (in a good way!) noir travelogue through the depths of grief and magical thinking (and Cuba, I guess); a look at the violence inherent in living in a world with so many unanswered questions. It’s beautifully and hypnotically written; it really stirred me, on both a personal and a creative level.

I also got the chance to talk about Invitation to a Bonfire with Robin Kall for the Reading with Robin podcast, which you can take a listen to now. I really enjoyed our conversation, and would recommend Robin’s podcast generally!

Anyway. In two hours I’ll pick Paul back up from the vet, and hopefully from there things will unspool in a more comforting direction.