Something Good

Kind and gentle reader: Just a reminder that there won’t be a list next week, as I’ll be in Oregon. There’s an archive of close to 650 Something Good lists if you need something to do next Monday. 🙂

1. Stress Less Today: 10 Must-Try Strategies for a Calmer Life from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less. In related news, 8 Proven Methods to Stop Pushing and Start Easing Through Life, also from Courtney.

2. Three Big Questions. Jami Attenberg did a series where she answered three questions submitted by fellow Substack writers, and then shared the results here. In related news, This Family Is Miserable. You Should Meet Them Anyway on The New York Times. (gift link) “The domestic drama runs high in ‘A Reason to See You Again,’ Jami Attenberg’s latest novel.”

3. Cat lost in Yellowstone travels 800 miles to reunite with owners after two months.

4. ‘I shouldn’t have listened to those around me’: Janet Jackson on Michael, motherhood and how she’s taking back control. “After five decades in the public eye, three marriages and the ‘wardrobe malfunction’ that torpedoed her career, the pop megastar is back. She opens up about family, fame and her fears of mayhem after the US election.”

5. Hillary Waters Fayle’s Intricate Botanical Art. “It all starts with real leaves and harnesses the power of the sun.”

6. The Life-Changing Magic of Forgetting Your Phone at Home. “For a vast majority of human history, it was acceptable for a mother to sometimes be unreachable.”

7. Please don’t say “Sorry for your loss.” “A complicated relationship with my dad has led to complicated grief.”

8. Where or how do you find joy? Nick Cave asked his Red Hand Files readers, and he got so many good answers, he’s created an archive.

9. A next frontier for spam and scams from Seth Godin.

10. Reflections of a childless cat man from Hugh Hollowell. “Micro-adventures, kittens, and embedded memories.”

11. Toy Hall of Fame 2024 Finalists.

12. 11 Habits Good Sleepers Have in Common.

13. Three pages a day. “Of all the self-help tools I’ve tested through the years, one has proved more enduring than the rest: Morning Pages.”

14. The 7 Types Of Rest You Need To Feel Your Best.

15. ‘South Park’ creators renovate a beloved restaurant, and find nostalgia is pricey.

16. Legendary writer Kurt Vonnegut cleverly explains how to write the 3 stories everyone loves.

17. 126 Poetry Prompts for Writers.

18. ‘I Don’t Want to Die.’ He needed mental health care. He found a ghost network.

19. The ‘Body Roundness Index’ Is Touted As The New BMI — And It’s Got A Big Problem. “According to doctors and dietitians, BRI may essentially be the same inaccurate measure in different clothing.”

20. Artwork by Patrick Cabral. “Layer by layer, tiny cut by tiny cut, Filipino artist Patrick Cabral crafts intricate paper sculptures of the world’s most threatened species. Cabral shares his work on social media to increase public awareness of conservation issues.”

21. Integrity as Craft: Willing Oneself Toward a Total, Messy Wholeness. “It is no easy feat to convey oneself, to try to do so fully. To leave the reader feeling resonant—more full in return. I see the foundation of this craft, of writing creative nonfiction, as its entry point: To be willing to catch oneself hiding between the lines, to catch oneself avoiding parts of our own story.”

22. David Moreno’s Anthropomorphic Foundations Support Cascading Villages. “From thin rods of steel, Barcelona-based artist David Moreno (previously) constructs towering houses and cascading villages that reflect the architecture of our lives. He often incorporates anthropomorphic, anatomical elements, suggesting skeletons or beating hearts.”

23. Josh Johnson Has Become the Funniest Guy on the Internet. That Is Not a Joke. “The Daily Show correspondent and TikTok phenom once said the web was a bad idea. Now it’s the reason he’s famous.”

24. Hunched over my smartphone while my family slept, I knew I had to break my addiction. But how? “The modern world just isn’t set up for non-smartphone users, but after a few faltering steps away from mine, my life changed.”

25. The 50 Best NPR Tiny Desk Concerts.

26. Community from A Grace Full Life. Lots of links to good blogs and some interesting questions in this post.

27. And finally, this random collection of things I saved last week.

1. RIP James Earl Jones and Michaela Mabinty DePrince. James Earl Jones, revered actor and voice of Star Wars’ Darth Vader, dies aged 93 and Actor, and beloved baritone James Earl Jones dies at 93, and Trailblazing ballerina Michaela Mabinty DePrince dies at 29, and Pioneering ballerina Michaela DePrince dies at 29, and Michaela Mabinty DePrince: a life in pictures.

2. A new start after 60: it took 70 years to find my inner artist. At 82, I’m in my studio every day. “Former nurse Norma Geddes took a 10-day stained-glass course on a whim and found her passion. Now she exhibits widely and her work sells out.”

3. There’s an underreported health crisis among veterinarians. 4 reasons why they need help.

4. ‘Rez Ball’ is a story for everyone. “The Netflix film directed by Sydney Freeland and co-written by Sterlin Harjo is a story centered on a Native American basketball team fighting to be recognized as the champions they are.”

5. “Will & Harper”: Will Ferrell embarks on a unique road trip with his best friend.

6. Kamala won by being all the things. A reflection on the debate. In related news, a reflection on the same debate from Frederick Joseph, Trump Babbles His Way To Defeat.

7. All This Witnessing: A Review of Laura Pritchett’s Playing with Wildfire.

8. The Interview: Demi Moore Is Done With the Male Gaze on The New York Times. (gift link) In related news, ‘We can be violent to ourselves. Brutal’: Demi Moore on body image, reinvention and her most shocking role yet. “After a lifetime of scrutiny, the actor has returned for a ‘grotesque’ feminist body horror about recapturing lost youth. She talks about no longer ‘chasing perfection’, living alone, and feeling truly free at 61.”

9. USPS’ long-awaited new mail truck makes its debut to rave reviews from carriers.

10. An Apology, 3 Years Later. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow for our children when they realize how imperfect we are. I believe, one of the greatest gifts we can give our children after they learn this truth is found in the embracing of our imperfections, giving them permission to do the same. Acknowledging our own shortcomings gives them space to make their own mistakes and live authentically while also offering them an example of how to seek and acceptance forgiveness even (and especially) when it’s hard.”

11. 5 Daily Habits That Are Causing 90% Of Your Pain from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less. Also from Courtney, Feel Happier Daily with 7 Simple Habits.

12. ‘The fact that I’m still here is amazing’: Noel Fielding on Bake Off, booze and the Boosh. “He has gone from cult niche to smash hit and he still can’t believe it. As Bake Off returns, the comic talks about his ‘feral’ upbringing, his party years – and the day Hammond fell out of a hammock.”

13. I’ve Been To Over 20 Homeschool Conferences. The Things I’ve Witnessed At Them Shocked Me.

14. Artist Creates Intricate Land Installations as a Meditation on Letting Go.

15. The Heartbreak and Hazards of Alzheimer’s Caregiving. “Most caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s find themselves behaving in ways they know are counterproductive. The disease affects their brains, too.”

16. What to watch this fall: Here are the TV shows we’re looking forward to.

17. 17 Novels You Need to Read This Fall.

18. Recipes I want to try: One Pot Lasagna, and Easy Peasy Chicken Pot Pie, and Chicken Spinach Pasta Bake, and Chicken Cobbler, and French bread pizza, and Maple Sweet Potatoes, and Sweet and Savory Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Walnuts and Thyme, and “World’s Best” Macaroni & Cheese, and Chicken Stuffing Casserole, and One Pan Creamy Orzo Dinner. As I think ahead about cooking for my mom in a few weeks, I’ve been collecting recipes I think she’d like, so now 60% of my Facebook feed is recipes!

19. Watch a Sneak Peek of America’s Test Kitchen’s 25th Anniversary Special. In related news, America’s Test Kitchen 25th Anniversary Bloopers!

20. Baby Walrus Rescued in Alaska. (video) “ABC’s Danny New TV spoke with the animal care specialist helping raise an adorable walrus calf found abandoned in a remote corner of Alaska.”

21. You Can Do 5 Things.

22. zinnias, hummingbirds, and grace.

23. A Pep Talk on Perspective from Maggie Smith. Also from Maggie, On Your One Wild and Precious Life.

24. Awestruck: 52 Experiments to Find Wonder, Joy, and Meaning in Everyday Life A Yearlong Journal, Alexandra Franzen’s new book.

25. Good stuff from Seth Godin: The hierarchy of insight and When did we lose consciousness?

26. On This Day Twenty Years After You Were Born, a poem from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.

27. I Totally Missed Summer this Year from Stacy Morrison. “Not complaining, just observing. Because observing is the only way to actually slow down and live time, turns out.”

28. The Art of Finishing from Patti Digh. “When good enough is good enough.”

29. Don’t ask my daughter if she’s going to be a writer. “One of the most healing acts we can offer ourself and our parents, whether they are alive or not, is to reclaim our own story, while honoring their story and the gifts they gave us.”

30. Kiss All Frogs from Danny Gregory.

31. The Mother Tree from Jamie Attenberg. “Write for yourself. Write the story you want to tell. Write because it will bring you joy or at the very least a fulfilled feeling. I am telling you that if you keep digging in the dirt you’re going to find something that feels like a solution, even if it’s a temporary one. Anyway all of this is temporary. This is the ongoing struggle to make our art and satisfy our creative and intellectual and emotional needs. But still we keep digging.”

32. Kindness and sorrow on Short Reads.

33. My social experiment of when I joined Tiktok.

34. Invest in the Children, “Our annual effort to support students navigating economic hardship.” An annual project through Frederick Joseph’s non-profit, We Have Stories, in which “we provide 100 children with backpacks, notebooks, pens, pencils, stress balls, books, and gift cards to support their parents.”

35. Amends to the Crows, a poem from Julie Barton on Out With Lanterns, a daily poetry practice.

36. Finding Permission to Mourn 22 Years After 9/11.

37. Boar’s Head indefinitely closes Virginia plant tied to deadly listeria outbreak, discontinues liverwurst.

38. Man paralyzed in tragic accident changes lives through his gym: “They have a purpose.”

39. The Average American Eats 42 Pounds of Cheese a Year, and That Number Could Go Up.

40. Chris Judge’s Daily Cloud Interpretations.

41. A salad recipe is causing a cucumber shortage in Iceland. I knew this would happen somewhere, eventually.

42. Mushroom Color Atlas, “a resource and reference for everyone curious about mushrooms and the beautiful and subtle colors derived from dyeing with mushrooms.”

43. And finally, these random saves from this past week.