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It’s been a weird week.

Where all the bits that seemed straightforward sort of shifted sideways.

And frontways.

And backways.

And slantways.

The sort of week where you realize you have been conditioned to prioritize a linear experience that moves inexorably forward on a highly focused, deliberately productive path.

And you feel a kick of rebellion.

The desire to revolt against this notion that a linear vision is the best vision.

To reject the directive that our thoughts should be continuously focused on one goal at a time.

That meandering through a day, taking things as they come, following one random thought after another is somehow inferior to seizing the day and bending it to our will.

And you decide to jump off the treadmill.

Which is how I found myself slouching into Easter Sunday morning with the vague notion that I should bake something.

And, that perhaps, it being a holiday and all, I should bake something special and unusual.

I don’t know what I was thinking – maybe some sort of fancy bread or exotic new dessert..

I descended to the kitchen to browse for inspiration.

Inspiration that should be easy to find in a room brimming with, not only at least a hundred cookbooks, but several three ring binders full of recipes culled from magazines and internet searches past.

But before the browsing could begin, I had to pull out the giant stack of recipes that had been optimistically collected over the past year but simply shoved into the cabinet rather than properly indexed into the binders.

Necessitating a trip back upstairs for plastic binder sleeves.

Followed by an hour of filing.

Followed, finally, by another hour of browsing.

Followed by a realization that these binders were brimming with recipes still untested and untasted years, no decades, after I first thought “I should make that!”

Followed by an hour of culling.

At which point I needed a break.

So I refilled all the spices in the spice rack.

And rearranged the cabinet full of cookie cutters. (Scroll down for images of the madness that is my cookie cutter hoard.)

Then I spotted the ziplock bag of sanding sugar.

The one created when the bag of blue sugar and the bag of red sugar each sprung a leak and got mixed together.

Yes.

I sorted that too.

It was satisfying.

In an Adrian Monk sort of way.

By this time the morning was a distant memory, the afternoon was getting on, and it became abundantly clear that I would not be baking anything fancy or exotic.

Or, for that matter, anything that took more than an hour.

So I just made my family’s favorite chocolate chip cookies.

There were no complaints.

I slouched my way back upstairs for an evening equally devoid of any particular sense of purpose.

It felt good.

A Cool Thing!

I’m running a harp class in May - details in issue #152 here near end of post.

“Let’s Feel Better” Tour

I’m putting together a summer “Substack” tour of my poetry reading, humorous storytelling and harp music. It’s aimed at small venues like house concerts and book clubs and will rely on YOU, my readers, to tell me where you would like to come.

More background and details can be found by clicking on the Summer Tour menu header or using this button.

Summer "Let's Feel Better" Tour

If you would like me to come to your area, please contact me - either by hitting “reply” to this email or by messaging me here on Substack or posting in the comments.

I’d love to see what we can make together.

Books - great gift for Mother’s Day!

If you like my work there are two book collections of the comics/poems for sale. They make great gifts!

Buy Books

If You Are New Here…

If you are just joining us I’m so happy you are here!

You might want to click here to find out what to expect.

And consider poking around the archives - there’s some fun stuff.

Joy Shot

Images that make me feel better.

These are made from My Aunt Dottie’s recipe - a family favorite.

Recipe and backstory are on my Overbooked Substack here.

Bonus pics - The Cookie Cutter Hoard

Weekly Dose

Works by other creators that capture our current moment…

In case you missed it the president of the United States posted THIS on his social media:

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell—JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP”

I’m skipping the editorial cartoons on this topic because they are all focusing on the outrage of the post.

There is plenty to be outraged about, from the sheer stunning nature of a sitting president spewing profanity - not behind closed doors - but all over the internet - to the potential war crimes expressed in the promised action.

But I was struck this morning by an interesting idea floated ever so subtly by Heather Cox Richardson.

Did the president really post this?

Ms. Richardson, who has done as much reporting on this president as anyone working in journalism today, smells something off. The phrasing smacks more of Trump’s inner circle than the language he uses himself in public and in his usual social media posts.

Which has me wondering - just what the Sam Hill is really going on up there in the White House?

Are others taking control of his phone/socials?

If so, why?

I am going to take a moment to delight the conservatives in my life (those few who remain) with the acknowledgement that president Biden was clearly declining while in office. And that decline was most certainly covered up.

The republicans at large, and Trump himself, delighted in pointing the finger and calling for the heads of everyone involved.

Well the shoe appears to be on the other foot.

Will anyone step up and admit it?

You can read Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter about all of this here.

Keep The Messages And Comments Coming!

I appreciate the feedback and knowing how often I have struck a chord with your lives.