SOON, issue 29: Ephemera Freak #1

Welcome to Something Out of Nothing, a newsletter about meaning—making it, finding it, offering it. I talk about the writing life, teaching, thrifting, books, travel, obsessions and idle interests, and much more.

I love ephemera: the odd note, ticket stub, old list, bundles of cards and letters. A hardly tangible sliver of a past moment, or a spur-of-the-moment attraction, something admired and kept for reasons only half-known.

When I’m roaming an antique mall or thrift store, I rarely pass a box of loose art or old postcards without shuffling through it. And when I find an inscription or marginalia in a used book, it’s like reading someone’s name carved into a picnic table at the park: a declaration of existence. Silly and primal.

Going forward, Ephemera Freak will be a recurring feature. I’m taking inspiration from Erin Boyle’s regular “My Week in Objects” posts over at Tea Notes, a brief yet incisive spark of wonderment that I love perusing and think you would, too. In that spirit, I offer you Ephemera Freak.

Stereographs were used in the late 1800s, early 1900s, and often in social settings as entertainment, giving people tourist-access to places and events that otherwise might be inaccessible or unfamiliar. The cards were set on a stereoscope (kind-of like a Viewfinder) and when the stereoscope was then held up to the eyes, the double picture on the card became a single, sort-of three-dimensional image. These cards are all over flea markets and antique stores. Naturally, I have a collection.

I picked up this “Learn to Live Without the Moon” sticker on the last day of The Artist’s Way class I taught over the summer. Everyone brought something to swap: books, physical media, ephemera, delicious snacks. I chose this sticker as a bit of charming nonsense. But just now, I searched the phrase online, and what came back were theories about what would happen if the Earth and the Moon were no longer in alignment, or if the Moon didn’t exist at all one day. As with most everything lately, this too felt like a metaphor for the disconnect and uncertainty happening around us, to us, within us. Learn to live without the Moon, indeed.

Can ephemera be audio as well? Here’s a recording I took back in November 2022, my husband and I traversing the busy Saturday night streets of Dublin as we returned to our hotel. Press play & close your eyes.

A little kinetic and cluttered in the ear but for me, I remember the streets were wet and the sidewalks were crowded and we were on the tail-end of a whirlwind trip, the destination of which my husband didn’t know until we arrived at the airport. Recording little auditory glimpses of places is a preferred keepsake habit of mine.

I thrifted this collection of 1970s quilting magazines over the summer. The old paper leaves a dusty-like feeling on your fingers, but I love the colors (muted with age but still bright) and the blocky font of QUILT WORLD across the cover. I pick up this kind of stuff as “research”: the ads and staging, the haircuts and fads. If I don’t pass the collection on to a friend, I’ll likely end up using it for decoupage.

Back in 2021, just before my spouse was deploying for a year, this pink handwritten note was stuck to the kitchen door leading out to the garage in our house. “I love you,” it says, every single time I go out that door. It’s remained up long after my husband has returned. It’s been losing its stick lately, but of course I plan to keep it.

RELATED READING

UPCOMING CLASSES

Oct. 22: *in-person* POV in Fiction: Creative Limitations Are Freeing / Join me for a one-hour craft class on POV in fiction and learn to see the limitations of each POV as opportunities for experimental freedom in your work! Super affordable, too, at $15. This is my first time teaching at Quarry, an absolutely lovely community space. 6:30-7:30pm, register here.

Jan. 21: *online* Short Story Workshop: One-Day Intensive / This one-session fiction workshop is for writers (new or long-term) looking to try out the workshop experience, get fresh feedback on their work, and make new connections in the process. Students will submit and read each other’s work prior to class. 6-9pm Eastern, over Zoom, registration coming soon!

More about upcoming classes here.