SOON, issue 35: Ephemera Freak #2

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.

Ephemera Freak is a recurring feature highlighting the latest bits of randomness I’ve been cherishing. Brief & fun, just my perceptions touching base with yours.

Starting off with this stained book found (where else) on the shelf at a thrift store. Be by Kobi Yamada is a slim volume of inspirational guidance from the early 2000s where the text is graphically arranged on the page to make it more compelling. I went to re-shelve it, but paused when I saw that the previous owner had left themselves a message on the inside cover.

Cursive is dated November 15, 2004 and reads: “I bought this for myself w/ a gift card given to me by fellow teachers [at] Bright Beginnings [Learning Center] for my 32nd birthday, just one week ago. After a weekend of misdirection and a morning of confusion and daze—this book is calling to me. Clean slate is what is being offered to me.”

In the last issue of SOON, I mentioned lately watching a ton of Antiques Roadshow and the wholesomeness is a fkg balm on the soul these days. Just listen to this man! (The piece being appraised is an Andrew Wyeth.)

I’ve never heard a more heartfelt wow! in my life. And then his stage-y follow-up, “Are you kidding me? … which is what people often times say.” His earnestness kills me! My heart!

Recently, an out-of-town group writing retreat was canceled, so several of us gathered in an empty classroom and wrote together for a whole Saturday instead. It was not the mountain-bound experience we’d been anticipating but there was still comfortable silence, clacking keys, and the occasional chatter about ideas, submitting work, and ways of stealing more time from our already full lives. The below tarot card and word were part of a writing prompt.

I can’t remember the instructions, and I don’t think I followed them, but I do remember being taken with this word—avenoir—and how fitting it seemed for the story I’m revising: two people at different stages of life meeting each other during a similar, directionless interim before they become the next version of themselves.

Recently thrifted an incomplete set of 1950s children’s encyclopedias, which are themselves a gorgeously produced (and dated, very dated) piece of time travel, but within one book I found this yellowed note.

It is a list of names, primarily male—James Raeburn, Jim Sutton, Beale Chambers—followed by a corresponding weight. Someone named Freddie, for example, is listed as 2 lbs. Earle is 3 lbs. At the end of the list, everyone’s weight is added together as 67 lbs. The stationary is from Crawford Door Sales Co. of Atlanta. Maybe an early Weight Watchers meeting? Or just some kind of company-wide weight loss initiative?

Enjoy this sweet Polaroid of my husband and my oldest stepson with Santa, back in the day. I found it in a box of photos and now it lives on the decorated mantel. One of the bittersweet joys of being a stepparent is seeing (and cherishing) the images & memories from before you arrived in their lives. (I’m the youngest of four kids myself, so this feeling of being late to the party is tender & familiar.)

Whatever you celebrate, I hope you find a sense of peace and communion to close out this tumultuous year and cross the threshold into the next one. Happy holidays to you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you and you—

UPCOMING *ONLINE* CLASS

Jan. 21, 2026: 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, register here!

Info on all my classes here.

RELATED READING

·

October 6, 2025

An old note barely hanging on, a stack of stereograph cards, vintage magazines, and forgotten audio!