Invisible Things by Andy J Pizza and Sophie Miller
Through my decade of working in schools, I learned that children’s books sometimes just hit in a way adult books can’t. Certainly the case with this one, an exploration and celebration of all the invisible things that impact our lives. Nothing gets me stoked like colorful, playful drawings of invisible things.
Mark Leidner’s Substack Opaque Hourglass
Back in my small press days, Mark Leidner was one of my favorite writers, always willing to dive deep into the playful and weird. I’m so stoked he has a substack where he archives old out of print poems and new stuff, too. If you like my strange poems, you’ll probably dig this guy.
“Hello Stranger” by Kelsey Waldon and S.G. Goodman
How exciting is it when two of your favorite artists collab on a track? Very! Their country angel voices complement each other so well in this thumping country tune that beautiful reminds me of Loretta Lynn. I’m so stoked I get to see these gals this summer, Waldon in May at our beloved honky tonk Dukes and Goodman opening for Tyler Childers in June!
Psych
This show from the mid-2000s didn’t hit with me at first, but since it’s Beloved B’s favorite, I couldn’t avoid it / kept trying. The tone was very unsettling at first, as there are so many obscure references and inside jokes, but once I started to pick up on those cues and tapped into the rhythm of this particular haha, I felt a sense of comfort wash over me like I have with Seinfeld and The Good Place.
Lauren Briere’s Robots in Rowboats
I’m not usually a robot guy, besides Will Smith’s underrated I Robot. But Briere’s series of paintings of robots navigating the natural world—cozied up with a fox, stargazing with a cow, perusing an aquarium—is just breath-taking.
Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s Mindfulness Daily at Work
This free 40-Day course of 10-minute meditation practices is my new go-to recommendation for folks looking to begin a practice. Having long struggled with focus and frustration in work settings, I’m grateful for these foundational lessons as I ramp up to start my own business and get more involved in my community.
Sandwich shops in our neighborhood
Over here in the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood of Indianapolis, we are lucky to have TWO great sandwich shops. At Hoagies & Hops, I can get a synthetic Philly Cheesesteak, grab a Chilly Water brew, and hang on the patio. At NY Deli, I can grab any sandwich imaginable to-go and eat on my own porch. Both know the importance of good bread. Thank goodness!
Hell, I Love Everybody by James Tate
To take someone’s expansive life’s work and cut it down to 52 poems is quite the undertaking, especially among poems so varied and wild as Tate’s, but the editors of this new collection have done it, good job. I was gifted this beautiful little book for Christmas and hung onto it for the first day of National Poetry Month. What a way to start, churned up in the thrilling possibilities of each Tate poem!