Short, sweet, and sales-y (sorry!)
Well. It's December 1 already. One month left till the end of the year, and the decade.
Annually, around this time, talk in the public square turns retrospective. There's a great collective looking back and taking stock, whether for the purpose of consumer direction ("Here are the ten best books I read"), professional pillow fluffing ("Here are the ten great things I did") or plain philosophical rumination ("Here are ten thoughts I have had about the passage of time.")
These are all fine projects, and it's possible I will wind up spending some part of a day this month doing it myself. Last year, around this time, I remember looking back over the past year in gratitude, shaking my head in wonder that nothing bad had happened in 2018. Nobody died; no disasters natural or engineered had befallen me or anyone I loved.
This year it's not so clear cut and I'm still trying to make sense of the balance of triumphs and tears, not that I honestly believe it ever weighs out definitively on one side or another. So, for now, I'd rather look ahead. Because there's a lot to look forward to in 2020.
I'm going to start teaching in January, for the first time, and I'm very much looking forward to that, if also somewhat terrified. I'm looking forward to again working with Medill students on a group reporting project, area of inquiry still TBD. I'm looking forward going back to Puerto Rico in February, and to seeing some incredible books by debut Belt authors launch in March, April, and May. We've all been busily working away on these this fall and it feels to me like I'm sitting on the worlds' greatest secrets, little eggs of talent and joy about to hatch.
I'm looking forward to some other things I don't feel confident enough to share quite yet, but like those egg-books I hold them close to my heart and try not to let them get cracked as their shells harden and their beaks and feathers sprout.
Oh and I"m looking forward to Soup & Bread! Soup & Bread -- the community meal project I stared in the dark winter of 2009, when everyone around me was losing their jobs, their homes, their hopes and minds -- turns TWELVE this year. You can read all about it here at this handy link, and you can contact me to sign up to cook soup, if you like, at soupnbread10@gmail.com. And note (here's the sales part): usually around this time we run a small fundraising drive, to raise money to buy bowls, new crock pots, and stuff like that. We're not doing that this year; instead, we are going commercial. If you are looking for a gift for the soup lover in your life, please consider buying one of our adorable Soup & Bread knit hats or 100% cotton T-shirts. Here is a direct link to our online store. (For the hats, if you pick the "Share the Warmth" option we will send you one hat and donate a second to the Night Ministry's youth shelter, which is moving to new digs near the Hideout very soon.)
Speaking of the Hideout, I am also looking forward to the Hideout Holiday Sale, which runs from 6-9 pm on Monday, December 16, at the Hideout (1354 W. Wabansia in Chicago). I will be selling the above mentioned hats and tees, and also the thing I am most proud of from the past year, copies of the The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook, along with many other Belt titles. We talk a lot about supporting small businesses, but I can't reiterate it enough: every dollar you spend to shop directly from an artist, publisher, or independent creator is immeasurably valuable. We see you, and we see you seeing us and we THANK YOU. So please stop by, and buy, at the city's coziest craft fair if you're in the neighborhood. (Or, hey now, shop online and take 40% off your whole order by using the checkout code BLACKBELT until 11:59 tonight.)
And, of course, I'm looking forward to going home to Seattle to see my family for the holidays, and for the quiet days before the nights start getting shorter and the cycle starts all over again. I hope you have those to look forward to as well.
xo
Martha