I’m alive. But I sure as heck ain’t reading.

Well, that’s not true. The nature of what I do is that I’m always reading. But my life has been missing the kind of reading I’d blog about, and it’s sad.

I know lots of people fall off blogging and then start again, fall off, start again, ad infinitum. But seeing as my business revolves around how to do blogging right, I feel a bit like my personal blog is a dirty secret. Maybe I can play it up. “Hey clients, want to see how NOT to do the whole blogging thing? Check this out!”

But (1) I’m overbooked—which is not a complaint, but it does explain the lack of time for hobbies, and (2) like I said, I really haven’t had much material to discuss. Nonetheless, literature has my heart, and I thought I’d throw out some updates on that front here.

1. I wouldn’t mind talking at some point of experience a story via video game. I don’t often play games other than phone goof-off stuff, like Jeopardy or Pokemon Go (yes, still). But I recently played the first Life is Strange game, and I’m working on the second as it comes out, chapter by chapter. And playing these is remarkably like reading a story. Now, speaking mainly of the first game, there were certainly issues. The dialogue was cringy lots of time, and the action plot of the story got a little ridiculous. But the core story was about a friendship, and it’s just beautiful. It reminds me of being a teenager so much–the despair, the recklessness, and the abandon with which you throw yourself into another person. Also, it passes the Bechdel test so hard that it practically negates it. The connection between the two main characters is so moving that some scenes brought me to tears. And it’s a lot less about playing the game than taking in the story. Interesting stuff. It makes me think about interactive novels and choose-your-own-adventures. The line between such things aren’t always cut and dried.
2. We’re still listening to books on our car trips, though I don’t find that listening to books is conducive to thinking critically about them the way I often do while visually taking in words on a page. I wonder why that is. Anyway, we listened to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, which I found very entertaining, if perhaps overly ambitious. And we’re now listening to…wait for it…The Goldfinch. Yep. I convinced Erik to give it a try, and he’s liking it. Not the way I like it. Which is “inappropriately.” No, but seriously, I love The Goldfinch just as much as I did on both of my two (2) previous readings. Listening to it is almost like an excuse to sit back and let it wash over me instead of studiously slurping in every word and trying to process, even treasure, each choice.
3. As far as actual reading goes, I’ve been reading Richard Ford’s Independence Day for an eternity and a half. I’m serious. I think I was reading this book the last time I posted, which was long enough ago that this blog would have cobwebs if it were a physical thing. Normally, I’d consider this a sign that it’s time to find a new book. But the problem really has just been that I’m busy. The book’s great. Really. I’ve been loving it. Ford is an undeniably talented writer, and besides that, he’s an enjoyable writer. I think most of us readers know one does not necessarily guarantee the other. Anyway, I’ve had a half-completed blog post on Independence Day sitting in my drafts folder since April. So that will probably be posted. Someday.

Welp, that’s it for updates. Just checking in, saying hi, and letting everyone know I haven’t forgotten about this poor, neglected corner of the internet. I’m not going to do the thing where I promise to start posting more often since I’ve found the publishing of such a post to be the death knell of a blog. Have you ever noticed that? Seems like the best predictor of whether or not you’ll ever see a post again is the presence of an “I’m going to start blogging again!” post after like six months of silence.

If you want to see what I’m up to, business-wise, go check me out at Hit Subscribe in a few weeks, where you can watch the gods laugh at me while I try to blog in two places when I can’t even keep up with one. (Though frankly, that blog will probably fair better since my husband is prolific and generally more disciplined than I am.)