Housekeeping, podcasts, naps

So three things in this Rose-coloured edition—first, some meta-newsletter housekeeping stuff, second, a bunch of podcast recommendations because I have neither enough recommendations of a single genre to fill a whole newsletter nor few enough to do one all-genres reco-letter, and third, a new feature called Tip of the Day. Will this be a recurring feature or will this turn out to be the only useful tip I have??? Oh boy, right? So lets goooo….

One: newsletter housekeeping
If your Rose-colour is turning up in spam, in announcements, in anyplace other than your main inbox, please move it to your inbox if you can. You can usually click on things and “mark not spam” and it’ll move over; or else simply click and drag. Even if it’s perfectly readable in the spam box, it’s bad for how these newsletters get delivered if too many of them go to spam over and over. Consider it a favour.

If you want to comment or reply to a newsletter, I would love that. If you hit reply like you would any email, it’ll come back to me (or it should!) If you want to comment publicly, you have to click through to “read online'“ (at the top of the newsletter) and then log in on the site. Then other readers can see your comment and reply to you if they want. Both methods are very welcome.

If you have an idea or suggestion for stuff I should be talking about in this newsletter, including greatest hits from other platforms I used to be on, a book or television show or movie or food I should review, a guest poster I should invite, or feedback on something I’m doing that isn’t working, I’m here for that. This format is new for me and I know I have a lot to improve. Please use either of the two options above and let me know!

Two: Podcasts
I sent some newsletter recommendations in one of my early newsletters, and I originally thought I would do one recommendation letter for every form of content I enjoy: one for TV shows, one for books, and so on, before cycling around again when I finished all that stuff and started on with new things to recommend. But as it turns out I don’t consume enough stuff for all those posts, so I am mixing recos in with other posts and once I’ve gotten through one cycle, I’m not sure how long it will take me to build up more things to recommend but I’m sure I’ll do another one eventually.

What Happened Next with Nathan Whitlock (The Walrus): I used to be a bit of an omnivorous podcast consumer and now I only like short, focused podcasts by writers who asked well-researched interview questions and leave you wanting more. What Happened Next is all that. Hosted by novelist, professor, and musician Nathan Whitlock, it’s about the period between books, after the big launch and publicity period, but also about the writing life in general. Nathan knows writing, gets great guests, does tonnes of research, and is funny without stealing the show. I don’t think I’ve ever missed an episode and I never want to.

Bookspo with Kerry Clare: Another delightful short-form literary podcast about books and writers. This one is about the books that inspired authors to write their own books—each episode is one author being interviewed about their inspo book (get it??) Kerry (who is, fully disclosure, a pal) has spent years honing her ability to write and talk about books and writing with joy and precision through her blog and her work on the 49th Shelf, and this podcast is another amazing burst of literary insight and celebration. New season coming, as it happens, tomorrow (Wednesday September 4).

The Decibal with Menaka Ramen-Wilms: This is The Globe and Mail’s daily news podcast and as such neither obviously literary nor apparently my bag but listen—it’s a stealth literary podcast, because Menaka Ramen-Wilms is a novelist! I met her at a literary event and she was describing her show and I said I’d listen to it because I am always curious about writers with multiple talents, even though I never listen to current events podcasts but—the woman knows how to tell a story! These short tight interviews explain each issue clearly and without too much extraneous detail. Very helpful for those of us who struggle to stay informed.

Three: Tip of the Day
I have never fully cottoned on to this whole working from home thing the way seemingly the whole rest of North America has. I actually invented a “commute” whereby I take the bus to the gym early in the morning, and then bus home just before nine, so I can come scrambling to my desk just in time to start work, just like in the olden days, even though the desk is in fact nextdoor to my bed. So…that’s weird, but it soothes me. Plus it’s good to go to the gym.

Anyway, there’s lots you can do working from home as kind of bonus content, like have a pot of soup or laundry on, or make a private phone call or sooth a cranky cat. But most of it is sort of in the category of chores, and often they start to even pop up over lunch hour, which is supposed to be a BREAK. Frankly it sounds kind of bad-news-bears to me for the bonus content of the thing I have to do (work) in the place I don’t want to be (my home) is to do a different thing I don’t want to do (chores) in place of the former thing I used to do over lunch hour—have food with nice co-workers, run errands in a different part of town, get an interesting snack.

Anyway, all of the above is terrible, but I have discovered something I like to do at lunch—nap! It’s nice to get in a 10-minute little bout of unconsciousness in the middle of the day—really freshens the mind. Even better, sometimes Mark is home and will nap with me, especially great if my pillowcase is in the wash and I don’t have a pillow to sleep on—he is often willing to lend his chest to the cause. (why yes, this is what happened today, which is what made me think of it) We are definitely not at the stage of the relationship when we need more bonding time as a couple but it’s always nice to see him anyway!

So that is my tip of the day—nap at lunch, with a pal if available. I can’t believe it took me so long to think of this.

BONUS CONTENT: ALICE