18 Comments

To be honest, I would far rather read an article entitled “the socks I own” than “the stocks I own”. You can learn a lot about a person by the kind of socks they were, and that would be a fun article. But everybody writes about stocks and that sounds boring to me.

Expand full comment
author

I feel I must ask: What kinds of socks do you own? (If the question is too personal, no need to answer.) 😉

Expand full comment

I have a bunch of soft, functional socks that have argyle stripes in all different color combos. But my favorites, even if they aren't as warm, are the ones with eyes and the ones with unicorns. :)

Expand full comment

Agreed! My husband loves wacky and interesting socks from Minecraft to green monsters to geometric patterns. There’s a whole story behind the emergence of the socks he owns.

Expand full comment
author

I look forward to reading the story, if you wish to write it. 🙂

Expand full comment

I'm a fan of beautiful socks. I have a pair with beetles on them, three pairs with mushrooms and one with bottles of poison. I also have socks with foxes on them that always make Dr Seuss run through my head.

Expand full comment

I draft, write, and edit my posts as far out as I can -- I almost always manage at least two weeks lead time, but am often even further ahead than that (up to a month out). I always read (and send myself a test draft and then re-read on my phone) the morning of the actual send but since 99.9% of it is done this is really just a courtesy run-through, to make sure I catch every last type (and even then, once in awhile something slips through). This allows me to take time to rest, to not worry about it if I get sick or my kids' needs take priority, and it makes room for me to not always be cranking out content (even though it looks, to my readers, like I am ALWAYS cranking out content). I took several weeks' worth of vacation this summer and no one was the wiser... because I work ahead. (I use Notion to do and manage all my content planning and execution, so I always know what's done and what needs to be worked on next, which also saves a lot of time.)

Expand full comment

ironic that my typo in this comment was the word *typo 😊

Expand full comment
author

I misspelled my name a couple of times in one week a few years ago. I've also misspelled "misspelled."

Expand full comment

I love to sleep, but also I love to stay of late. The result is such: As of recent, I typed my name wrong a few times before I got it right. I remembered making the exact same error while I was working and hadn't slept but for 3 or 4 hours then went to work. Found out that's what I get when I don't use the keyboard properly and slide over one key to the right. My foggy mind is aware this is a problem vut too sleepy to change it the first typo I make. hhmmfh. lol

Expand full comment

I literally just started but still… I already know I like to compose and schedule a few weeks out. Keeps the pressure off and allows the releases to have a consistent flow. I get to plan as a continuum rather than at the moment. I’m thinking of what I’ll do in October already. It’s nice.

If I were to go through a long period without posting, I’d say I’m on hiatus to create. Can’t churn it out like a factory. Things take time and I would try to make it worth the wait. At least that’s the plan. :-)

Expand full comment

What you say is very true. I do a lot of research if what I'm writing about really warrants it. Not so if it's just light and meant to be a Brombeck or Far Side type of funny. And, then it rolls around in my mind sometimes for days. Then, I put it in writing. Usually it's late at night. But, unlike many people, my computer acts oddly already. I don't have Norton any longer. My computer is old. I'm getting older too. Sometimes it seems, as if, in the background there are little Loki trying to mess me up. Oh well. I like this sort light hearted post and am appreciative. Still, I am wondering what kind of socks you have. Are you like George Bush, Sr. who bought all those "one of a kind specially made sox" from the disabled person and their father who owned the sock business? Since it's summer time, do they have watermelon and parasols on them or do you prefer sports teams? In summer I do not wear socks. I prefer to wear sandals until they look like the cat chewed them to shreds.

Expand full comment
author

I buy cheap socks from Amazon and complain when they get holes or go missing. 🧦

Expand full comment

My son is the same. I tell him you should invest in the "Gold Toe" sox I always used to buy him. They are more comfy, cushiony, and last 4 times as long. He rolls his eyes, and says: "That's why I prefer to live alone." "I'm not a body anymore." I say: "I know that good for you, except one thing: "you look poor wearing those socks." lol HA HA

Expand full comment
author

I've concluded that I should start a discussion thread next week about socks. 🧦

I'll host another sock discussion during Northern Hemisphere winter. 🧦

Expand full comment
author

Or should someone else moderate these discussions, since I get by on cheap Amazon socks?

Expand full comment

I like getting ahead of myself so I'm under less pressure, but have struggled to do that. After more than a year of writing, mainly weekly, I'm getting more confident that I'm always going to have something coherent to go out on a Sunday afternoon. To help with the quality, I recruited my parents to act as editors for my writing. While the occasional error escapes their eagle eyes, they do a great job, both of correcting mistakes and improving my style. My mother always tells me if she has to read a sentence twice, so that I can rewrite it.

Expand full comment

In the words of Neil Gaiman, "If you're only going to write when you're inspired, you may be a fairly decent poet, but you will never be a novelist — because you're going to have to make your word count today, and those words aren't going to wait for you, whether you're inspired or not."

For me, it's finding the balance between being fully prepared and months ahead of schedule and being able to react and adapt to new information (e.g. breaking news). That said, for my immediate project, there's no real news component, so I work in a three-week cycle wherein every week I'm working on the essay that goes live this week, the draft of next week's essay, and notes and research for the essay that goes live two weeks from now. This gives me enough space to write and think without really stressing over deadlines.

Expand full comment