Chapter 1: Winter is…here??
Get your week off to a good start!
Goooooooooooood morning, afternoon, or evening, wherever you might happen to be!
First of all, a huge thank you: I’ve been so moved by the response to my recent Page by Page post about mid-career precarity. I’m very grateful to all those who reached out to tell me how they felt about it, and grateful to all of you for reading it. It’s a public post, so if you know of anybody else who might appreciate it, please go ahead and share it.
Here are three things to get your week off to a good start.
Make writing letters of recommendation pain-free!
Some people are suckers for gadgets. I happen to be a sucker for organizational strategies. And this one is awesome. In this tweet, Prof. Jane Palmer shares an absolute masterpiece of a Google form that she gives to students who ask her for letters of recommendation. It really does make writing references easier, and gives students a chance to tell you what they really need you to comment on. Genius!
A refreshment revelation
I’m aware that the last couple of recipes I‘ve shared on here were for alcoholic beverages. I will share recipes for other things (I promise!), but since holiday party season is upon us, I felt like I couldn’t pass this one up: have you ever heard of…freezer-door cocktails?? Mix up a batch, stick it in your freezer, and you’re good to go when your thirsty guests turn up! God bless Tressie McMillan Cottom for bringing these to my attention….
Feedback strikes again
If you read my post on my highly professional and mature way of processing feedback, you know that this topic strikes a nerve for me. Leslie Ylinen’s latest satire in McSweeney’s (‘Here’s My Feedback On Your Writing. Thank You For Trusting Me With Your Work’) feels like the perfect, painful companion piece to that early Page by Page post.
As ever, thanks for reading. This is a reader-supported publication, and the best way to support it is to become a paid subscriber (either at $5 per month or $50 per year). If you’re really feeling generous, and you’d like access to the archives, the ‘Things That Worked’ series, the ‘AMA Q&A’ series, and regular feedback on your own writing, as often as you like, you can become a Founding Member ($150).
Here’s wishing all of you a wonderful week!
VB,
M