That netted out

A bike industry veteran once told me that historically, mom-and-pop shops had the best credit, because the "mom" always had stamps on her person. She could mail checks to vendors in a timely fashion.

I do carry stamps on my person, or nearly s0 – they are in the pocket of my notebook, which is always in my backpack, which is always with me.

Go ahead, lift it. I've never gone camping, but I go camping every day. When I hit twenty thousand steps that's a red letter day.

*

As a college student, studying in Moscow for a year, I emailed updates to everyone I knew, they were called, Letters from the Third Romans, a reference to the classic, "Master and Margarita," in which Moscow was he Third Rome. I wasn't thinking about empire then, only about my own homesickness, and if anything, I would have said that New York was the capital of the world.

Students could receive letters care of the university. I had given my family and friends stickers pre-filled with the complicated address in Russian and in English. Presumptuous, in retrospect.

We didn't get alerts, we had to pop in and check our mail, which I did often, so that the secretary, Ksenia, came to know the sound of me opening the door. Her desk was covered in every imaginable kind of stamp, she had the ink pads locked in her desk, all day long people came in and she made their papers official.

In the spring, I flew to Poland for a week, and sent a postcard to all four of my fellow study abroad students. When I returned, I checked my mail, and saw my cards in their mailboxes.

"Hey guys, check your mail."
"Oh no one writes."
"Check your mail!!"

"Nadezhda" is Russian for "hope," and for a long time, I thought the adjective, "nadezhnaja," used in reference to mail, meant, "hopeful," and was tickled by the fact that the Russians had a "hopeful" class of mail. The word actually meant "reliable."

That netted out. A lot of things netted out this way. I was living proof you didn't need to consult a dictionary for every word.

I just opened my mouth and talked. I was like Michael Scott, though I didn't know him then, he said, "Sometimes I start a sentence and I don't know where it's going and I just hope I find it along the way."

News

I’ve been awarded a partially-funded writing residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (February 9 - March 9, 2026). HOORAY!

I was at VCCA for two-ish weeks in April 2024, and I'm very excited to return. I love writing Divinity School, but I really must finish my novel, in order to truly emerge, break out, fly! Residencies like this one – chunks of uninterrupted time, surrounded by nature, with regular meals provided – are massively helpful for long-form writing.

The total cost of the residency is $6750, and I've been awarded $5250 in grants and aid by VCCA – thank you, donors! I need to raise the last $1500 by December 15, 2025.

Enjoying feels like the wrong word here, so let's say instead, if my letters do something for you – please consider subscribing! The regular rate is $50/year and there's a superstar option, too, $250/year. All subscriptions through the end of the year will go to my residency fund.

P. S. I know that times are tough for many of us, not just the artists, and that's why the letters are always free to read at first, they only go into the paid archive after 6 weeks. If you cannot afford a paid subscription, please share my project with a friend or two. And if you'd like to dip into the archive, write me, I'm happy to comp you for a year.

THANK YOU!!!