Newsletter 1

Newsletter 1

Ding dong!

You are receiving this message because I (Seb) can no longer or, in rare cases, never could ring your doorbell or knock rapidly in annoying patterns. Like a 1,400 pound nest of termites fired out of a WWI era US Navy railway cannon into a federally protected forest, my friends and I have all gracefully blessed every inch of the United States and beyond (well, if really beyond, fly me out please). Unfortunately, even if a couple hundred miles is considered pretty close in the USA (something a Polish girl in a hostel I stayed at was floored to hear, and called "USA close"), it's still greater than the 15 minute walk I at one point was accustomed to for many of you. Group chats have crumbled to dust (in many cases as a blessing by some minor god, and I hope groupme itself soon follows), snapchat has languished with age (but people still leave their location on for the very public room-level GPS tracking on Snap Map, you're probably one of them), discord is like deepthroating a firehose of raw magma and pings (of which I have accrued well over 100 at this moment, in no time flat, with well over 2000 messages I need to read), and I have found myself fleeing back to the graceful days of SMS; plain old text messages. If this pattern continues, I'll find myself enshrined in stone in a cable filled telephone operator room from the 1920's by the end of this year of the Rat God: 2024. 🐀

As many of you have noticed, I am quite skilled at asking how you are doing, holding a conversation, and then vanishing as soon as you ask me how I am. Call it a character flaw, if you will, but I hope you know it's not personal, it's just that for better or for worse I reside in a realm of chaos upheld by a few lawful (or, at least, less chaotic, a low bar) individuals I keep near and a whole lot of hot glued popsicle sticks. For many of you that won't come as much of a surprise to hear! :) But it's unsustainable for me to conceptualize myself and my surroundings repeatedly, because, as what may ACTUALLY be a character flaw, or perhaps a strength that feels like carrying around a 4ft cubic cardboard box that contains an ever-rolling and thunking 5 inch cast iron ball, I truly just exist devoid of context. The way this plays out comes with many perks and likely endeared many of you to me at least at one point, but also makes it a Sisyphan task to do what many people would (rightfully) take for granted: respond to "what's up with you?"

So I've decided to address all of you at once in the form of a newsletter. Characteristically, there will be no schedule to this, but I'll do my best to sum up some important developments, situations, and projects. As many of you are familiar with, I do type way too much, so I'll try to keep them around this length, and allow their contents to be conversation starters if you so choose. At some point in the near future, I'll have a link to my calendar that people can select a time for us to set aside and chat simultaneously.

As a fun twist, at least in my eyes, messages which are sent in response to newsletters and which I find particularly amusing will be propagated to the rest of you at the beginning of the next newsletter (anonymity optional). I think it's funny to not tell any of you the headcount for all of this (for all you know you're the only one =^) ), but perhaps you'll see some names you recognize. :)

Cheers,

Sebs

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