Hello, beautiful friends. I hope these words find you well.
If you haven’t heard about the texts between Jonah Hill and his ex-girlfriend Sarah Brady, I’ll fill you in (also, good for you).
Jonah and Sarah broke up over a year ago. Jonah met Olivia shortly after, and they welcomed a baby recently. Around the time of the birth, Sarah went public with “emotionally abusive” texts from Jonah from when they were together. I put emotionally abusive in quotes because, shocker, I wasn’t part of their relationship, so pointing fingers won’t do us any good.
So, why am I wasting my precious words and your precious time on this subject? Because behind the drama lies the word boundaries—which is always a worthy topic (and why not couch it in celeb talk to make it extra juicy)?
As I sit with the choice to open Issue 92 with the drama between a 25-year-old (no offense) and a potentially insecure-though-famous 39-year-old, I realize the nuance behind my decision is harder to explain than I expected. Also, it’s past 11pm.
Therefore, I’ll skip the drama and cut to the chase. These three podcast episodes on boundaries are very worth listening to. But, be warned… you’ll find out boundaries are not about insisting other people comply with your requests. Boundaries are for you. I repeat: you set boundaries for YOU, not other people.
Art of Accomplishment: What’s so scary about boundaries?
The Life Coach School: Boundaries and Boundaries 2.0
You’ll never see boundaries the same again. You’re welcome, and I’m sorry.
Emo Library
Have you ever wanted to pull up the emoji library on your computer?
Control + Command + Space bar pulls up something like this.
Of course, this is on a Mac. I can’t help those on PCs—no one can.
Old-Lady Shoes
Emma and I met a lovely young shop owner in Carlsbad while in San Diego for Legoland.
I asked about her shoes because I’m a sucker for easier living. I’ll ask anyone about anything if it means I can leapfrog the research step and go straight to an endorsed product or idea (I mentioned this last week).
The brand is Born, and they may be in the geriatric category (though the shop owner was probably in her early 30s). She couldn’t say enough good things about them (she even has several styles in several colors—and they’re all she wears).
Sign me up!
I wouldn’t have found these on my own, and if I had, I wouldn’t have trusted the pictures. However, after her reining endorsement and me as an eyewitness, I can share them with you confidently. Here are a few sandals I find cute: Cove Modern, Inlet, Iwa, and Imani. I hope someone finds them cute and worthy of purchase (though I get nothing if you do). I’m just passing along something good.
Manson Murders
Leslie Van Houten is free after spending 53 years in prison for her role in the Manson murders.
No doubt, her sentence was far longer than others, having committed “more severe” crimes due to the notoriety of her case. Not to mention the numerous times her parole was overturned by the Governor—again, for its notoriety. You can’t let a Manson murderer off without getting a lot of not-good attention, which no public official wants—easier to overturn the parole board’s decision and keep her behind bars.
Until now.
In her 70s, living in a halfway house as she transitions to life outside, I hope she can enjoy some of life’s beauty for the years she has left. Can you imagine the culture shock?
Listen to her story, in her words, in this episode of Ear Hustle, recorded two years ago.
A Letter Within The Letter
I received a letter from John today. Among other things, he writes:
I’m up at 5am, tired by 7–8pm. But awake very 90 minutes. Get up - Write - Paint - Sketch. Do what men do at my age. Sometimes several times a night. I’ve been in the light sleep mode since 58-59 in Kendall, understandable. Hear all sounds, all movement, all clicks and clacks and metal keys in gates and changing. When on the tier (open from 7:30-1:30, the tier here is North Seg.). I know where everyone is - in their house - on the tier - who with. I could close my eyes and listen to movement of each and know who is there / maybe - just maybe - the orphanage taught me more in survival than even South East Asia - nah - only kidding. But sleeping a good 8-9 hours isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Decoding the above, John wakes up multiple times at night to do many things, including pee (welcome to aging). He refers to his childhood, specifically 1958-’59 in Kendall, California (Southern California). From what I gather, those years, when he was 9-10 years old, were particularly bad. He references the orphanage he spent time in, comparing it to Nam and even preparing him for prison.
It sounds like sleeping 8–9 hours, which I do every night, won’t happen for him until he’s dead. I’m dead if I don’t sleep at least that much every night. Then again, we’re cut from different cloths with wildly different lives. Though, at our core, we’re more similar than not. That’s true of all humans.
The Sweetest Thing
A honey harvest is on the horizon. This is a full frame.
Stephen has around 10 in the garage. Once he hits 15, he’ll take me through the honey-spinning process—which is messy and laborious (hence waiting until we have plenty to kick off the honey harvest).
Did you know? One must be thoughtful about how much honey they take from a hive. Bees don’t exist to feed us. We enjoy their sweetness, and the bees like it and exist on it. We can’t take it all for our needs and deplete the hardworking bees of their supply—though many humans see it differently, unfortunately.
To wrap up, here’s a sweet photo from our trip to Legoland, with a stop-over at my sister Jen’s house in La Jolla, California.
1. On a Windows computer you can do Window key + . (That’s a period) to access the emojis (you are welcome)
2. I have had Born boots for about 3 years now and love them, I don’t wear them in this 100° heat but they are a winter staple and have withstood my daily wearing of them for said 3 years. I too endorse these shoes!
3. Love seeing you with the bee adventures! (And Emma and sis)
Have a great week!