Knots and Noise

Issue 57

Nov 09, 2022

Greetings, Earthlings.

Surely you’ve thought about what you want from the world, but have you thought about what the world wants from you?

I gave this some thought, though not nearly enough. It’s a meaty topic.

So far, here’s what I have: the world wants my honesty and humor — sharing my life brings light to others. The raw and real unites us. Those who speak its truth are a breath of air for those who worry they’re the only one — all of us.

While I’m more vulnerable in my writing than I am in real life (I don’t do this on purpose, by the way), I wish I had the courage to be even more transparent with you. There’s so much more to say. Perhaps in time.

For now, let’s get to it…

Nice Speks

I don’t get anything for hawking these magnets except the satisfaction of passing along a wonderful product to you.

The darn holidays are coming, and you need gift ideas. These are for anyone and everyone. I love them as much as my kids do.

Lucky for us, Speks is having a Black Friday sale. I hate using the words Black Friday, but I’m on a deadline (you’re reading it), and I don’t have time to entertain something cleverer.

Load up your cart and tell ‘em Simone sent you. They won’t care, but you’ll get 25% off if you use code EARLYBIRD.

(Oddly, my logo isn’t on their homepage under “Who’s talking about us.” There must be a typo.)

It’s Time To Fly

I work for Write of Passage, an online writing school where you learn to write and share your ideas on the Internet. Think of it as writing for a modern world.

We’re launching Liftoff, a similar-to-Write-of-Passage online writing experience for curious and driven 14 to 18-year-olds. Teenagers are people, too!

We’re running a four-week beta program, and your child is welcome to apply.

If Liftoff existed when I was a teenager, I’d be someplace very different. Perhaps in space. Alas, I’m helping to market the program, and I hope my son will join — things could be worse.

Liftoff Beta is a bite-sized version of the full monty, launching in Spring 2023:

Course dates: November 29th to December 21st.
Live Zoom sessions, workshops, Brain Dates, Writing, and Feedback Gyms.
2–3 evening hours per week.
Students write three articles based on three themes, receive professional editing, and publish their finished pieces to their website.
Students from around the world.
Fee $500

Kids learn to love writing, find their people, and stop waiting until they’re an adult to do something meaningful.

Want to learn more? Join the webinar this Friday, November 11th at 1:00pm ET.

Imagine where you’d be if you did this in high school. Pass it on!

Expired Pumpkin

It’s much too late to share a Halloween photo. The pumpkin in my driveway collapsed. Its hair is longer than the cat’s and far grayer than mine (luckily).

Still, my human pumpkin is cute, and this photo is, well… at least she’s cute.

Modern Marital Bliss

My stepdad sent a few family members a great article in The Atlantic.

The byline: We expect too much from our romantic partners.

Do we? Oh, right, we do.

I think most of us will be kind of shocked by how many expectations and needs we’ve piled on top of this one relationship. I’m not saying that people need to lower their expectations, but it is probably a bad plan to throw all of these expectations on the one relationship and then try to do it on the cheap. That is, to treat time with your spouse as something you try to fit in after you’ve attended to the kids, and after you’ve just finished this one last thing for work.

The article highlights a new book, The All-Or-Nothing Marriage, which reverse engineers fulfilling marriages — from the “traditional” to the utterly nontraditional —and shows how any marriage can be better.

Add to cart.

Ever wonder how I come up with each issue’s title or even what it means? Me too :) For real, I’ll share my process in the coming weeks. I think you’ll enjoy it.