32 Comments
Jul 4, 2020Liked by Amal El-Mohtar

I’m glad your back is feeling better!

I just (yesterday) moved into a house that needs A Lot Of Work, and though I knew this going in it was still a shock to move from somewhere small I had sorted to somewhere large that was apparently put together by a clown. (Some tears were shed) I started today by putting my books on their shelves and this immediately made me feel much, much better and more at home.

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Jul 4, 2020Liked by Amal El-Mohtar

Oh no! Sorry to hear about your back. I've had a similar experience in the past and it's just awful. Glad to hear it's improving. Recently I've been learning how to paint soft vinyl toys. I enjoy trying different paints and techniques. It's been nice to get lost in the details. It's been a welcomed distraction and joy for me.

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Jul 4, 2020Liked by Amal El-Mohtar

Yes, yes, yes. That is the millennial condition. I just had dinner, and what's making me sing is the certain knowledge that breakfast tomorrow will be good as well.

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Jul 4, 2020Liked by Amal El-Mohtar

I'm so glad your back is doing better, Amal.

I have four animals who follow me downstairs when I wake up (two, sometimes three, of whom will follow me upstairs when I go to bed). I have a cookie, and a carton of coconut water, and a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, and the Mountain Goats. I have a bit of time to sit, and look at the sunlight casting crosshatched shadows through the pergola, and hope the hummingbirds will make an appearance.

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Jul 4, 2020Liked by Amal El-Mohtar

Backs were such a terrible idea. I have some bug reports I'd like to file, please.

What's bringing me relief this weekend is the launch of a project that's been utterly consuming my work hours for the last couple months and has regularly made me want to just lie down on the floor. There's still work to be done and improvements to be made, but Version 1 is out the door and my whole team is ecstatic.

To celebrate, my partner and I ordered takeout from our favorite local Ethiopian place, and I am very much looking forward to eating the leftovers for lunch today.

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Jul 4, 2020Liked by Amal El-Mohtar

Oh goodness nerve issues are so dreadful. I'm glad you're able to move and be at ease today.

In my realm, I am trying to save a bumblebee who I found on my front step when I was putting out masks for delivery folks, and it's both heartwrenching and lovely to see this little thing fight for life despite what looks like a really bad wing.

My day today will also consist of plant-care! I have a jungle of burgeoning beauties who need trims or propagations, and I admit I absolutely seek the "new leaf high" that plantfolks get. One of my purple passion vine propagations has the BRIGHTEST fuchsia-purple little leaf and it gives me so much squee :) :)

Plus, we saved Hamilton for today.

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Jul 4, 2020Liked by Amal El-Mohtar

I'm so sorry about your back, Amal! Glad to hear you've awoken from the nightmare.

Honestly, the weather is bringing me pleasure. It is SO good to wake up to nice sunny days -- in ways literal and metaphorical, the brightness gives me energy to keep going through all the terrible things happening in the world. I spend a lot of time in our living room which has east-west windows, with bright sunshine in the morning and evening alike, and it's just so healing even when I don't venture outside.

Wishing to you a continued recovery and times of joy amid <gestures> everything.

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Jul 4, 2020Liked by Amal El-Mohtar

Arrgh, how horrible! I had a calamity of a similar, if minor scale earlier this week, when all the lower muscles in my back decided to seize up for 2 days, so I can only imagine your pain <3. I hope you feel better soon!

Things that are giving me joy this weekend: SWIMMING IN ANIMAL CROSSING. I miss being able to swim in the lake so, so much, and it is so much fun to be able to do it on my little island. When I'm not on my switch, I have been barreling towards the end of my novel rewrite, and seeing it take shape into something I'm actually proud of is so nice.

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I hope you feel better soon!

As for joy, it's hard to beat all of the love for Palestinian SFF that's going around. And Fantasy Magazine relaunching, that filled my heart too.

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Jul 4, 2020Liked by Amal El-Mohtar

I have definitely been there, too. Having a husband who is a physio has helped with that, but the pain is pain regardless, and even with support, you have to get through it.

I guess finding unexpected connections in my life between people I know has been good this week. A person I know from linguistics land turns out to know a writer I know. The person who wrote the intro to the Honey Month turned out to be a friend of mine from university and the person who did my wedding photography. The web of community is vaster and more tangled than is easily seen, and glimpsing the weave of it is enjoyable.

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Jul 4, 2020Liked by Amal El-Mohtar

Argh! Ouch. I’m glad the pain has lifted. I too have known that feeling of sudden reprieve from terrible pain and it is a thing which alters you, for sure. xo

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Jul 4, 2020Liked by Amal El-Mohtar

Kind words. :)

Hope you feel better soon, Amal.

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Just wait. When you hit 40 years old your warranty will expire and everything will start breaking. I threw my back out putting together a tiny shelf for my son.

In terms of relief, aside from a good whiskey sour, I can't suggest much but watching a good movie or reading a good book to distract you from the pain. May I suggest a new novel from an unknown author pair about a Time War. I keep hearing it's pretty good. :)

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I have been drinking more tea lately which is such a joy. My friends invited me to dinner last night and we had many many small cups of Chinese tea. <3

I hope your back calms down!

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I pulled my shoulder this week, and was astounded by how quickly it has gone from pain that means I needed help to sit up in bed to a vague memory, just a few days & nothing like the way I injured that same shoulder last year, where it lingered for a month & I'm still in PT. It sounds like your injury this week was immediately worse than either, but that you have had a similarly miraculous shift from bright consuming pain to shocking freedom of awareness. I'm so glad it has eased!

My joy this week is that I have joined the cult of snail! I have been experimenting with the Benton snail bee steam cream; I picked up the sample pack you had linked to so thank you for that. My skin feels so weirdly plump and it is delightful.

I hope your tomorrow is yet more lovely than today!

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The millennial condition--you got that right, sister. Every time I get up from my office chair, I have to rearrange my entire physical configuration. I just tell myself that makes me no different from Optimus Prime.

My latest happiness is that I've finally finished tweaking my falafel recipe. I've been chasing this down since I first had it in Israel in 1999. Been working literally my entire adult life to make it work the way I want. Last night's dinner was like being seventeen again. I slept like a damn rock last night. Major life goal complete.

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I'm so sorry about your back. I hope you are feeling some relief.

For me, my garden, birds, and myriad critters are my biggest source of joy.

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