What to do when shit happens

Brothers, birthdays, and The Big Lebowski: finding joy when the rain turns brown

Jul 11, 2020

“Shit hits the fan so fertilizer can rain.” - Jackie Viramontez

Outside our house, the sky is blue, the ocean sparkles, the vegetables my husband planted in the side yard are thriving like they can’t wait to make the leap from our container garden to our plates.

It’s not fair and I know it. There is no reason at all why some of us should be sheltering from Covid in what my neighbor often refers to as “Paradise” while others swelter in humidity, or the desert, or, in the case of my younger brother, wake up in a river of sludge courtesy of a rupture in a sewer line leading to his Seattle apartment.

He needed to vent so he sent all of his siblings an email around 10:00 PM the other night that began like this:

“So I woke up to the worst thing on Friday morning with the sewer broken and spewing inches of sludge onto my floors and have been staying in a hotel with Conrad [his German Shepherd]. because my house looks and smells like shit…”

But the email ended like this:

“The upside is there's an opportunity here for a country song so shoot me some lyrics and don't be shy just say whatever comes to mind and I'll make a song and send you all a video. Group participation is healthy right now.”

Well that there is resilience of the highest order. So we stepped up, worked into the wee hours of barely 11:00, and supplied him with lyrics that reflected our love more than our talent and gave us all a few laughs. More than that, I went to bed full of admiration and the lesson he’d taught us: that sometimes joy comes disguised as a shitstorm.

My other brother, the one who had a birthday yesterday, gave me a similar gift many years ago when we were two teenagers on a cross-country trip and ran out of money and patience in the middle of ten days of rain in Port Angeles, WA. I wrote about that and the near-detonation of an explosive argument here. To get away from me, he picked up a copy of Robert Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land.” Then…

“After a while, the air stopped vibrating with tension and I remember being aware of the rain, the turn of pages, and my brother’s breathing. And then he laughed.
“What?” I asked him, seizing this as an olive branch, or at least a sign that the storm had passed.
I don’t remember the page he was on or what made him laugh but I saw that he was reading “Stranger in a Strange Land,” one of three Heinlein novels in a set he’d been given before we left. I’d already started it and wanted to keep going but it was, after all, his book. We started talking about the parts we had both read and then one of us, I don’t remember who, started reading it out loud. We took turns and kept taking turns until we finished it.”

My brother read aloud to me. I read aloud to him. We kept it up for the rest of the trip. It got us home. I still feel the simple joy of connection and delight when I hear the right voice read me the right story at the right time.

So, thinking of you and all who are working hard to find joy and resilience in the face of rising heat and virus numbers or pouring rain, those of you who are out in the streets, on the phone to elected officials, or organizing for racial justice using every tool you have, here are some stories told with a human voice. May they take you away for a while. May they bring you joy.

Likewise Fiction

Every other week from October 2019 to April 2020, Mike Sakasegawa selected a jewel of a story and read it aloud for his podcast Likewise Fiction. I knew Mike first as an activist who launched one of the grassroots groups I joined after the 2016 election. At some point, we both realized we loved the written word. He not only writes himself but cares deeply about supporting artists and writers we might miss because they have long been excluded from traditional publishing. His podcast series set out to bring to us the stories and voices of women and nonbinary writers, writers of color, and LGBTQ+ writers.

You’ll find fantasy, contemporary fiction grounded in the here and now, stories that open like windows into the human drama. There are writers only a few have heard of. There are stories by best-selling authors whose books have been made into movies. Each one is accompanied by a piece of original art by Mel Paisley and going to this page to pick the one to read is a feast for the eye. And Mike’s voice is a joy to listen to.

You can check out Mike’s writing here and here and learn more about him at his website here.

True Stories Well Told

You need to laugh, right? You need to be brought out into the middle of the ocean, feel the water on your skin, face down a school of sharks, and live to laugh again. You need to hear the story of “Seaman” by Frank DiPalermo. You can watch him tell it or just lie back and let the waves wash over you.

Giveaways!

“Deceit and Other Possibilities” by Vanessa Hua - Audiobook

If you want a longer listen, Vanessa Hua is giving away free copies of the audiobook version of her story collection “Deceit and Other Possibilities” to two winners on July 25th. To enter the drawing, message Vanessa at info@vanessahua.com. Vanessa is the author of the national bestseller “A River of Stars,” the gripping story of two pregnant women who escape the house where they were to deliver their babies so they would become American citizens, and flee to pursue their own versions of the American dream. I am a fan of Vanessa Hua’s clear, elegant prose and fascinating, very human characters. She is also drawn to a couple of the questions that occupy me constantly: What is family? What is home? I’ve already bought “Deceit and Other Possibilities” on Audible. The paperback edition of “River of Stars” will be arriving soon to be one of my summer reads.

“With or Without You” by Caroline Leavitt

Or, enter to win two copies of Caroline Leavitt’s latest novel, “With or Without You” and start reading it before the August 4th launch date by entering this giveaway. The giveaway ends July 16 at 10 PM Eastern time. This one’s for U.S. residents only. This story is the second that draws from an experience she had years ago when she was plunged into a medical coma. When the character in this novel emerges from she begins to make changes she “didn’t know she wanted.” Here’s how to enter:

Twitter

#Giveaway: Retweet and tag a friend to enter for a chance to win copies of my new book “With or Without You” for you and a friend before it goes on sale 8/4! Giveaway ends 10pm Eastern July 16, age 18+, U.S. only. Winners chosen at random. https://www.workman.com/products/with-or-without-you @algonquinbooks

Facebook

#Giveaway: Share and tag a friend to enter for a chance to win copies of my new book “With or Without You” for you and a friend before it goes on sale 8/4! Giveaway ends 10pm Eastern July 16, age 18+, U.S. only. Winners chosen at random.https://www.workman.com/products/with-or-without-you @algonquinbooks

Both Vanessa and Caroline will be joining us for Spark interviews in the next few weeks.

And, for Spark subscribers only, I’m observing my birthday (and my brother’s because we are exactly the same age until Monday) by hosting a giveaway of any book up to $20 from the Spark Community Bookshop. Leave a comment or reply to this email to enter. Send me your name by Thursday, July 16th at midnight Pacific time, and I will draw the winner on Friday the 17th. Winner will be announced in next Saturday’s edition of Spark. Then you get to pick out your book and I’ll make sure it is shipped to you. If you know someone who loves to read, or might enjoy Spark, invite them to subscribe, check us out, and enter the drawing. We’ll be having more of these from time to time so stay tuned.

And More Ear Candy from Selected Shorts

And here are some of the episodes of Selected Shorts I’ve added to my list to listen to over the next couple of weeks:

To laugh:More Funny Favorites from Andy Borowitz: Farewell My Appetizer by S.J. Pearlman, Shiftless Little Loafers by Susan Orlean, and Awake by Jenny Allen.

To drink in the music of her words:Celebrating Toni Morrison, hosted by Tyari Jones with readings of Toni Morrison’s work by Anika Noni Rose, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Phylicia Rashad. The episode includes a clip of Morrison herself responding with grace and humor to the idea that some stories are not meant to be heard.

And because, Italy: Journeys, Memories, and Miracles: Italian Short Stories, hosted by Jhumpa Lahiri with readings by John Turturro (The Long Voyage by Leonardo Sciascia) and more.

Before I go…

Turns out we’re not immune from the odd s-storm here in the land of blue skies and ocean breezes. For the past week or so, our electricity has surged on and off, flickered to life when we least expected it, blown a fuse on the dryer, and fried our cable connection. Writing this issue of Spark was done in between outages and electrician visits. In the big scheme of things, no big deal, right? But gotta say, when the cable went out last weekend, we found ourselves edging towards a kind of panic as TV time rolled around. That’s time time my mate and I spend a little time together, warming ourselves before the device that serves as a hearth these days. The silver lining: at that point we had electricity and an old DVD player we’d not thought about in years. And a DVD of The Big Lebowski.

The Dude abides and, after a re-run with popcorn and beer, so do we.

Let me know how you are doing, what you are wondering about, what you are reading this summer, and if you have any memories of reading aloud or being read to, share them with us. It’s always really good to hear from you in the comments below or in my inbox. I am grateful for all of you.

What to do when shit happens

Brothers, birthdays, and The Big Lebowski: finding joy when the rain turns brown

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