It’s the day before my first day of work. My backpack is packed. Lunch is made, and ready to pack. I will have my outfit laid out tonight. I need to get gas. I’m good at first days. I will not be anxious.

Dear tanks trans woman talking loudly about Maoism at the coffee shop: you are my sister, and I love you, and I’m just drinking my coffee and reading.

Just spent about 4 hours doing the “choose a few hundred poems to submit to magazines in the fall and batch them into 5 poem packets” part of being poet laureate, so that feels good.

Going through my poems written since last fall, and I think this may have been my best poetry year ever.

new job starts monday. spending today at a library, drinking coffee, merging poetry packets together, getting ready for fall submission season. the good life.

The to do system:

  • all unique to dos go into the back of my pocket notebook.
  • Repeating tasks go into Apple reminders, as a widget I have on my homescreen.
  • Every week I put that week’s tasks on a sticky note.
  • Review the to do list weekly. Cut tasks regularly.

New notebook cover/wallet, which holds:

  • a field notes notebook
  • uniball vision elite pen blue/black.
  • 3x5 card with post it notes for daily to do list.
  • License/bank card/insurance card/gym card.
  • An AirTag.

My notebook is basically my wastebook, where any stray thoughts go into. My last cover was nice, but too bulky. This holds basically everything I need to leave the house, walk someplace, and write a while.

Live in text.

No poem today. Sometimes you have to refill the well.