It’s true:  I took a day off from the daily blog yesterday. I have the flu. Being sick is a lesson in vulnerability. My mind isn’t clear enough to really make sense. And I wonder if I should show up here. What to report?

The report is that I wrote some fine rough drafts at a poetry retreat Saturday. Then the flu arrived. And it snowed in Seattle. The kids don’t have school. Chris is at work. I worked half a day yesterday before admitting to myself that the flu is not a conducive writing environment.

I had high hopes I’d wake up healthy. Alas, here I am to tell you otherwise. So I’ll share a few lovely links with you instead.

I’m reading the galley of Austin Kleon’s new book “Keep Going.” If you don’t read his daily blog, you are missing out. He’s so good at writing about the human condition. He’s on my top ten list of artists I can’t get enough of. And yes, I ended a sentence with “of.” It’s wrong. I’ll call it the flu’s fault.

I wrote an article I really like for ParentMap. Although you can’t see my kids’ influence on this piece, it’s all over it. We had a blast talking about dating and relationships while I researched and wrote this piece.

“Joy Enough.” This is my kind of memoir, the lighter version. Heavier: “Heavy.” Read “Heavy” and you won’t be able to read another book for weeks because it’ll stop you in your tracks. In fact, “Joy Enough” was the first book I swallowed whole after reading “Heavy” in two days as 2018 became 2019. Back to “Joy Enough.” I’m really looking forward to reading the pages I turned over in it. It was a lyrical read full of good growth and thoughts on being human.

Have you guessed yet that I love thinking about the human condition? I’m a very human-y human being. Which makes me wonder what kind of human you are? I’d love to hear.