Hi everyone,

There was a near-total lunar eclipse last night, at 9:18 pm, and I wish I could tell you how beautiful it was, but in fact it was completely hidden by the marine layer, and honestly, that feels kinda thematic right now.

Current Phase

Normally this is where I’d tell you how the writing is coming along, particularly Viper. This month I don’t have that update. I’ve barely written, and I’ve been blocked on Viper in particular. Often when I return to a draft after a break, it feels like there’s some surface rust that I have to brush away with my hands before I can write again. This time it's rusted solid, and I can’t do anything but scratch at it with my fingernails, one pathetic sentence at a time.

In the meantime my brain has been yammering for something to eat, and I’ve been letting it gnaw on Aleister Crowley’s Thoth tarot. Step One of Thoth tarot is becoming conversant with astrology and Qabalah (distinct from Kabbalah; apparently the occultists are out here doing Judaism fanfiction) so my brain is currently installing a dense network of arbitrary symbolic associations.

Does it count as procrastination if you weren’t getting anything done anyway? I don’t know.

Looking Ahead

There’s been a lot of life happening: the beginning of the school year, two sick kids, a five-hour flight tomorrow, and a wedding to attend on Sunday. Maybe I’ll wake up on Monday and the fog will have cleared and I can brush off the rust and get to work. More likely not, but I live in hope.

In the meantime—thanks for reading this, instead of the version where I pretend everything’s fine.

See you next time the moon's full!