MARCH SADNESS 90S EDITION HALFTIME SCORES Bonnie Raitt 80, Portishead 38 Sade 101, Third Eye Blind 41 Tom Waits 103, Backstreet Boys 58 Billie Myers 84, Bob Dylan 72 Read, listen, vote by 9am 3/3 at marchxness.com

Hell yeah! Finally here!!!!!

Sharing because I'm hiking around Patagonia for a month and I need to remember which books to put on library e-reader--

Asking for a thing: what are your favorite hermit-crab stories? (Can be "that you've written" or "by somebody else")

Same and I think it’s because it’s not only incredibly misogynistic and mean, it’s also so deeply embarrassing and horrifying that the person who is the president of the United States is a cruel child

Need a dose of humor to kick off the week? Contributor @ambersparks.bsky.social published an article in @writersdigest.bsky.social on her love of dark humor! buff.ly/N4yiQuO

I wrote another essay, just out at my newsletter site.

One way to understand your own condition is to write something and spend a long time revising it. In revising you teach yourself. You find your own information buried in your body. It is still alive until you are not. —Fanny Howe, RIP

There’s still time to sign up for my Art of the Personal Essay 6-week @hugohouse.bsky.social class! We start May 5! Hope to see you there! hugohouse.org/product/the-...

It is Friday afternoon of a wild, wild week. And yet for me a reassuring one. My greatest fear was not of what they would do. It's that we would let them. And I'm seeing a lot of beautiful intransigence. From federal workers. From people all over the country obstructing ICE....

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde was nearing the end of her sermon for the inaugural prayer service on Tuesday when she took a breath and looked directly at President Trump. “I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” said Bishop Budde. nyti.ms/4jtuyHA

Hi besties my new chap is out: www.abodepress.com/product-page...

so here we go—like a sales force into the night!

Choices get painful in the @marchxness.bsky.social Elite 8, y'all. @erinkeane.bsky.social & @katecarmody8.bsky.social have written evenly-matched banger essays, & these are both great songs, swimming at the same confluence of dancer & hipster. Tough call!

I've often wondered (& @marchxness.bsky.social & @katecarmody8.bsky.social's essay reminded me to check) whether the 1975 has acknowledged that "Sex" clearly began as an attempt to cover "Friends"—which led me to Matty Healy calling "Friends" "the cool guys' 'Mr. Brightside.'" IT'S ALL CONNECTED.

Looks like LCD is pulling away—& that's the right outcome, but don't miss @ashiepants.bsky.social's @marchxness.bsky.social essay on "Dirrty" & growth via doing bad things, which gets better the more I think about it. @katecarmody8.bsky.social's on LCD & blooming late is also fantastic!

I’m a big fan of @ashiepants.bsky.social’s “Dirrty” essay (“under the influence of vodka, theft, and X-Tina”) but since my bracket is trashed I can follow my heart & get wistful with @katecarmody8.bsky.social ’s ode to “All My Friends,” LCD Soundsystem & late blooming. marchxness.com/sweet16-xtin...

Okay, so this is the one to watch: neck and neck, running up some big numbers. I'm totally Team LCD w/ @katecarmody8.bsky.social, but these are two great essays by writers w/ (it appears) very strong @marchxness.bsky.social ground games. Whoever wins could go all the way?

LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends" would have been my first choice to write about in the #Danceness draft, so I must throw my support behind this song I love with all my sincere heart, and @katecarmody8.bsky.social's lovely essay, in this round: marchxness.com/2ndround-mad...

But LCD Soundsystem is currently running off w/ the @marchxness.bsky.social ball, & that's how I voted too. "Friends" is a Big Song for many of us, & @katecarmody8.bsky.social is up to the task—tricky b/c Murphy's music is often already commenting on itself. ("Essayistic," Kate says. )

Awakenings (@emergejournal.bsky.social) is a stunning, inspiring anthology of 49 essays about the body. I was so moved by the courage of the contributors. I interviewed editor @dianegotauthor.bsky.social about what went into the book. Thank you @smokelong.bsky.social for publishing the interview.

New here, so sharing belated news I get to write about LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends” for @marchxness.bsky.social March Danceness! Stretch those hammies for bustin’ moves! 🪩💃🏻

👋 just found a bunch of you with this tool that reconnects you with your twitter follows!

Today in my newsletter, I’m sharing a go-to revision strategy for poetry & prose. ✍️ If you’re not yet subscribed to For Dear Life, I hope you’ll join me there! Thanks for your support. 💗🙏 Happy writing (& revising)— x M open.substack.com/pub/maggiesm...