Stuff I Loved 2025
Many a list, Chorus, Retreat, New Songs, and of course, the puppy
Hello friends,
I’m making my annual Favorite/Recommendation lists in a rare moment when both dogs are asleep and the little one isn’t nipping me. It snowed all day yesterday, Cleo’s first snow. She bounded around, dug ditches, lapped snowflakes and generally restored our jolliness. But harder to walk two dogs in the snow, given my ice phobia.
30 Poems in November is almost a wrap—we’re having our big reading/celebration on December 13 at Weinstein Auditorium at Smith College (2pm). I will be singing one of the new songs I wrote and emceeing the event. The fundraiser was a gorgeous success—we met our goal of $100,000, and ninety-four poets wrote every day. What an honor it was to be part of this.
I’m adding a list this year, see below. Instead of asking Google or ChatGPT, I’m going old school and asking my hive mind…
Questions Nerissa Wants Answers To
Not that you asked for Favorite Dog Trainer Videos, but so far, we like McCann’s. But what do we know? Educate me! Who are your go-to dog whisperers?
Should I learn to shuffle dance? Is it hard? Instagram reels make it look so fun! But even with the super slowed down version I still can’t really get the moves. How can I learn to shuffle dance?
I’m progressing rapidly with Russian via Duolingo and get lots of Perfects on my lessons. And. Yet. But. I suck. Yesterday I saw my Russian-born dental hygienist, and all I could remember to say was Спасибо! (Spa-SEE-ba, “thank you.”) And I even knew both до свидания (Doss-va-DAN-ya, “till we meet again”) AND Пака Пака (paka paka, “bye-bye”), but in the stress of the moment, I froze and just said “see ya’.” So my question is: does Duolingo even work? Or is it just a glorified game akin to Wordle?
Should I cut bangs? Too late! I did! Lila cut them over Thanksgiving. They are, apparently, curtain bangs. Picture below.
Does a decent printer exist? Has anyone in the history of the world ever loved their HP printer?
When will Cleo stop peeing on Johnny’s coat? When will Johnny remember not to leave it on the floor?
Should I run a Webinar on submitting one’s work to literary journals and magazines, querying agents and publishers and the like? Would you like that? I think I could be helpful to some of you in this regard. You really need to get your work out there!
Do you sing? If so, come see the Welcome Table Chorus at Bombyx in Florence MA on Dec. 16 7pm! You don’t live anywhere near there? No problem! You can live-stream it! And if you DO live nearby, why the heck aren’t you in our fabulous chorus? We’ve got a new session starting January 6!
Ok, here are the normal lists.
Podcasts I Loved
Ologies (this episode on ADHD!!)
History of English Language (here’s a cool one on breaking bread)
We Can Do Hard Things with Meggan Watterson (I think I liked this? It’s hard to tell with all the gushing. But I am curious to read her book Mary Magdalene Revealed)
This Ezra Klein episode with Patti Smith.
Books I Loved
Hard to pick favorites, so this isn’t in order. Just some books I read and loved this year. No Amazon links.
This is Happiness, Niall Williams
Time of the Child, Niall Williams
God’s Secretaries: the Making of the King James Bible, Adam Nicholson
Beatlebone, Kevin Barry
John and Paul: A Love Story, Ian Leslie
You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Maggie Smith
The Unbroken Coast, Nalini Jones
Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller (I liked Circe better, tbh)
Like Family, Erin White
What else should I read? Did anyone read Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo or Matt Haig’s The Life Impossible?
Movies I Loved
Anchorman: The Legend of Ray Burgundy Why did it take us so long to watch this?? Johnny, Tom and I were rolling on the floor.
Wicked Part One—I watched this on the plane flying home from France. I loved it so much I didn’t want the plane to land! Haven’t seen part 2 yet.
Casablanca—saw this for the third time. Johnny had never seen it. I got it on a whole other level because of finally focusing in on what the German occupation of France was really like. I want to watch this movie every year for the rest of my life.
Conclave—A GREAT MOVIE!!!!!
A Real Pain––Perfect. Amazing.
On my wish list: Deliver Me From Nowhere; Wicked Part 2. What else should I see?
TV shows I Loved
The Americans––Honestly, this is one of the reasons I wanted to learn Russian. This show depicts what it was like growing up in the 80s during the Cold War. The show starts out decently, but it gets better, deeper, more interesting with each season. Stick with it to the end!
The Diplomat—haven’t finished Season 3, but as you see above, I adore Keri Russell’s projects.
Un Village Francais—Where to begin? This is really top-notch television—think The Crown or The Sopranos. “Villeneuve” is a mid-size town right on the border of Occupied France and Vichy France. The action begins in June 1940 when France is invaded and taken over by the Germans. Following a dozen or so characters over the course of the war, we see how every character had to sacrifice either their lives or their morals in either resisting or collaborating with the Germans. Nothing is simple or obvious. The acting is first-rate and so is the cinematography. Watch the version with subtitles.
Music
The Outlaws Tour with Waxahatchie, Sheryl Crow, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. OMG OMG OMG.
Our new chorus!!! Which you can join, did I mention that?
Getting to play with and sing “Closer to Fine” with the Indigo Girls at River Roads in July.
(I think I’m going to quit Spotify and join Qobuz as soon as I can organize myself to do so. Will report on this next time and explain all the reasons why. But I’m running out of time before my pub date with this newsletter!)
Retreats, Workshops, Accountability
Though it might be fun to just hibernate for 3 months, January Retreat will be the weekend of January 23-25, 2026. Generative writing retreat, open to all genres. Come in person or via Zoom–-the retreat is hybrid! Per-day option also available; email writingitupinthegarden@gmail.com for information.
Spring Equinox Retreat will be the weekend of March 20-22, 2026. Springtime is a great time to start a new project or go deeper into an existing one. Generative writing retreat, open to all genres. Come in person or via Zoom–-the retreat is hybrid! Per-day option also available; email writingitupinthegarden@gmail.com for information.
Workshop Enrollment for Winter Session is open, but all slots are taken except for Wednesday afternoon 12:20-2:30pm. Email writingitupinthegarden@gmail.com for information. And finally, Welcome Table Chorus is open for Winter Term enrollment here.
That all, folks! Have a wonderful December and stay well.
Love, Nerissa
THANK YOU for the Niall Williams recommendation! My husband and I just started reading Time Of The Child last night and we are already like, “we are in the hands of a master!” We were laughing aloud and stopping to re-savor certain sentences several times already, just in the first few pages. So glad you put him on our radar ❣️Happy holidays to you and yours.