Hi!
Thank you for subscribing to my newsletter. I’m charmed and delighted and excited and a little shy. I’m coming to you from Day 4 in my quarantine hotel room in Vietnam, where I just moved. I always wonder, can you call it “moving” if it’s for a specific amount of time? Is that annoying? I suppose the concept of ~living abroad~ is generally kind of annoying in and of itself, so maybe I should just embrace it. Anyway, I’ve been sleeping a lot and trying to read Dune, but it is very confusing and I have found myself referring to Spark Notes for the first time since high school.
I am also coming to you about 5 months post graduation, fresh off a stint of living in my childhood bedroom, working at a deli, and feeling crazy and weird all the time. Multiple seasons have changed since the last time I wrote a word (by the way, happy Sp00ky Szn<3), and I really miss it! Writing is just a lot of fun and I would really like to get better at it. But unfortunately, I possess next to no self control or authority over myself, so I can’t be trusted to do it consistently in my journal. I also don’t have a strong enough grasp on any specific topic to start a niche blog. So, I’m going to do the only logical thing someone in my shoes could do and start sending a chaotic newsletter to my friends. Obviously!
The intention behind Kitchen Sink, and the impetus for the name, is to have a lil’ virtual nook in which to mess around and where any kind of writing goes. To actually write about the things rattling around in my brain instead of thinking about doing it or plotting elaborate articles that I’m not really ready to write. It is a much needed push to take myself less seriously and just start typing. It is “everything but the kitchen sink” (excuse the corniness), so you can expect this newsletter be any, all, or none of the following things:
A practice in turning vague writing ideas into readable essays
A diary
A spooky graveyard for half-baked article ideas that I want to experiment with
An ongoing meditation on this bizarre and creepy period of life
A love letter!
A hate letter :(
A record of what I’ve been paying attention to
A good story when I’ve got one
The dream is to send out an installment approximately once a week. I’m sure some of the writing will be Quite Bad, but I also believe some of it might be Kind Of Good! I’m hoping y’all gain some utility from reading it. ‘Utility’ is an economics term that means ‘use’, ‘benefit’, or ‘profit’, and I can use it because I was an economics minor in college. God, we’re already having fun.
Again, THANK YOU for subscribing to this. My favorite part of being a baby writer is tossing around ideas, edits, and works-in-progress with my peers and pals. So, if you have the time to read this and have thoughts or questions or suggestions, please comment! If you have your own work that you want eyes on, send it my way! And above all PLEASE write me back with updates on your life.
A big fat HOORAY for indulging in our hobbies! This is going to be really fun for me and I hope to make it fun for you too.
All my love-
Ryley <3