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Forgive me.

I've been busy. And I'm going to continue to be busy. The only time to rest is right now, so I'm taking a one-month break from the blog before returning in late January with new excitement– a lot more stories (including one about pie! Yay!), and an Exciting Lecture (yes, there are such things) I'll be giving at MOHAI on February 19th. 

Until then, please enjoy these four videos of different lengths of me talking and answering questions about buses, life, joy, grief, youth, ageing, publishing and everything else. I'll never be able to explain how much went into making these possible, or how much some of them didn't happen. I hope you enjoy them. Massive thanks to everyone listed in the videos and descriptions for any of this being possible.
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1. Nathan and Tom Eykemans at Elliott Bay

This is the now-legendary (for me, anyway!) show that apparently is one of Elliott Bay's highest-ever attended. I was told we beat out Bruce Springsteen! Not that it matters. What matters is not how many came, but who came. What a friendly crowd. A lot of people special to me were there that night. Can you feel it, especially toward the end as we get into Q&A? I still think about the question the girl asks at 1:34:34. I'd have a better answer now. Her tentative, raw vulnerability and the size of her query honestly contains more wisdom than anything I could've come up with in response. Reflections of my own on the event here.

2. Nathan and Susanna Ryan at Third Place

How can I explain how fun this was? I can't. Just watch the video. Plus, reflections on this lovefest here. How can I resist writing lovefest recaps after all my events? It never gets old. I'm always cowed into silence (or lovefest recapping) with unending gratitude.

3. Nathan as Life Goes On

This is a short one. Here I am reading a story that's meaningful to me at a festive bookselling event on Greenwood. I miscalculated the crowd; I made the error of baring my heart and soul with a story about death and grief at a delightful, high-spirited event that was more about cookies and meet'n'greeting. But I couldn't help myself. I include it here because this happens too. Every presenter knows that least-favorite sensation of asking for questions when there aren't any... But don't you love how Life takes charge as the video wears on, pulling us gently back into the sway of things? I think I had as much fun announcing Kim as I did reading my material!

4. Nathan and Tom Eykemans at the Greenwood Senior Center

This one was discreetly posted earlier, but I wanted to make sure everyone got a chance with it. Those seniors ask the best questions. I worked on a memory loss video for the GSC recently and had a great experience. Plus you get to listen to Tom again as well. Isn't he just the best? I think so.

Well, there you have it! Pardon me for giving you almost five hours of videos of me talking. I really like to blab away... but not as much as I like to listen, reflect, read, and write. Which is what I'm off to do now. Have a lovely holiday, enjoy these videos and/or the book, share them around and stop by again in late January!