Happy birthday!! I needed #8 in my 20s when I inexplicably stayed with a mean dentist for YEARS. She made me cry on multiple occasions! Life is too short!
Maybe the reason I fully agree with this entire list (like literally every single item) is because my birthday is tomorrow and we are strongly aligned?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EDAN!!! I hope you are eating cake at this very minute and it's only one serving of many on this special day!
I do want to honor and emphasize #3 on your list especially—my kids are adult-ish now, but when they were in my clutches I tried so hard to be intentional and careful with the way I talked about bodies. The societal fucked up body issue forces are so! strong! and so! sneaky! that everything you can do to counter them as a parent is vital.
Omg happy birthday TOMORROW! We will eat all the cake we desire. That body image shit is heavy and all pervasive. Let us shuck that and be freeeee! xoxo
I’m so late to the birthday party but it’s still your birthday week, right? Happy birthday, Edan! You can probably predict my obvious favorites: 13! 28! 31! 36! And as the mom of three kids, I’m here to vouch for 11–SO LOUD! But also: 2. After ten years working on a draft, I think I’ve finally figured out the craft issue and I am pretty damn thrilled about it.
I’m so glad to have gotten to know you here and I wish you another year of brilliant unconventionality! ✨
So many good points here. I recently started making a point when driving, by myself or with others, of saying out loud "Ohhhhh look at that nice doggieee!!" in my biggest cute baby voice (which I really only use for animals) every time I see a dog.
I tried for a while but left him behind once when we went on vacation and he's been in the junk drawer ever since. Somewhat neglectful mother hasn't even once asked after his whereabouts.
Happy Belated Birthday, Friend! Loved seeing these and always love getting some insights from you! I think one of the best things that I had growing up was the opportunity to become bored. I think that helped me develop inner worlds that I could hide and grow in.
Also in therapy I have shaped my anxiety around being a risk management robot that has been needing a tune up and for some reason that helps me breathe a little deeper too.
Like all great artists, they combine foundational technique with a unique wildness. And they commit to it. A lesson for artists of any medium. — yes!!!!! And you do this so well. Thank you for this list. I adore your work.
(Fake lips are also a scourge. When I see them I think, “This person rejected their own DNA to look like they had an allergic reaction to shellfish.”) 🤣
"Thanks, for airing your concerns, Edan, but I'll take it from here." 😬
oh my god PRISCILLA IS THAT YOU ;)
Happy birthday!! I needed #8 in my 20s when I inexplicably stayed with a mean dentist for YEARS. She made me cry on multiple occasions! Life is too short!
Thank you! Mean dentists should be shamed out of business! There are so many better, nicer dentists out there. Life IS too short.
Maybe the reason I fully agree with this entire list (like literally every single item) is because my birthday is tomorrow and we are strongly aligned?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EDAN!!! I hope you are eating cake at this very minute and it's only one serving of many on this special day!
I do want to honor and emphasize #3 on your list especially—my kids are adult-ish now, but when they were in my clutches I tried so hard to be intentional and careful with the way I talked about bodies. The societal fucked up body issue forces are so! strong! and so! sneaky! that everything you can do to counter them as a parent is vital.
Omg happy birthday TOMORROW! We will eat all the cake we desire. That body image shit is heavy and all pervasive. Let us shuck that and be freeeee! xoxo
Kids don’t need more than one structured, extracurricular activity. Let them do nothing. Boredom breeds creativity.
I’m so late to the birthday party but it’s still your birthday week, right? Happy birthday, Edan! You can probably predict my obvious favorites: 13! 28! 31! 36! And as the mom of three kids, I’m here to vouch for 11–SO LOUD! But also: 2. After ten years working on a draft, I think I’ve finally figured out the craft issue and I am pretty damn thrilled about it.
I’m so glad to have gotten to know you here and I wish you another year of brilliant unconventionality! ✨
Thank you so much, Patricia! xoxo
#17 is answered by #44
I will continue to not use AI to keep my brain sharp and limber to better understand why others are doing so!
So many good points here. I recently started making a point when driving, by myself or with others, of saying out loud "Ohhhhh look at that nice doggieee!!" in my biggest cute baby voice (which I really only use for animals) every time I see a dog.
You are doing it right!
Happy birthday, Edan! Signed, Grandmother of a Dead Tamagotchi
Legitimate LOL! Thank you! (I refuse to play with my kids but here I am playing my grandkid Tamagotchis during my workday!)
I tried for a while but left him behind once when we went on vacation and he's been in the junk drawer ever since. Somewhat neglectful mother hasn't even once asked after his whereabouts.
babies having babies...
Happy Belated Birthday, Friend! Loved seeing these and always love getting some insights from you! I think one of the best things that I had growing up was the opportunity to become bored. I think that helped me develop inner worlds that I could hide and grow in.
Also in therapy I have shaped my anxiety around being a risk management robot that has been needing a tune up and for some reason that helps me breathe a little deeper too.
Thanks, Robby! And oh my goodness this robot imagery could not be cuter!
Treasure the friends you’ve known forever.
Reading + a hot bath = heaven.
Wrinkles are sexy because they convey clarity with, and confidence in, one’s present moment.
There is still so much to learn.
:)
Happiest of birthdays Aquarius queen!! Will be repeating 43 in my head every time I feel lost in a draft. Making stories up really is magic.
Thank you! xoxo
Like all great artists, they combine foundational technique with a unique wildness. And they commit to it. A lesson for artists of any medium. — yes!!!!! And you do this so well. Thank you for this list. I adore your work.
Wow, thank you so much!
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Just because your teenager’s process of individuation is normal doesn’t make it any less painful.
This still fells me. Probably always will. Such is parenthood. Such is divorcing your insecurities from theirs!
It's an exquisite torture, parenting! Hang in there.
(Fake lips are also a scourge. When I see them I think, “This person rejected their own DNA to look like they had an allergic reaction to shellfish.”) 🤣
ha ha they kill me!
Thank you! 24, 25, 44 for me today.
Thank you!
Happy birthday :-)
(Coming from https://austinkleon.substack.com/p/everything-has-been-saved-from-a)
Thank you! (An I love Austin's substack so this is a thrill....)