Hi there. Sorry for hitting you up twice on a Sunday, but here’s a friendly reminder that this Tuesday we’re running the July Check-In. We’d love your help. Tell us how you’re feeling, how you’re dealing, what’s new in your recovery (or non-recovery). Tell us if you’ve had a good day, or week, or year, even though 2025 is — well, 2025 is 2025.
It’s good to get stuff out, even if it’s anonymous. Think of the TSB Check-In as your personal scream pillow.
The perfect length is 150-300 words. Here’s a great one to give you an idea of what we’re looking for:
My wife took off on a foreign trip with a friend. Through a combination of privilege and initiative, she got to travel internationally, a lot more than I had before we met. I've been fortunate enough to go to Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, and London, but by 40, I had hoped to visit at least four continents, so I'm a little behind.
Since we have a little kid, we made each other a deal that we could take big vacations like this with a friend until our girl is big enough to be able to really enjoy them. I started immediately thinking of my friends and those I could see enjoying spending a week with.
Then some thoughts I'm less proud of started:
"Which ones smoke weed?"
"How easy is it to find weed and coke in X location?"
"Which of my friends is going to put up with my bullshit on this front?"
"Do any of my fellow bullshitters actually have their shit together enough to obtain a passport, get on a flight to Mexico or South America and be able to survive for a whole week ... and what trouble are they going to get into?"
"Will my bullshitter with a felony record be able to get into the country?"
"Why did my favorite bullshitter have to kill himself?"
I just got on the Cormac McCarthy death bandwagon and started reading “Blood Meridian.” An early quote is "there is no such joy in the tavern as upon the road thereto" — spoken by a goddamn Mennonite. I hate it when fictional characters are so perceptive as they disapprove of my life choices.
EMAIL US HERE: tsbcheckins@thesmallbow.com SUBJECT: JULY CHECK-IN
It will be published next TUESDAY, July 1.
Anyone who contributes gets a FREE month of TSB’s Sunday edition, like the one you just received in your inbox a few hours ago.
Okay — go back to your Sunday. — AJD
All Illustrations by Edith Zimmerman — sign up for Drawing Links here.
