Work/Life Balance, with songs by Lin-Manuel

Feat. House of Gucci, Fish Sandwiches, and the Beach

Hi friends! How’s everybody doing out there? I know I'm not the only daughter/mother/person who watched Encanto and felt this song deep in my bones.

I used to think about the hours in Beyonce’s days, and how she somehow had a bigger stash than everyone else, because she was simply too productive, too impressive, but now I only think about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s. One of the many things that I love about Lin-Manuel (in addition, of course, to his output and his bookstore) is that he always has bags under his eyes. Truth in advertising! The man is tired.

This week—the endless expanse between Christmas and New Year’s, when most people are OOO—has always been hard for me, because I am terrible at taking breaks. Vacation? What is that? Owning the bookstore has been excellent for underscoring that feeling—no out of office replies in retail, especially over the holidays—but also, for the first time in my life, I actually understand that it’s not something inherently admirable. If the last two years have taught me anything, it’s that everything is better in moderation, and that work/life balance is actually something to aim for, especially after the all life/no work of 2020, which was no fucking good. This week is also a small piece of an expanse of time where I don’t know quite what to do with my hands, so to speak, a river between islands. This Time Tomorrow is done but not out until May, and though I’m working on adaptations of both TTT and All Adults Here, those aren’t full-on at the moment, and honestly seem more like fun projects—dreams!—than actual work. I should be doing what I always do, and what I advise other writers, which is to be at least knee-deep in something new when my book is published. If you’re not, it can be really hard to find your footing, and I am a person who likes to know where to put their feet. But what is should these days? I’m not sure that’s a thing anymore. At this point, nothing seems sturdy, and I’m not taking anything for granted. I used to plan my life two years ahead, and now I can’t tell you what February will look like. I suppose if that’s what we’ve got, it’s best to focus on what’s right in front of us. With that in mind, here are a few things I’m enjoying in the present tense this week:

-Movie screeners! Due to the movie adaptations mentioned above, I’m in a screenwriting union, and man! Movies arrive! Zillions of them! I am rich with movies! And they have my name on them, which I know is to keep me from pirating the movie or what have you, but instead makes me feel a little bit like I’ve written all of them, or that they were made just for me. Here is Adam Driver and Lady Gaga and me in the middle.

-Lady Gaga and Adam Driver’s Italian accents.

-Lady Gaga and Adam Driver’s costumes.

-The thought of moving to Italy and sitting in a garden and eating a very large lunch every day.

-In reality, eating as many fish sandwiches as possible.

-Learning to love the beach. This week, we ate dinner (see above) on a picnic table on the beach next to a guy playing air drums along to the Led Zeppelin pouring out of his portable speaker. He had a bandana tied tight around each bicep and it was glorious.

-Short, powerful women. In addition to Lady Gaga, who has never looked shorter than when acting opposite Adam Driver, I have been absolutely living for Christina Ricci as the murderous Misty on Yellowjackets. It is giving me nightmares, but I love it anyway.

-What Is Love? A new picture book by my absolute favorites, Carson Ellis and Mac Barnett. My copy is waiting for me at home, and I am so ready. Here is one page. It’s already my favorite book of 2022, and I haven’t even read it yet.

Let’s all hope that Omicron passes swiftly, and that whatever comes next—frogs, boils, fish sandwiches falling from the sky—leaves room for hope and joy. Champagne for all. See you in 2022, whatever the hell it’s going to be. Let’s take it one step at a time.

Pre-order This Time Tomorrow here.