Listicle May 31, 2026

A shiny Penny in the morning light, perfectly illuminating her whiskers :) Credit: A O'Brien

1. Fave time of year: this. Now. All of it. The edge of summer. The full season laying open before us. The hope! The promise! The exhaustion by August! BRING IT ON.

   

   Dramatic, no? Credit: A O'Brien

2. Fave locals: the wild ponies of Assateague Island. Camped on the beach a few weeks ago, lucky enough to have perfect weather. Five year weather, we call it, since we seem to only really get good camping weather there about once every five years. We were certainly due. Had a fantastic parade of the wild ones along the beach the first morning. Utter delight.

   

   Lil canter through the sand does a body good Credit A O'Brien

   

   Silly little foal trying to get a rise out of his more pragmatic mother Credit: A O'Brien

3. Fave writing implement: cactus lights. Many authors have a certain place or special routine where they get good stuff done: a special chair, desk, writing implement, etc. Me? Gotta plug in my Target cactus lights. Trust me. They help.

   
   

   

4. Fave flowers: this time of year, its the ol' galaxy petunias and bachelor buttons for me. The colors are so vibrant they are practically singing.

   

   

5. Fave zine: some colleagues of mine were in the habit last year of swapping zines and it was fantastic. Then life started happening to everyone and we got off routine (no cactus lights!). So we called each other back into action with a simple prompt: Fuck it. That's right: make a zine in the spirit of Fuck It. Say no more. Don't over think it. Just get it done and send it. Here's the start of mine, a la, ransom note cut-outs.