I am up early and this is the first thing I’ve read today—So moving and so beautifully written. Thank you for bringing your clear, human voice back to this space. I had made a note to find more of your writing after I read “Your phone isn’t a drug” in The New York Times in November. Now I remember why that column had such an impact on me and made me curious to know more about your view of the world, this one and others. Perhaps your father’s continuing existence is now a new portal for you to explore. Take good care of yourself and please keep writing for the love of it, not the numbers. 🙏
Hey Kat, this really hit home for me. Thanks for sharing a bit of what you are going through. My father also came to me in dreams when he passed, as did my sister. A quick tip: The 40 Days of Mourning that they honor in Orthodox Christianity and other faiths is real. After these 40 days (or thereabouts), my father seemed to have entered a different place, one more detached from this one (not that he doesn't visit, but it is different and a lot less frequent). So appreciate your time with him, even if it is only in dreams.
its funny i rarely read books but when my dad got his stage 4 cancer diagnosis i read every waking moment that i didn’t have to work. i think that went on for weeks
happy to see you writing again and doing the show, but it’s perfectly acceptable to also take the time you need. i am so sorry for your loss ❤️
"So the next morning I called my uncle and invited him to breakfast. He was fine – confused by the sudden hospitality, but fine. He couldn’t come. So my dad came instead."
HOLY SHIT that spooked the fuck outta me! Prophetic dreams has always been an interest of mine, part of my buy-in on psychic powers being real. Damn, girl. That hits.
Obv you know I've always been a fan, but also a scab and never found the dough on the right week to buy an annual sub for a bit, just to say I care. Deeply sympathetic for your loss, no shame in your flub in output in those circumstances. Respect your cancelling/refunding for those that did pay, ya got integrity, even though again, in this case, pretty understandable. Praying for him, and for you, and your husband and son tonight.
Meanwhile, 2026 predictions: Man I dunno. Try listening to Kingpilled (and don't be ashamed to skip 20min at a time bc he tends to go on long monologue tangents), that guy has a crazy record on predictions, and his positivity is infectious (if you can hold the theory of mind to be a right-winger). I call him "John the Baptist of the New Right." As it stands, he predicts some windfalls on tax refunds related to tariffs and trade deals and DOGE, and the economy beginning to right itself as jobs on-shore and fusion plants take off. So I'll put a few eggs in his basket and cross my fingers for all of us to get a better economy in 2026!
Hi Katya, thank you for writing again and once more, my condolences. My father will start his chemo perhaps on Friday, so that's how it's going to be a gritty year for my family.
And what else I can do? I can only turn around my life. Selling what I no longer need. Pitching for publication. Try to be there for him and mom.
The Anerican Dreamland, the cyber-suburbia I told you, excites me, all the good Americans sharing their lives and wisdom. Including you and your achievements.
I wish the best for your family this year, and all the bliss and grace for your father.
Louis Menand described The Bell Jar as the distaff counterpart/classic feminine rewrite of The Catcher in the Rye, he classified a number of works as essentially motifs on that book; most recently I'd argue the Perks of Being a Wallflower is one, but that is from the early Oughts (especially in movie form); has anyone read a book that you'd classify as a late-2010s/2020s equivalent? Notably the movie version of Perks includes a zombie media motif, the typewriter, obviously at some level the overflowing angst of adolescence and realization of the adult world with tragic or deadly in some cases consequences coarses through the memified notion of authenticity on the podcast medium today, although it's a shame "phoniness" has fallen out of fashion as a descriptor (being an adult means recognizing neither are real imo)
Thanks for letting us know, and I'm really sorry to hear it.
I'm excited about the musical that I'm producing and directing, which opens this weekend. It's meant that the New Year has mostly been about, like, trying to track down volunteers and organize rehearsals and debug wireless microphones instead of reflection on the past and future, but my hope is that starting the year with a Big Creative Thing will be a harbinger of a year where I'm more on top of doing the Big Creative Things that I so often find myself lacking time to actually work on.
I am up early and this is the first thing I’ve read today—So moving and so beautifully written. Thank you for bringing your clear, human voice back to this space. I had made a note to find more of your writing after I read “Your phone isn’t a drug” in The New York Times in November. Now I remember why that column had such an impact on me and made me curious to know more about your view of the world, this one and others. Perhaps your father’s continuing existence is now a new portal for you to explore. Take good care of yourself and please keep writing for the love of it, not the numbers. 🙏
I am a sucker for new beginnings. I welcome the American Dreamland, as I have welcomed its previous incarnations.
I still feel unmoored after my father passed Christmas Eve 2024. I wish you and your family all the best.
Hey Kat, this really hit home for me. Thanks for sharing a bit of what you are going through. My father also came to me in dreams when he passed, as did my sister. A quick tip: The 40 Days of Mourning that they honor in Orthodox Christianity and other faiths is real. After these 40 days (or thereabouts), my father seemed to have entered a different place, one more detached from this one (not that he doesn't visit, but it is different and a lot less frequent). So appreciate your time with him, even if it is only in dreams.
I'm so sorry for your loss Katherine.
its funny i rarely read books but when my dad got his stage 4 cancer diagnosis i read every waking moment that i didn’t have to work. i think that went on for weeks
happy to see you writing again and doing the show, but it’s perfectly acceptable to also take the time you need. i am so sorry for your loss ❤️
I’m sorry for your loss.
Consider reading “The Orphan Master’s Son”
"So the next morning I called my uncle and invited him to breakfast. He was fine – confused by the sudden hospitality, but fine. He couldn’t come. So my dad came instead."
HOLY SHIT that spooked the fuck outta me! Prophetic dreams has always been an interest of mine, part of my buy-in on psychic powers being real. Damn, girl. That hits.
Obv you know I've always been a fan, but also a scab and never found the dough on the right week to buy an annual sub for a bit, just to say I care. Deeply sympathetic for your loss, no shame in your flub in output in those circumstances. Respect your cancelling/refunding for those that did pay, ya got integrity, even though again, in this case, pretty understandable. Praying for him, and for you, and your husband and son tonight.
Meanwhile, 2026 predictions: Man I dunno. Try listening to Kingpilled (and don't be ashamed to skip 20min at a time bc he tends to go on long monologue tangents), that guy has a crazy record on predictions, and his positivity is infectious (if you can hold the theory of mind to be a right-winger). I call him "John the Baptist of the New Right." As it stands, he predicts some windfalls on tax refunds related to tariffs and trade deals and DOGE, and the economy beginning to right itself as jobs on-shore and fusion plants take off. So I'll put a few eggs in his basket and cross my fingers for all of us to get a better economy in 2026!
I was very moved by this. God bless you.
Hi Katya, thank you for writing again and once more, my condolences. My father will start his chemo perhaps on Friday, so that's how it's going to be a gritty year for my family.
And what else I can do? I can only turn around my life. Selling what I no longer need. Pitching for publication. Try to be there for him and mom.
The Anerican Dreamland, the cyber-suburbia I told you, excites me, all the good Americans sharing their lives and wisdom. Including you and your achievements.
I wish the best for your family this year, and all the bliss and grace for your father.
Condolences to you and yours. When I lost my mom, it felt like I was orphaned. It made me want to spend more time with my dad at least.
Surely no melody ever did more juicetice to a poem than this rendering by Mr Donovan Leitch?
https://youtu.be/hd4yIoXdQtU?si=8PGEhslfq9XDxdTa
_The entire album is one of a kind)
Donation button Please DEFAULT FRIEND!!
Louis Menand described The Bell Jar as the distaff counterpart/classic feminine rewrite of The Catcher in the Rye, he classified a number of works as essentially motifs on that book; most recently I'd argue the Perks of Being a Wallflower is one, but that is from the early Oughts (especially in movie form); has anyone read a book that you'd classify as a late-2010s/2020s equivalent? Notably the movie version of Perks includes a zombie media motif, the typewriter, obviously at some level the overflowing angst of adolescence and realization of the adult world with tragic or deadly in some cases consequences coarses through the memified notion of authenticity on the podcast medium today, although it's a shame "phoniness" has fallen out of fashion as a descriptor (being an adult means recognizing neither are real imo)
It feels like a whole genre. Girl, Interrupted is so similar as to feel plagiarized, Prozac Nation,
Sent too quick but totally agree & had this same thought
My Year of Rest & Relaxtion maybe, Halle butler’s work, a lot of #sadgirl lit owes itself to it
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. As we say in my circles, may his memory be eternal.
Thanks for letting us know, and I'm really sorry to hear it.
I'm excited about the musical that I'm producing and directing, which opens this weekend. It's meant that the New Year has mostly been about, like, trying to track down volunteers and organize rehearsals and debug wireless microphones instead of reflection on the past and future, but my hope is that starting the year with a Big Creative Thing will be a harbinger of a year where I'm more on top of doing the Big Creative Things that I so often find myself lacking time to actually work on.
Sorry for your loss.