Rose: Here for It, #243

Hi! It's R. Eric Thomas. From the internet?
Hi!

Hi hi! A quick lil email newsletter this week. I was going to front like the reason for the brevity was that I was taking advantage of the holiday weekend but I literally forgot it is a holiday weekend. I've filled my calendar with work all weekend because I'm trying to hit a couple writing deadlines. No rest! No breaks! I am the bad boss from Newsies! Unclear how I ended up like this. I am a member of a union and a guild so I will be sending myself a letter from my attorneys about this.

A couple odds and ends instead.

What's going on here, babe?

Yes, I know this tweet is from March of 2019, which is a completely different timeline that I can't even say for sure we existed in, but nevertheless I have been thinking about it and I just doing understand what Grover is talking about. I presume there was some kind of Twitter prompt going around that day about being stuck on a deserted island with a Muppet of your choice, but what if there wasn't? What if Grover just woke up and was like "Let me get one thing straight on this internet, okay? You better not put Grover on deserted island. And I'll tell you why. Cuteness. Kablam! Just so you know, Marjorie, and so your children will one day know, this is the day that Grover opts out of The Muppets Present: Cast Away."

Much to consider.

In other news, I had a dream last night that someone was excoriating me about my roses. They said "the vibe is off", which is objectively untrue. Now, have I tended to my roses as closely as I would have liked? No, I have not. I have been stuck on a deserted island trying to file a petition for release on the grounds of cuteness. But, my roses are doing fine regardless because, as my gardener Dr. Ian Malcolm told me, "life, uh, finds a way."

This person in the dream would not let up. They went in on my roses for so long! I don't think this was really about my roses but I try not to dwell on deeper meanings for too long because nobody really wants to hear about dreams, even if they are actually parables.

If my subconscious wants to reach me, it can contact my lawyer.

Here's a photos of one of the roses. VIBES ADEQUATE.

And here's some dahlias, showing off.

Pivoting back to non-dream news: as you may know I wrote for the forthcoming final season of Dickinson on AppleTV+ (Is it still non-dream news if I wrote a couple dream-esque sequences and a brief discussion of flowers?). The teaser trailer just dropped. It's very cool!

The paperback of Here for It, or How to Save Your Soul in America comes out on this Tuesday and features a new postscript section for book clubs and readers who have opinions. The new section had a new tiny essay from me and discussion questions about the book.

All paperback books are puppies, I think. Hardcover books are birds. I cannot elaborate on this theory, alas.

You can pick up a copy anywhere books are sold, including GREEDY READS which will be hosting a book release event the following week featuring the great JP Brammer in conversation with someone named R. Eric Thomas. You can register for the event for free here and also order a signed copy!

And finally, my new all-ages, outdoor, free play The Ever Present opens this weekend in South Philadelphia! Get more info here!

Now that I think about it, what was this person even doing in my garden?!

On Previously On...

This week I wrote about two podcasts that expertly explore the mystery and relatability of Britney Spears.

Random Thing on the Internet

I quite enjoyed this interview with Frank Oz, creator of Miss Piggy, among other icons, and director of three of my very favorite movies, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What About Bob?, and the GREAT Little Shop of Horrors.

VIBES ADEQUATE,
Eric