Our weekly staff meeting begins with shout-outs. It’s the one part of the meeting that will never be skipped, never be rushed. It’s raucous and loud–sometimes with actual shouting. Everyone unmutes. The chat fills with emojis and capital letters and exclamation marks.
Being invited to notice, name, and appreciate what my colleagues are doing has made me pay closer attention and acknowledge more freely and frequently to myself and to others what has been helpful. As a words of affirmation person, I’m all in when it comes to shout-outs.
Comments would seem to be the slicer’s version of a shout-out, and they are an essential way we build community and lift each other up as writers this month. Commenting–the leaving and the getting–is actually my favorite part of slicing.
But comments aren’t exactly shout-outs. That public affirmation to others, that acknowledgement in front of peers, is missing from a comment. It’s the difference between sending my colleague an email of appreciation and reading that email out loud to their boss and the whole staff.
So today I decided to shout out four blogs that I’m really enjoying this month. Of course there are dozens and dozens of blogs I’m enjoying. But here are four you might not be following yet that would richly reward your reading and commenting time.
I am just a little bit obsessed with the writing at tendingbulbs. I admire the variety in tone from one entry to the next, the precision of language, the way she captures moments in a way that feels utterly new and inventive and yet deeply familiar, like this is a thought or a feeling I’ve had but didn’t even know I had until I read her slice. You need to read every post, but maybe start with this beautiful piece about words we need and follow up with Tony’s hilarious one-day visit to France to eat baguettes and croissants.
The quality of observation, detail, and word choice are what strike me in Soundofwater‘s writing. Read this opener from her first slice this month:
I come from a long line of women who hold their cards close and their chins high. One of my most enduring memories of my maternal grandmother is sitting on the couch in the living room with Gran. She was a birdwoman, a thing of delicate bones and quick movements, and the most extraordinary plumage.
“A thing of delicate bones and quick movements, and the most extraordinary plumage”?? I’m in writer’s heaven here. Her post about her daughter baking is also full of gorgeous observation and phrasing.
Nerds Beget Nerds is all about the warm voice and the carefully crafted pacing. I am so fully drawn in as a reader. This blog has me laughing and feeling like a member of the lunch crew, wondering what I’d bring for those impromptu teacher buffets, or a member of the family, wanting to toss my five movie choices into the hat for family movie night.
I read djvichos for the poetry of every line (poetry or prose, it’s all poetry here) and for her ability to nail an incredible final line–every one of them the gut punch that leaves me reeling or the unexpected resolution that has me sighing happily. Start with her imitation of Allen Ginsberg, which brought me such joy this morning, and then pause with her musings on what it means to see the world through a poet’s eyes.
What slicers are you shouting out today?
the dirigible plum 
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