Maureen Langloss

I think about it all the time. This second Trump presidency is way harder than the first in part because we have lost our communities. We have also lost a great source for information & news & art & literature. The fun times & play of social media have disappeared too. It’s a real shame.

Thanks so much, Stephanie, for thinking of my story! ❤️

Some statistics Solnit quotes in her piece: “In the US, there’s a rape every 68 seconds, a woman is beaten by an intimate partner every nine seconds, and while more men are murdered annually than women, ‘over half of female homicide victims are killed by a current or former male intimate partner.’”

Yes to all this. Please read Rebecca Solnit on violence against women instead of any piece about men’s sexual needs. I don’t want to hear about their needs when there’s a rape every 68 seconds in the U.S.

Yep

💙

"How Can I Write At A Time Like This?" Some thoughts on writing at a time like this.

Right after reaffirming this promise, I received a great newsletter from by @alexanderchee.bsky.social in my inbox. It seems related to the topic of finding courage in times of despair. Give it a read! querent.substack.com/p/how-can-i-...

I still want to host monthly zoom meetings to talk about how to be courageous in our writing… and in our lives. A kind of idea-generator and support group. Life always feels like it’s exploding with obligations, especially as a parent in summer. But I will get to this. I have not forgotten.

💯

Yep

😢

We can no longer trust any information coming out of the U.S. government. It will all now be lies. Every report. Every study. Every jobs number. Every exhibit at the Smithsonian. Doubt it all. Believe nothing.

Curious about the use of “settlement” here instead of shakedown or bribe.

All photos are of gravestones at dusk with varying sunset light. No filters.

Did my husband and I take an evening stroll through the graveyard across the street from where we’re staying? Yes, of course we did.

It’s such a special time. I’m still all these years later so grateful for it.

😂😂😂

I’m sorry you were unhappy during that time. ❤️

Gorgeous river running between trees as seen from above. Blue sky and puffy clouds. This photo taken on the Cornell campus.

I’m visiting a couple more colleges with my 17yo. And let me just say, I would go to ALL the colleges. Sign me up. Take me back. I want in. Why did I ever leave? Every single college seems like a dream to me.

The flash community is generally warm & friendly. It’s a small world with a long memory. Maybe keep criticisms of other writers or lit mags to the DMs or private group chats.

She sent me a very cute picture of the two eating 🍪 in their shirts. Sorry I can’t share it.

The only thing my 14yo has told me about sleep away camp this week is that she happened to wear her frog & toad T-shirt the same day that her teacher wore her own frog & toad T-shirt. This coincidence was cause for great happiness & the eating of chocolate chip cookies.

A tower of Halloween candy at CVS

July 31. Time to stock up on Halloween candy!?!

On Promising Young Women (and the Nameless Men Who Get in Their Way) “The woman is a footnote in the man’s history.” –Rebecca Hazelton * There’s this photo of Lana Clarkson that I think about often. She’s outside, backed by a blue sky, the green and brown spotted hi…

My essay is up at @literaryhub.bsky.social about the late, great Lana Clarkson and other promising young women whose lives have been derailed or destroyed by men. It’s also about my childhood sexual abuse and how I have tried, and failed, to reckon with it.
lithub.com/on-promising...

Very powerful essay, Meg. I’m so sorry you had this experience.

“Nobody can know if the rights they have today will be the rights they have tomorrow. Nobody can know if a thing that is illegal for the government to do to them today will be illegal for the government to do to them tomorrow.”

@elienyc.bsky.social once again speaking the sad truth.

Yikes, New Yorkers, if you have to move somewhere do it now and then stay put if you can! ⛈️

I'm very sorry on all fronts. It is scary.

I’m so sorry to hear this. And yes, I think you are right that viruses cause way more havoc than we know about.

Yeah it really is. I’ll tell you, my mom’s cancer exploded after she got Covid. The acute disease almost killed her itself, but once she recovered from the virus, the cancer seemed to throw her immediately into active dying-from-cancer mode. It was a transition point for her.

Very bad news for people who have or had breast cancer. No one seems to want to talk about Covid anymore, but it is fucking with our bodies. Pretending it’s no big deal doesn’t make it so.