Check out @ethorkel's lovely essay in #MidlifeBook, "Me and Bridget Jones (20 Years Later)," excerpted on the @49thShelf blog. While you're there, you can enter to win one of 3 copies of our anthology! 49thshelf.com/Blog/2021/06/14/Me-and-B...
We made #MidlifeBook as a gift for one another & thought you might want to read it, too. This 2nd printing of the hardcover will be the lastβget it while you can! An ebook is also available. $1 from each book sold goes to the Edmonton Community Foundation....
The contributors met 20 years ago when we worked at *The Gateway* student newspaper at the University of Alberta.
We were asked to write reflections on being in midlife, and the result is this poignant, introspective, funny anthology in a gorgeous package. #MidlifeBook
With apologies to the one person who voted "too obnoxious" but for the benefit of the 14 people who voted "What's #MidlifeBook?" here's my launch tweet fom a month ago! https://x.com/IvaCheung/status/1384137207896711169?s=20
What if, instead of that Medium post, y'all read #MidlifeBook, written by some excellent #GeriatricMillennials and #PediatricGenXers? http://midlifebook.ca
BTW, you can still order a limited-edition hardcover of #MidlifeBook here: http://midlifebook.ca
The ebook is only CAD$9.99, and a dollar from every book sold goes to the Edmonton Community Foundation.
2. Someone should write a dissertation on this Twitter thread. Does the sheer number of perfect song-to-essay matches suggest creative synergy between @tunsband and #MidlifeBook contributors? That they both tackle universal themes? Or that Iva reads too much into the lyrics?
These @tunsband songs I couldn't find any #MidlifeBook matches for:
β’"Mixed messages"
β’"Flags for curtains"
β’"Holding my breath"
And there are eight unmatched contributors. (I mean, I didn't want to shoehorn any in, see.) Am I missing a good fit?
I think it's the melancholy tone, but for me "I can't wait forever" evokes @bingofuel's "Textures of a life ending" in #MidlifeBook.
πΆThere's no turning back
So why think it over
What doesn't feel right
Won't change overnight πΆ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKiiEUzDB8E
"When you're ready" is like @chrisboutet's letter in #MidlifeBook waiting for his son to grow up and read it.
πΆWhen you're ready
When you're ready
I'll be there, there for youπΆ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY7_AUB2T0g
Last day of @tunsband & #MidlifeBook pairings no one asked for! "Everybody knows" makes me think of @leelb's story about not feeling safe asking questions as a kid.
πΆThe more you wait
The more susceptible
I am to be forced to hear it off the...
"I'll only love you more" is basically Bridget Jones's Diary from Mark Darcy's perspective, ending with @ethorkel's self-acceptance. (Also my fave song on *Duly Noted*.) #MidlifeBook
πΆIf you confess
To love me less
Then you will know I love you moreπΆ...
"We're living in it now" evokes @AmandaAsh in #MidlifeBook on balancing career, parenthood & living in the moment.
πΆAre wΠ΅ running or are we chasing?
Inside outlaws & cliΠ΅nt-facing
These decisions we canβt abide by
Say so long with a heartless bye...
"Words and music" pairs nicely with @Jagantic's #MidlifeBook essay, "Views from the basement."
πΆBack when my star was brightly shining
All my ideas were still aligning
I never worried I'd just sail through
It takes much longer than it used...
More @tunsband songs & #MidlifeBook pairings!
"Mind over matter" describes @HeatherDAdler's trip to the Mondrian in "Spoiler: Nobody makes it out of here alive."
πΆWent on a sun vacation
Trip from preoccupation
To get away from everything and everyoneπΆ...
Last one today: "We stand united" evokes the energy of @doniveson's #MidlifeBook essay on the work he's done to find climate solutionsβfor everyone but especially his kids.
πΆ Oh, I'll have you know
I won't let you go
We'll stand united
Stand as one...
"In the middle of the way home" is, to me, a *great* match to @dkaszor's #MidlifeBook contribution, "Heart attack."
πΆ Closing in but itβs too close to call
Iβm in no rush to gΠ΅t there, not at all
In the middlΠ΅ of the way home πΆ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFgFFI-v-V8
Starting today's @tunsband and #MidlifeBook pairings: "Keeping options open," evoking @danlazin's career changes in "Now what."
πΆ If you insist
I can keep you on my back up list
Soon this will stop
In the meantime youβll be near the top...
I think of @astronogirl's "The undiscovered country" in #MidlifeBook when I listen to "Look who's back in town again"βnot at all 'cause that's how I think of her but 'cause I imagine that's what her self-talk might have sounded like in late 2019....
"To your satisfaction" reminds me of @dzeibin's #MidlifeBook essay, "Get rich or die trying."
πΆ Everything is as it should be
Yet still not entirely
To your satisfaction πΆ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chv3FD_mkPA
Back to mapping #MidlifeBook essays to @tunsband songs!
"My memories," as one might expect, evokes @cosanna's piece, "Reclaiming memories."
πΆ I donβt need another friend
To remind me of the past
I cannot help, I cannot help my memoriesπΆ
https://dir.lat/6pa45s
I relate to "Mind your manners" so hard myself, but here it's a *perfect* match to @misssarahchan's "The girl with the mermaid tattoo" in #MidlifeBook.
πΆAlways well adjusted
Never nearly busted
Always to be trusted
Doing what you're...
I can't listen to "Lonely Life" without thinking of Dave Alexander's "Dave's Single" in #MidlifeBook:
πΆI'm learning from experience. My two cents is we all should be making the most
It's my big scene and I don't get to fix it in postπΆ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyzoGOtFn-A
Also, "Back among friends" is clearly about the #MidlifeBook project itself, reuniting friends who met 20 years ago.
πΆIt's been making my eyes well up
You don't know where I've been, hell yup
I'm done with this humdrum tedium
I wanna make some...
SO MANY @tunsband songs remind me of specific #MidlifeBook essays. I wonder if I can map all their songs to @MidlifeBook pieces.
Not gonna be 1-to-1, 'cause they have 23 singles & the book has 27 contributors, but a fun procrastination activity anyway⦠http://midlifebook.ca
Being in midlife means filling out the BC COVID survey, getting to the question about how many sugary drinks I consume, and wondering "Does my daily glass of orange Metamucil count?" π€ #MidlifeBook http://midlifebook.ca
(The @Smashwords link, in case it helps: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1079824 #MidlifeBook
Canadian public librarian friends! The #MidlifeBook ebook is on OverDrive now, and I think your patrons might like it. π₯Ί http://midlifebook.ca
(Check out the holds at the Edmonton Public Library! π)
