Kimberly Hirsh

I haven’t been writing much lately, something that has special irony since on Sunday I took Sarah MacLean’s Start Your Romance Novel Today class. (Reader, I did not start my romance novel that day. Or rather, I started playing with several ideas for romance novels. But did not get any words down.)

I haven’t been writing for REASONS and reasons, but I think it would be good for me to blog a bit.

It’s just a hard time right now, you know? I subscribed to too many newsletters with action alerts. I think I need to scale back to just Bull City Indivisible. It’s just that they recommended all these other ones. But now I get overwhelmed and don’t read any of them, and that’s no way to be active in my community.

I hadn’t really thought of migraines as a condition where I have flares, but I’m beginning to, because I get these status migraines that go on and on. I’m seeking better treatment for them than I ever have before, and that’s promising, but still not enough.

I’m going to go put away laundry soon. That’s a thing I can do that will make my and my family’s world a little better.

I’m a big pile of meh today.

Finished reading: The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa 📚

Cute rom-com with a heroine who has put walls around her heart and has to learn when to open the gate and let someone in.

Finished reading: To Catch a Raven by Beverly Jenkins 📚

Another awesome heroine.

💬📚 “You wouldn’t be a writer if reading hadn’t enriched your soul more than other pursuits.” Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

💬📚 “Don’t be afraid of your material or your past. Be afraid of wasting any more time obsessing about how you look and how people see you. Be afraid of not getting your writing done.” Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

💬📚 “Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.” Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Finished reading: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott 📚

A classic for a reason.

Finished reading: Anything You Want by Derek Sivers 📚

💬📚 “I don’t think you have time to waste not writing because you are afraid you won’t be good enough at it, and I don’t think you have time to waste on someone who does not respond to you with kindness and respect.” Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

💬📚 “… everything we need in order to tell our stories in a reasonable and exciting way already exists in each of us.” Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

🔖 Read:

• Letters from an American: February 18, 2025
• “So this is how liberty dies…” Making sense of Trump’s first three weeks
• Peace or partition?
• Putin Propaganda… from the Lips of JD Vance

💬📚 “Take the attitude that what you are thinking and feeling is valuable stuff, and then be naive enough to get it all down on paper.” Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

💬📚 “Writing is about hypnotizing yourself into believing in yourself, getting some work done, then unhypnotizing yourself and going over the material coldly.” Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

🖖🏻 I’m watching the episode where Worf joins the crew of DS9. When the camera panned up from his feet to his face, I thought, “Oh, it’s my buddy Worf! I want to hug him.”

Finished reading: Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins 📚

I loved the heroine in this one. Spring is a tough rancher who has been cut off from her feelings for years, except for the feelings she has for horses.

Finished reading: Rebel by Beverly Jenkins 📚

Ms. Bev knows her business and does it well.

In Romancelandia, Valentine’s Day is, as the French say, un jour férié. In honor of the day, if you give me the title and description of any book you’ve enjoyed, I’ll recommend a romance for you to try.

🎮 Playing the first Final Fantasy pixel remaster and it makes me so happy. The music especially. I have played this video game more than any other. It’s very soothing.

🔖 Read The Courts Can’t Stop the Trump-Musk Coup.

Courts are not known for their harm prevention—they’re best used when trying to hold someone accountable for the harm they already caused.

🎮 Downloading the Final Fantasy I - VI pixel remasters. Very excited!

📚💬 “We can’t hide in romance. We have to find strength in it.” Adriana Herrera in today’s episode of Fated Mates

In her week notes, cygnoir links to my post, Political action guidance for the overwhelmed, and credits me as Dr. Kimberly Hirsh.

I appreciate the recognition of my title. I want to say though that I wouldn’t be grouchy to have been credited as Kimberly Hirsh.

I work at a Quaker school. All of us go by our first names, in keeping with the Quaker practice of plain speech and the testimony of equality. This does not make me grouchy.

When I get grouchy is when people insist on using a title and then call me Miss, Mrs., or Ms. Because I have a title and those aren’t it. If I haven’t told you my title is Dr., then I don’t mind you not using it. But if I have and you ignore it, that makes me grouchy.

So. If you want to avoid making me grouchy, here are ways I would like you to refer to me:

• Kimberly
• Kimberly Hirsh
• Dr. Kimberly Hirsh
• Dr. Hirsh

Any of those are fine. Feel like calling a person Dr. is elitist? Okay! Use my first name or full name.

(There is a whole deal I’m not even getting into here about untitling, mistitling, gender, race, and ethnicity. Explore it if you’re interested.)

Today’s Progress: Completed the freeCodeCamp certification project, “Learn Typography by Building a Nutrition Label.”

Thoughts: This actually helped me understand justifying content using flexbox as much as it helped me understand typography.

Finished reading: After Hours on Milagro Street by Angelina M. Lopez 📚

So great. It made me cry. Jeremiah, the hero book, is a phenomenal example of an engaged scholar.

🍿 Watched Saturday Night.

A delight, specially crafted for sketch comedy nerds like myself.