Sometimes I plan these songs out ahead of time. And then sometimes you wake up in the morning with a song in your head.
If you never met me, you might not know what a huge Beatles fan I am. As such, I do have fun with some of the deeper cuts on their albums that most people forget about. “Devil in her Heart” is a song written by Richard B. Drapkin and recored by The Donays and released in 1962. Though a good song, it wasn’t a hit in the US or UK, but it made an impression on The Beatles. I always loved how those four guys loved American girl groups, to the point that I think they tried to copy those harmonies in other songs that they wrote.
For the record, I believe that Trump will chicken out at 8pm tonight, if not earlier, claiming something has happened which has caused him to reconsider destroying Iran off the face of the Earth. Because that’s what Trump is; all talk and a big chicken.
Now, if I am wrong and he orders the US military to destroy the infrastructure of Iran, then Good God, we’re all going to die.
I wish I had some rather original insight to share with you. You know, something, some thought that no one has expressed yet as to the absurdity of the situation the world find itself in because the US and Israel started a war for no reason. Sadly, I find myself at a loss for words even to express how I feel about all of this stuff.
I’m a pacifist, and I believe in negotiating peace with your enemies, no matter how long or difficult it is. I know and think often about how we all live on a tiny little planet in the “backwoods” of our galaxy, and most of what vexes us on a daily basis is rather meaningless, and if we really pulled our collective head out of our asses, we will make this planet a safe a peaceful place for generations of our shared humanity to exist as long as we see fit.
I would give anything to be up on the Artemis II right now. To be off this rock, away from all of this bullshit.
You know the one thing in my life that I had no idea would be stressful; Planning a kid’s birthday party. I thought planning our wedding was bad. I had no idea that birthday parties for 10 ten year old girls causes me to lose sleep at night. I wake up in a cold sweat scared that I have forgotten some detail. My stomach churns at the idea a kid will come to the party and not have a good time, or will be excluded for whatever stupid reason, and then it is my responsibility to make sure EVERYONE HAS A GOOD TIME! Seriously, there should be a list for new parents of all the shit that will stress you out that you have no idea on God-s Green Earth are stressful. Making memories here…
So, it seems my default colors right now is white and blue. I say all of this because as I start to “Spring Clean” and de-clutter my closet, I’m tossing shirts which are old, and have holes in them. What I am left with is an amazing spectrum of blue to white, all in an Oxford style. I have written a couple of times, how in my middle age period, I have taken on a Classic American/Oxford/New England/Ivy League look. It feels comfortable, defined, and at the same time casual on me. The draw back here is that I seem to have boxed myself in color wise. I do have some Nantucket Red pants, but really, I seem to have dropped the ball on having a splash of color in my life.
Ah… It’s almost 11am, and I need to run to the grocery store. It’s a busy day and I have a lot to do.
(The short story “Enough for Now” by Cassandra Neyenesch appeared in the April 6th, 2026 issue of The New Yorker.)
Illustration by Cecilia Carlstedt
And then I read a short story that’s just a good, solid short story. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the first paragraph, but Cassandra Neyenesch’s “Enough for Now” is a deft piece of fiction. It’s concise in the specific story it is telling, and it never wanders into heavy handedness. Yet it is apparent that the impact of these events will live with the protagonist; perhaps not paramount in her thoughts every day, but influencing decisions though she may forget where that influence originated.
I will be honest and admit to my bias here; I have never been a fan of stories about people in their early twenties backpacking through foreign countries. Most of these works have the stench of elitism and privilege on them, which renders the inevitable “coming of age” plot toothless in dramatic impact. Also, to steal from another work of literature, this genre of story tries very hard to convince us that these characters are travelers, when they are in fact tourists.
I bring this up because “Enough for Now” does stick a toe into the clichés of “backpacking” stories. The protagonist, Martha, meets a fellow traveler on a train, a Dutch guy named Joost. Soon they decide to split a room together, and not long after that, they agree to travel together, as they are heading in the same direction, which leads them to start a sexual relationship together. None of this I didn’t see coming.
What Neyenesch does in “Enough for Now” to keep the story engaging is to conjure up some very smart writing. The setting, post Tiananmen Square Massacre China, work beautifully with the stories themes; honesty, what we say in public as compared to private, trauma… Martha is a fascinating character, she is young enough to be optimistic, but also has lived enough to understand inevitable outcomes. Also, she is a woman traveling alone in a foreign country, and there is a constant, and underlining feeling of threat in this story, wherein Martha’s guard needs to be up. And it was a pleasure to read how Neyenesch takes all of these threads and themes to dash each cliché.
This is a story about a traveler, a little jaded, but still out to explore. She might return home, and she might not. Martha is experiencing and learning as she goes. This isn’t a character who is coming of age, but learning that she an adult who is more than the sum of her experiences, and some experiences have more weight than others.
