[Gmail is going to clip this email, so just click on the title and read the whole thing in a web browser. Or unclip it when you reach the bottom. Up to you!] One of the most boring, and oft-repeated, narratives of the last couple of years is that of the "pandemic breakout." You're probably familiar with it by now. Someone was stuck in lockdown in the spring of 2020, and they just started posting, and suddenly they were very famous.

More often than not, directors tend to receive the lion’s share of praise (or, if the movie’s lousy, blame) for a film’s success or failure. I’d argue that in some cases, they receive too much credit. But that’s not the case when it comes to live-action Disney movies of the 1960s and 70s. Disney employed several directors during this period, including Robert Stevenson, Robert Butler and the McEveety brothers. A lot of these guys came from television and the Disney House Style reflected that.

There are a lot of new subscribers to this newsletter, so I wanted to introduce (or reintroduce if you’ve been here awhile) myself. I’m a novelist who has published seven books. I’ve been writing most of my life, and publishing for twenty years. People often ask “what kind of books do you write” and the answer to that is: My books transport you to a place you haven’t been before. I tell stories that are fast-paced, imaginative, and often involve elements of mythology and history.

Did anyone else snarf their Cheerios this morning when reading the latest results from the pilot study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG)? We will summarize why you should not throw out your Cheerios and Quaker Oats despite the splash this is making in major media outlets which has caused a lot of fear and concern among cereal lovers! We dropped an Instagram post today, but let’s do an even deeper dive!

What does feeling that you matter and belong mean to you? When we mix our perceived place of belonging and mattering together, we alchemise a sense of being good enough. Good enough for this world. Good enough for others. And good enough for ourselves. Last year I proofread my dear friend’s Ph.D. (this means it’s my Ph.D. too, right🤣), which had an intersectional theme of loneliness, belonging, and mattering as prominent parts of public health.