IMPORTANT NOMENCLATURE UPDATE
My apologies for the ALL CAPS subject line, but we have an urgent development regarding my post from last Friday regarding what what we should call the readers of this here establishment.
As you might recall, I decided to start calling all of you (all of us, really) Friends of the Newsletter. I knew it wasn’t brilliant, but I liked it, and it had the distinct advantage that I couldn’t conjure up anything better.
That was before I heard from (ahem) Friend of the Newsletter Ethan J., who remembered a crucial detail: The official name of this newsletter is The Writing Shed. He sent this message:
I think “Friends of the Newsletter” is good but I prefer to call myself a “Shed Head.”
This feels like a game-changer.
Shed Head (Shedhead? ShedHead?), to me, is SO much better than Friend of the Newsletter that maybe I should just turn over this whole newsletter to Ethan and let him write it. (Although he has some things of his own that I’ll be happy to tell you about when they’re ready.)
We would not be the first ones to use this name: There is a Shedhead vintage store in Red Bank, New Jersey, and a Shed Head pale ale made by a Swedish brewery, and a Shed Head hat that I believe refers to the practice of finding shed antlers, which is its own amazing subculture.
But it’s not like Friends of the Newsletter was an original thought, either. Plus, I love the idea of Shedheads. I’ve never enjoyed the Grateful Dead enough to be a Deadhead*, but I do admire the vibe. And it would be a natural for some merch.
*Though I do have a Grateful Dead story from a concert long ago that I will tell here at some point.
But before I jump into this … I clearly got ahead of myself the first time around. I should have asked for y’all to help me figure this out from the start. So what do we want to call ourselves? Let’s do this: Make your choice in the comments.
Shedheads?
Friends of the Newsletter?
Some other brilliant name? (I will consider all suggestions.)
I’ll take a look at your thoughts and have an answer by the Friday newsletter. Thank you for reading and/or responding to this EMERGENCY UPDATE. Now back to your previously scheduled program.
Another way to support my work: Buy my memoir, THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, available as a hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook. Thanks!—TT
Tommy, long time follower here (Observer days). For me writing is therapeutic. I have a hunch it may be for you too. In light of that, you shed, we shred. Writers write and they shed their joys, demons and life events. They put a period at the end of a sentence and move on, relieving themselves of the never ending loop of invading thoughts... aka a therapy session.
The readers tear it into shreds. Analyzing, rereading, commenting and chewing on it for days to find the use or application in their lives. They share parts of it. They store away snippets of wisdom to pass on. They digest and espouse the shreds of what they find to be useful and pitch the rest.
I consider myself to be a "Shredder" of that which is produced in The Writing Shed.
Who doesn't have a shredder these days? I hear they even use them in the whitehouse... atleast when they run out of matches for the burn barrel! 🤣🤣
#Shredder #ShredHead #ShreddersAnonymous
Shred and Bake and I hay-elped.
Would this make you the Head Shedhead, Tommy?