Working for the weekend
A scheduling change, plus my weekly shareables: Vice's coffee machine, a racetrack's moonshine cave, and SO MUCH dog news
First up, some DOGLAND updates! Since I posted the original set of tour dates on Wednesday, we’ve confirmed two more events. I’ll just put the whole list here with the new ones in bold. All events free unless otherwise noted.
April 23: Book launch at ImaginOn library in Charlotte. Free but registration required; tickets and more info here.
April 30: Mary C. Jenkins Community Center in Brevard, NC, sponsored by Highland Books. In conversation with Lisa Rab. More event info here (you have to scroll down a bit.)
May 1: Malaprop’s in Asheville. Free but registration required; tickets and more info here.
May 6: Books Over Drinks at M. Judson Booksellers in Greenville, SC. Tickets are $35 and include a copy of the book and a cocktail. Tickets and more info here.
May 7: Hub City Bookshop in Spartanburg, SC, in conversation with Bronwen Dickey. I love Hub City and the work they do as a bookshop and book publisher. RSVP here.
May 8: The Wrecking Bar Brewpub in Atlanta, sponsored by A Cappella Books. In conversation with Ernie Suggs. More event info here. (Note: May 8 is the correct date. I had it as May 9 in the earlier post.)
May 14: Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC. Also in conversation with Bronwen Dickey. Tickets are $29 and come with a copy of a book and a reserved seat; there are also free seats that are first come, first served. Tickets and more info here.
May 15: The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, NC. Registration and more info here.
May 17: Blue Bicycle Books in Charleston, SC. I’ll be in conversation with the great Amanda Heckert, executive director of Garden & Gun magazine. More info here.
May 23: Park Road Books, Charlotte. In conversation with Joe Posnanski. More event info here.
We still have several tour dates to come … a couple that have been finalized but not posted yet, a couple of others where we’re still working on the details, and still others we’re contemplating. I’ve got one or two virtual events lined up as well. If you run a bookstore or library or festival, and you’d like me to appear, check with Rhina Garcia at rhina.garcia@simonandschuster.com.
A couple of other quick things:
The latest issue of Garden & Gun has an essay I wrote about my time on the dog-show circuit. I don’t think it’s online yet but if you get ahold of a copy, check it out. I’ll post when there’s a link.
PureWow included DOGLAND in its list of eight books to read in April!
Just a reminder, Goodreads is still giving away 25 copies of DOGLAND … you can enter the giveaway between now and April 12.
Preorder now! Here! Or here! The book has already gone into its second printing … preorder now and you’ll be sure to get one, hot and fresh as a Krispy Kreme.
Last week I asked you Shedheads whether you’d rather I send this end-of-the-week newsletter on Saturday or its normal day of Friday. The response was probably 10 to 1 in favor of Saturday. So that’s what we’re going to do.
I feel a little guilty posting on Saturdays because I try (and I bet a lot of you try) to stay offline on the weekend. But several of you mentioned that Saturdays are better for leisure reading, and that’s part of what this newsletter is about—to guide you to stories you might take some time to sit back and enjoy. That makes sense to me.
Plus I think, for most of us, the lines between online and offline are like the lines between working and not working—always blurry. I love to read magazines and listen to music on the weekend. That’s solid leisure time. But along the way I’m farming for items to share with you in the newsletter. So it’s work, sort of, even though it doesn’t feel like it.
I think the most important line to draw is the one between present and not present. I don’t mind working a little longer on Thursday night if that means I get a few extra moments with family or friends on Friday morning. The key is to be engaged during that family time, to be in the moment, so the time doesn’t just slide away out of the corner of your eye.
Sometimes, in our household, we do really well with that. Sometimes, especially at the end of a long day, we retreat into our phones. It’s a constant struggle in a world full of distractions to just be fully there, even if you’re not doing anything special. In fact, those moments of doing nothing special are often the ones I love most. As long as nothing special has my full attention.
All this is to say that I’m glad you read these dispatches, whenever you choose to read them. I just hope you also find time to get away from the screen for a while and give your best to the people you care about. This newsletter will be here when you get back.
10 things I wanted to share this week:
The SouthBound podcast this week was the live recording of our first Future of Charlotte panel from February. A really enlightening and entertaining conversation. We did the second panel discussion Thursday night and that one was just as good—we’ll put that out as a podcast soon.
My weekly for WFAE was about re-learning how to hang out with one another.
The brilliant David Roth used to work for Vice; as that place collapses, he tells the story through a coffee machine, one of the many things there that were too expensive and didn’t work. (Defector)
Many of us will spend the weekend listening (and re-listening) to the new Beyoncé album, COWBOY CARTER. I listened to most of it while driving around doing errands Friday. That’s not enough time or attention to make any serious judgment, so here’s what I’ll say for now: 1) There's a lot of country on it, including a cover of “Jolene,” but it’s not just a country album; 2) My favorite song so far is “Bodyguard,” a sexy pop song in the vein of Katy Perry, but way way better. Put on headphones so you hear the killer bassline. I predict this will be blasting from many a car window come summer.
DOG NEWS: Normally I share one piece of dog news in this slot, but we are so abundantly blessed with dog news that this week you get several helpings. First up: Thanks to Shedhead Chris for pointing me to David Frum’s beautiful and devastating piece about his daughter and a dog named Ringo. (The Atlantic)
DOG NEWS II: Jane Goodall is famous for her work with chimps. But it turns out she’s more of a dog person. (NYT)
DOG NEWS III: Blair Braverman’s fantastic story on the legend of Blowhole, who might have committed a crime but is definitely presumed innocent. The kicker made me laugh out loud. (Outside)
DOG NEWS IV: A man spends every day bagging dog poop on a Montana trail. Sounds heroic. It’s complicated. Very sly headline, by the way. (The Pulp)
They might have found a moonshine cave under the stands at the old North Wilkesboro Speedway. Junior Johnson lives! (WSOC)
YouTube find of the week: Ben Folds joining Daryl Hall for a jazzy version of the Hall & Oates hit “Private Eyes.”
Have a great week, everybody.