Michelle Rau Author News April 2020

Projects, progress and inspiration.

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The Uncalendar, circa 1978 from Mental Health Association of Oregon.

Do something life-affirming
When things are glum or stressed, I give myself that advice. Yesterday I revisited this vintage mental health calendar to see what advice 14 April had for me, and it is: "Be with someone." How ironic!

Yes, the pandemic weighs on me. But as an introvert, I'm appreciating the chance to slow down and be peaceful and quiet by myself. I wish I was more motivated to do more things around the house, but I'm doing the necessary. If this were a Coyote trickster story, I would be just "going along." And that's good enough for 14 April 2020.

Ono cats

In which my brain takes me through the lexical and inflection confusion of "Oh no, cats" for no good reason in the middle of the night. An entry in Dreams, Illustrated: inelegantly-illustrated dream journals on Medium.com. (This should open a free version of the article.)

Ranch Romance (NaNoWriMo 2019)

I imagine Doris's bed and breakfast looks something like this (courtesy of historicmontana on Instagram). At long last I'm writing the finale of this story, and hope to have something to share with my co-plotter in the near future.

DIY metrics for a wiki space dashboard

I'm still sharing some of my Confluence wiki adventures to benefit my colleagues and the broader Atlassian community. I will deliver a webinar on this topic in the near future. Also see Reporting + Chart combinations for a wiki space dashboard.

That was then, this is now

OK, yes, that's the title of a book by S. E. Hinton (on my to-read-again list) but it's also the title of a Patreon post. More visual inspiration from a long-ago trip to the east coast and France.

Past my bedtime: Coyote America

Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History is a fascinating exploration of the coyote's persistence in the American landscape and culture. At times overly romanticized, but also thoughtfully researched, with plenty of fun and illustrative Coyote stories. I have a new appreciation for the suspicious canines I saw everywhere in the southwest.