The Ten-Month Post

Ten Out of Ten!

As someone who’s always looking for an excuse to celebrate, I just had to take advantage of this ten-month anniversary. I have to say that these months went by really fast. The fact that I got to share stories and a few half-baked ideas and thoughts with you helped me feel less alone in these still-somewhat-isolated Covid times. In today’s post, I’d like to share the ten Alphabet Soup posts I enjoyed writing the most, and try to explain why. I hope you enjoy them too.

1. Alternative Fun Facts: The Future Is Not What It Used to Be

What’s great about alternative facts is that from the second you hear them, they stick to your brain forever, like that Hubba Bubba gum you stepped on in the parking lot.

2. Mellow

The best stories are always about failures.

3. A World Without Selfie Sticks

What could be better than publishing a story I really like? Getting to hear Ira Glass give a poignant reading of that story.

4. A Brief History of Us

Talking of poignant readings, you simply have to listen to Molly Ringwald read this one.

5. Coffee and Cigarettes

Because Father knows best.

6. Get Back

Sometimes writing is a bit like thinking out loud: in order to understand what you feel and think, you have to write it down. And this particular piece features a gorgeous illustration by Noa Gana, which is reason enough to write a post.

7. Matchbox Story: A Hypothetical Question

The funnest part of Alphabet Soup has been the three Matchbox Stories I wrote with your help.

8. Human Writes: The One That Got Away

Since we’re on the topic of pieces I enjoyed writing but wouldn’t have written if not for this newsletter, the Human Writes column is the closest I’ve ever come to keeping a journal. It almost makes up for all those dark years when you were busy writing in your journals while I was mindlessly watching The Love Boat.

9. At Night

One of the things I’ve learned to enjoy a lot these past few months is making audio recordings, and I think I’m getting better at it. Even though I’ll always have a weird accent in English, at least now I sound a bit less like a Nazi rocket scientist from a 70’s spy movie.

10. The Apple (Silent Film)

Sometimes I feel that my family and I were born a century too late.

Translated by Jessica Cohen