Returning to Substack after a Sabbatical

Random Reflections 2.0

More than five decades ago, when I was a cub reporter at The Woonsocket (R.I.) Call, I occasionally contributed to a front-page column titled “Random Reflections”.

As I return to Substack after a sabbatical, I have decided to revive that name and draw on inspiration from Austin Kleon’s long-running list of “10 things worth sharing this week.” You can subscribe to Austin’s free weekly “10 Things” list via Substack here.

Five Random Reflections

1. David Marchese’s New York Times interview with the author George Saunders, whose Substack is “Story Club.” I don’t love Marchese’s smarmy interview style, but Saunders came across as a wise and gentle soul. I eagerly pre-ordered his new novel, Vigil, which will be released on January 27, 2026.

2. Chris Bailey’s new book, Intentional: How to Finish What You Start. Click here for my Kindle Chronicles Podcast interview (was it too smarmy?) with Chris and here for the YouTube video. Click here for a 12-minute Core Values Test for $25—a 50-percent discount, courtesy of Chris.

3. Two excellent translations of The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence, a 17th-Century mystic. Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s spirited, inclusive rendering was published in 2023. Marshall Davis’s version, published in 2013 and available for free borrowing via Kindle Unlimited, is a more literal approach to the original French.

4. Stelo Glucose Biosensor by Dexcom, ($99 on Amazon). My recent lab tests showed prediabetes, and my Primary Care Physician suggested that I track glucose with a patch and app. It was easy to install and showed how that croissant I love ordering each Sunday at the Sanibel Farmer’s Market spiked my glucose!

5. Reading Ulysses by James Joyce in paperback with Anthropic’s Claude AI. I find Claude to be the most literary of my AI bots. Claude offers deep dives into the often impenetrable text. I also love chatting with him about Leopold Bloom and Stephen Daedalus, using their long day in Dublin as a way to think about who I am, who I’m not, and how an ordinary day can represent a whole life.