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On Werewolves, QR Artistry, and Good Work
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19 Oct 2025 Fingers in Every ProjectReader, As I'm sure we all do, I keep finding new and interesting things to learn, people to meet, work to do. And there are, of course, only so many hours and days . . . . Project timelines fall apart and are reformed, other goals once impassioned are set aside "for the moment," and some externality (or seven) encroaches on us. Is it what we complete or what we do which matters? And to whom? More and more, I fall back to the idea of "good work" and why it's valuable for itself. If we regret what we do, it must be because the work has no real value, no worth which satisfies. I know I am privileged to be able to (largely) pick and choose these days, but I also recall In so many ways, I am working as hard as I ever did when employed full time, but I am excited that it is my work, and this has made me reflective (to speak kindly) of the notion of work with little meaning. Is it because I recently again read Le Guin's The Dispossessed? She so casually writes of collapsing the distinction between work and leisure, that we are fulfilled by work that fulfills our own desires and should therefore not be denied it. That's the kind of anarchy I can support. If you've never read it, make some space. I'll be bringing it up in the podcast probably in December. P.S. Speaking of learning, I'm starting to look for decent conferences on literature, theory, narrative, and the like which I might attend in 2026. If anyone has some they recommend (those which have open invites!), let me know! Frictional Reading Last Call for Early WorkA final call to get in on the early sides of my next book, exploring my approach to comprehension and meaning-making through frictional reading. I'll be contacting volunteers shortly, so now is a good time to express your interest! More at the link!
Literary Nomads: Horror & The Philosophy of ActionNow that the three special intro episodes are over and Frost is done picking fights with my eccentric readings of his poetry, we return to the questions motivated by Le Guin. We left Omelas with six questions to pursue over the remainder of this journey, which will motivate our reading:
In keeping with the Waywords Readers Manifesto, what and why we read is our own choice, but that choice and those which follow are also our own responsibility. As we move forward with Metropolis and The Giver (obvious examples), I'll suggest that all texts we read inherently carry these questions by their existence of objects to be read (even something like Beavis & Butthead, Rick & Morty, or Smiling Friends). And even, as we close out the month, Edgar Allan Poe. Have a question about what we're talking about? Use that mailbag and let me know!
Episodes ahead:
13 Days of Halloween: Decades of HorrorThe 1890s launches with a short story from Bram Stoker and two short films by Georges Méliès who launched the horror movie genre. A few decades of silent horror follow until some clumsy steps into sound films in the 1920s. (I really felt the silent films were doing fine without the audio for at least 20 years.) It's also been interested to see how these films met their times politically as well, with Paul Wegener's German expressionist series of Golem films appearing at the end of the Weimar Republic and offering an empathetic if exoticized view of the Jewish people. Likewise, by the 1950s, Cold War anxiety produced little but mad scientist films. The films and stories I've chosen reflect some of the culture climate of their decade. Check out, for instance, Roald Dahl's story this week (dropping Saturday), 1953's "The Great Automatic Grammatisator," which reveals our fear of machine take-overs and anticipates AI. If you're not following Waywords on social media, you can always check out the Halloween and horror offerings here, and/or (but always and) subscribe to the YouTube channel!
ARENDT UPDATE: Ch. 12 - Totalitarianism in Power The massive climactic chapter of Arendt's history drops this week and will be followed by The Origins of Totalitarianism's closing chapter, an omitted chapter on the Hungarian Revolution, and my personal reflections on the reading experience. It's a good time to catch up and take in the whole series!
Chapter 11: The Totalitarian Movement: Join in on the reading! Yes, we're nearing the end, now, but that only means that you can follow my videos and guides at a leisurely pace! Find more here:
Early Peek at Werewolf Fiction Calendar: Artistry and Culture Lots to haunt, more to appreciate, and stories worth telling.
For those who want the challenge (even after the awkward demise of the NaNoWriMo group), a ton of support spaces fill the gap out there! A few:
An Indigenous Take-Over of the METIndigenous artists have been planning it for more than four years, tracking and imaging the artwork in the American wing of the MET museum in preparation. Then, on Indigenous People's Day last week, they staged their exhibit, unknown to the museum curators. Another lesson in how all art must exist in its context, that even the most "innocent" of stories manufactures an ideological view of the world. Powerful reading here. And a genius approach by the "Encoded" team of artists. "It is a cathedral built to worship an imagined nation, painted over stolen land, one that names ideas of beauty but not the cost. When I walk through there, I feel the weight of how these institutions shape a vision of America that depends on our disappearance."
Now back to finish my long list of horror story reading! Steve What's Still Ahead?
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Waywords Studio
Want to dig a bit deeper, stretch a bit wider, discover unique insights in your reading? So do I! That's why we literary nomads explore beyond the comfortable beach read. Subscribe for podcasts and video, fiction and poetry, essays and online courses, unexpected freebies, and ways to lever your literacy into activism! For students of all ages, educators of all kinds, and just plain out litterateurs!