I labored through (and orphaned) seven drafts of a ‘check-in’ newsletter since June until I realized that this is how I was ever going to catch you all up about what I’ve been feeling, thinking, doing – through what I’ve been listening to. I love a good, take-me-to-the-bowels-of-the-night, graduate-thesis-length personal essay as much as the next person, but this is just not the time for that.