Send Sage

On embodiment and how to unprovoke the universe.

We’re not really vacation people, Fraction and I. We’d like to be someday.

I think?

Well, we’d like to travel more.

I guess what I’m trying to say is we’re not really “lay on the beach” folks, which, for right or wrong, is what I imagine when I hear the word “vacation.” But a retreat? Hell yes. Retreats are focused! Vacations are doing shots in Cancun with your new friend Marco while Foreigner 4 plays on repeat over the loudspeaker and the one excursion you can afford, turns out not to be a Hemingway-esque cultural experience but a literal bovine butchering, followed by a trip to the mall. Or maybe that was just our honeymoon.

Anyway, we tricked ourselves into taking a little bit of a vacation last year by calling it a retreat and going to a local spa for a couple of days. (This one – it was lovely.) We brought our notebooks and went for coffee across the street and finished thoughts and sentences, and weren’t interrupted by phone calls or dogs or kids or anything.

We talked about where our heads are at right now, as people, as parents, as artists, and we came up with fun things like deciding we would do an end-of-year recap letter but we’d do it as a recap of TV show about a family called The DeFractions. (We wrote it, but never sent it out. 100% on brand, no notes.)

We talked about our current projects, what we’ve got coming up, and how neither one of us can wrap our heads around Henry going off to college or Tallulah learning to drive. And we chose our words for the year—an annual practice for us. I don’t remember what Fraction’s word was--because I am a terrible wife and also peri-menopausal--but mine was embodiment.

I chose “embodiment” for several reasons, one of which is that I’ve been wrestling with the fact that the work I am most moved by tends to be non-narrative, non-verbal and physical, whereas my own work is disembodied and rooted in language and narrative. I don’t know whether this is something that actually requires reconciling or whether it simply makes sense—the way it seems obvious that a fish would admire a bird—but it’s a bit of grit on my tongue that I can’t stop playing with.

I also chose “embodiment” because I’ve been toying with the idea of taking a hip hop dance class for like, three years now, and if I’m going to do it I need to do it soon as I might already be too old. But I’m not really a dancer, and I’m scared of being bad at things.

em·bod·i·ment

/əmˈbädəmənt,emˈbädəmənt/
Noun: a tangible or visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling.

…

No sooner had I made this declaration than our actual physical bodies fell to shit.

Fraction was hospitalized not once but twice with what has turned out to be Crohn’s Disease. (A diagnosis I argued against during his first hospitalization because “you don’t just develop Crohn’s at 50!” Turns out, that one zoology class I dropped twice in college does not make me doctor. Rude.)

Then my body decided to eat my one remaining wisdom tooth –- something we discovered when an x-ray appeared as though I had an embryo in my jaw, so much so that my dental hygienist said, “What the fuck?” out loud. (I love her.)

My tooth-baby had to be surgically removed before it was fully devoured so that its absence didn’t create a passageway between my sinus cavity and my mouth. After the surgery, there was only one rule: don’t sneeze.

So of course I sneezed. I have this weird habit of suppressing my sneezes so that I sound like a cartoon mouse and this is apparently a bad idea in general, but an extra bad idea after this particular surgery. But I don’t know how to not do it. So something went awry and one night when I was using my waterpik and the water shot out my nose along with a really foul-smelling glob of stuff that kind of hurt my feelings to know I contained.

They put me on multiple courses of antibiotics—including one that’s used for plague! Did you know plague was an actual diagnosis and not a figure of speech? I did not!—but even the anti-plague pills were not enough, and now I’ve had this infection in my face for six months and I’m more tired than I’ve ever been in my entire life.

The universe seems to have chosen to hear “embodiment” as a dare.

Anyway, I’m having another surgery on July 14—the day before my birthday, yaaay--to, I don’t know, fix things, I guess. I hope.

At my last CT scan they said there was something in my sinus that was “denser than bone.” We’re not sure what that is. When I was a kid, I shoved a red plastic rocket up my nose and it never came back out. I always assumed I swallowed it -- and I probably did, I’m not sure how it could turn the corner into my sinus cavity – but Tallulah insists that even if the thing in my sinus is not a rocket, we should say that it was.

Why am I telling you all this?

Because one unexpected side effect, I think, has been the dreams. I’ve been having incredibly vivid dreams of late. I didn’t write last night’s down, but I do remember a bit of it: a woman walked by me wearing a sheer dress over a shirt and pants, and the dress was a more interesting cut than usual. I stopped her and asked her who made it and she said, “Lady Horror.”

If I ever decide to start a clothing brand, I know what I’m going to call it. I don’t know what Lady Horror will sell, but I’m just letting you know in case it happens: I’ve already put you on the mailing list.

xo Kelly Sue

PS I don’t think Lady Horror is a subgenre — I want to be clear about that. It’s not, like, SAW: FOR GIRLS! Pretty sure it was a person, like Lord Byron. You know, like, Next week on Bridgerton: Introducing Lady Horror.

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A few things I'd hate for you to miss:

• Did you know Danielle Henderson teaches writing classes? Well, she does. And she’s amazing and I love her and we all need more Danielle in our lives. (Which we can get even if we’re not taking her class because HELLO NEW PODCAST.)

• Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting are open until July 20th or when 2000 screenplays have been submitted, whichever comes first. (The current count is 1,257.)

• 2027 Oregon Literary Fellowships Guidelines and Application. Deadline to apply: August 7, 2026.

• Fellow Oregonians: did you know about ArtsLink? They list residencies, auditions, calls for art, classes, companies, events, resources and more.

• Sweet Shop is in beta!

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Shenanigans:

• Fraction’s and Jorge’s Batman and my and David’s FML are both nominated for Eisners! (Oh, shit -- what are we going to wear? ) Fraction and I will both be at SDCC this year -- my first time back in... gosh... a long time. Looking forward to it.

• Want to see a really photo of us as babies at our first Eisners? We’re with Kristyn Ferretti and Ivan Brandon and this was back when red eye in photos were a thing and also it’s very sweet that no one told me that dress didn’t fit.

• Wonder Woman Historia: The Absolute Edition releases on August 11, 2026! Order yours through your local comic shop, which you can find right here. Or you can preorder it through Bookshop.org here. (You can also order or pre-order FML vol. 1 and/or Batman and/or anything else we've done at Bookshop.org and support a local independent bookseller while you're at it--including the Casanova compendium, which was just announced.)

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SEX CRIMINALS IS GOING TO BE A TV SHOW. SOMEHOW.

For anyone who might have missed it, it's real! It's happening!

There's an IMDB page and everything! Amazon Prime Video is producing an eight-episode live-action series adaptation of the Matt and Chip's Image Comics comic book, Sex Criminals. Nia DaCosta will direct 4 of the 8 episodes, which will star Imogen Poots and John Reynolds.

I am personally beside myself that Pamela Adlon is playing Bev.

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One More Dream

My incredibly literal subconscious gave me this gem the other night: I bought a small fan at a Japanese stationary store and it allowed me to jump off buildings and fly. But I couldn't hold onto the fan and my bag at the same time (I always dream about baggage holding me back because I am that literal) so Ricky Milk and Yassir Lester (the two chillest people I've ever met) took me shopping for an octopus suit.

Maybe that’s Lady Horror’s first product? Bespoke and bedazzled octopus suits. If there are any angel investors reading this, hit me up.¹

Okay, I’ve gotta go. Matt’s in NY until tomorrow, and my closet threw up all over our bedroom.

xo Kelly Sue

PS I went to see Ryan Holiday speak when he was in town last week and he was wearing a Megadeth t-shirt and that delighted me and it feels like a good note to end on.

1. Do not hit me up.