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- Beany Brain #119: I Need a Piece of Quiet + My Favorite-Color Debacle/Giggle
Beany Brain #119: I Need a Piece of Quiet + My Favorite-Color Debacle/Giggle
Abigail Munday
November 10, 2026
Beany Brain: loving our jumping-bean brains!
Welcome to this issue of the Beany Brain! I hope today’s newsletter will bounce us up as we contemplate the upsides and challenges of being neurodivergent, a little beauty, some creativity, and just general yeehawesomeness.
Table of Contents
Photo by Abigail Munday
I Need a Piece of Quiet
Nobody told me to expect the suddenness of the ending of the British podcast, Neurodivergent Moments. They just up and stopped, with one final episode when they announced it. Change is hard for me, and unexpected change is harder.
Even if it’s just a podcast.
I get it. Joe Wells (who is autistic) and Abigoliah Schamaun (who is ADHD) are busy comedians and I’m sure podcasting takes a lot of spoons. Even if you are sharing about spoons. With funny comedian spoons dishing it up.
On the final episode, they remembered some of their favorite guests from the 100 episodes.
My favorite bit was right at the end, and it must’ve been from an episode that I missed somewhere along the way. Luke Wright, a friend of theirs and a poet, is reading his poem, “A Piece of Quiet.” It’s about his autistic son, Aidan. You can listen to Luke read it here, starting at the 51:52 mark.
It’s lovely to hear him read it, but if you’re pressed for time:
A Piece of Quiet
At three, you minced the phrase you’d heard us say
You tugged my sleeve
I need a piece of quiet
Later we discovered you required this much more than us
We learned your diagnosis like the rosary
It helped us understand how noise could flood your mind
Taught us how to better cut your anger
Counseled us that it was not our fault
Ten years have passed
Our family split but still we share your gifts
You tug my sleeve to escape the party’s treble
We ditched the trampoline parks
Dreadful keening
Hit the showers early at the pool and go outside
To let the sky unfold above our heads
Re-earth ourselves in clearings
And tear each other off a piece of quiet
Ha Ha Haiku
A funny haiku for you every week in every newsletter, whether it’s one of my own or one I curate for you. HA. Ha. Haiku.
Photo by Abigail Munday
Sweet and spicy nuts
Label I made for church snacks
Really, it’s just us
Photo by Abigail Munday
My Favorite-Color Debacle/Giggle
I’m giving myself more and more permission to be me. It’s a daily and colorful exercise.
A friend asked me the other day what my favorite color was.
Well.
The old Abigail would’ve said red and left it at that.
The new Abigail with self-permission started listing:
Red
Then turquoise
Then probably purple
Fourth is probably orange
I never even got to #5: lime green.
Her eyes were glazed over and she was turning away to talk to someone else.
And the new Abigail chuckled inside.
Because the new Abigail knows that it’s OK to have 5 favorite colors, and to list them, and share a bit of myself, even if someone doesn’t know what to do with this information.
I know what to do with this information.
Then again, maybe lime green is my #2 and turquoise is #5.
I’ll have to consider it a bit more. Maybe look at a few more Sister Mary Corita Kent art pieces to help me along.
artsy.net
Yeehawesome!
Yeehawesome! is a happy-brain roundup in each issue of Beany Brain. What’s happening that’s good in brain land? What’s bringing me joy?
Weapon of mass instruction (see above, from 2017), created by artist Raul Lemesoff in Argentina. It delivers free books around the country. Lemesoff built it on the chassis of the type of car that the Argentinian death squads used to disappear people in during the 1970s and 1980s. Beauty out of ashes.
Chile’s Atacama Desert, thanks to flooding rains from El Niño, is all abloom and it’s looking gorgeous. There are over 200 species of flowers blooming right now. Click this link to see all the amazing photos from NPR. More beauty from the ashes (of climate change).
This study shows that birdsong and human speech patterns are the same!
Quote of the Week
Every act of art is an act of resistance.
Tom Morello, guitarist and activist
Beany Brownie Points and Extra Bonus Funniness
(source unknown)
Wonderful Wednesday
Wonderful Wednesday was a day once a year in college when they would suddenly and surprisingly call off all classes and we’d play all day. The cafeteria provided special fun food and we’d do stuff outside like slip ‘n slides and jello wrestling in sumo suits. This segment of Beany Brain is dedicated to that memory of silliness and fun—no words, just a photo from the week that I’ve taken or found that reminds me to let the joy in. Since Beany Brain is published on Wednesday every week (at least, Wednesday in Japan), I hope you enjoy this Wonderful Wednesday.
Selfie by moi
Today’s Beany-full Summary:
I shared the poem by Luke Wright about his son Aidan called “A Piece of Quiet.”
A friend asked me what my favorite color was. She was in for a treat.
Go forth in Beany joy. What will help you feel yeehawesome this week?
Thank you for reading this installment of Beany Brain! You’re very welcome to hop on by any old time.
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