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Archive for the ‘Friday Five’ Category

Friday Five – National Book Lover’s Day

Posted in Books, Food, Friday Five, Health, Work on August 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

It’s National Book Lover’s Day, so I encourage you to celebrate accordingly. It’s also the first day of Mean Green Move-In at UNT, so I am looking forward to going home to celebrate as well. Tomorrow is another busy day so the celebration may be cut short with an earlier bedtime.

Five things that grabbed my attention this week:

  • I think I’d be a great book butler. Maybe that will be my next career.
  • Joy the Baker is featured in Houstonia magazine. I love her and I love that she’s in Texas now. As a lifelong resident, I welcome her as one of our own. 
  • It is easy to find arguments online for food being either strictly for fuel or for health or for pleasure. Why not all three? I love this long read that reminds me of the importance of fueling my body by eating the things it’s craving and thus probably needs to replenish missing nutrients and to do the things I’m asking it to do.
  • I really appreciate everyone who has helped me feel like a human this year. I am also loving the Olympics but there are too many things I want to say about them to fit in this post. Just…Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Stephen Nedoroscik, Ilona Maher…love them.
  • And finally, in political news, I’m still extra liberal and not impressed with this middle-of-the-road, “at least we’re not the other guy” nonsense. The thing that stuck out to me most this week was Harris’s response to the protesters at her rally. “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.” Since she knows these particular protesters would not be likely to vote for Trump either, this comment seems designed to shush and shame, which is an interesting approach to asking for someone’s vote. I’m not sure it’s the best campaign strategy to win over those of us for whom continuing the current administration’s stance on Israel/Gaza is a dealbreaker. We gave Biden/Harris a chance for these past four years and they have proven that once they’re in office they don’t care what we think. So many of us need to see change before we vote for her again. If she doesn’t want Donald Trump to win, maybe it would be better to listen to liberals whose votes she doesn’t already have than to settle for a quippy sound bite.

    Edited to add: More of this. Also, just…more. But this was a better response than before.

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Friday Five – Off Days

Posted in Alive, Books, Friday Five, Fun, Health, Quiet, Work, Writing on August 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Welcome to August! The staff have been in training this week, and today was their big breakfast, so I went in early to cover the office so they all could go. I am glad I went in this morning, but after treatment, I was even happier to go home, have a leisurely lunch, run some errands, and check in with my stylist to tame these cute little tufts that are forming all over my head. 

I’m at the point in my treatment where the end is in sight. So even though I still feel fatigued and itchy and constantly on the verge of infection (I’m assured I’m fine – it’s just part of the fatigue – but I’m taking a ridiculous amount of vitamins and treating it like a precursor to a cold anyway), I’m starting to notice again how much I’m missing out on by just not having the energy to do more than the bare minimum. 

I don’t subscribe to a lot of paid Substack accounts, but Roxane Gay’s posts are well worth the small fee I pay each month for it. I get access to her book club discussions, and essays on things like learning to write again from a seasoned writer and educator. I feel like I’m learning to write again as well. I’ve been journaling, but it’s not the same as losing myself in fiction or poetry, and I’m pretty rusty. It’s been a bit of a slog, and I’m grateful to hear that this, too, is common and overcomeable (a word? I don’t think that’s a word. Welp, it is now).

Here are some other things I’ve enjoyed reading this week:. 

  • It is so hard to find a therapist. I feel this post in my soul. Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes is one of my main go-to sources for practical advice when it comes to self-care and rest. She echoes a lot of my own struggles in this piece.
  • I love Joy the Baker’s team and their Let It Be Sunday posts, and this past Sunday’s edition was especially good. I particularly enjoyed the pieces on how to cope with the social exhaustion of work (and I have needed these tips this week with all the training) and tips on travel (which is something else I may be interested in as I come out of my treatment fog. Maybe. We’ll see. Got some ideas for my birthday next March.). 
  • Mountain Ash Press is having a submissions contest. I don’t project having a manuscript that’s ready to submit by August 31 myself, but if you do, check it out and see if it’s a good fit!
  • The longlist for the Booker Prize is out!
  • I love the post from Modern Mrs. Darcy about one of my favorite mystery series. If I were to name a place in literature I’d like to visit, Three Pines would be at the top of my list. If you haven’t read any Inspector Gamache, here’s a good Louise Penny Starter Kit for you.

I hope that your week has been OK and that you have a good and restful weekend. Take care, friends!

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Not-Friday Five – Reading Boosts

Posted in Books, Food, Friday Five, Mental Health, Reading Challenges on July 21, 2024| 2 Comments »

I know it’s not Friday, but it’s July so all weekdays – Fridays especially – are out of control. So here we are on a calm, rainy Sunday, coffee in hand, eating maple whipped cream out of a bowl with graham crackers, leisurely letting you in on what I meant to post Friday.

A busy schedule means I need to be more intentional about downtime than I usually am, and nothing relaxes me and puts my whole life in perspective more than reading. So this week, I have been drawn to ways to boost my reading and give myself a little extra challenge. Maybe your reading needs a boost, too? If so, see below!

  • “Gratitude is not a solution to the problem of pain.” I love that quote from this short clip of Kate Bowler. Gratitude is a useful tool for perspective, but it is not The Answer. Also, enforced gratitude is the worst. Even if telling other people how to feel could make them magically feel that way, it’s still controlling and manipulative and I hate it so much. A while ago, a friend recommended Bowler’s book Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day! (specifically for coping with cancer treatments). And now I’ve bought it. It’s been refreshing and comforting.
  • I love musings about friendship, and this one on the medium friend is particularly good. I especially like this part – “Medium friends can thus be seen not as inferior to best friends but as delightful and beneficial on their own terms: a well-matched tennis partnership; a bond over breast cancer; a mentoring dynamic; a rediscovered childhood chum; a gamer buddy abroad. Relieved of the pressure to be ‘good,’ the friendship can flourish and serve each person as it is.” 
  • The National Book Foundation has a summer reading adventure. You click on the things that you do, fill out the short form below it, and submit by August 31, 2024. Since most of these activities fall under what I’m already doing, I’m in! Are you?
  • Also, if you love audiobooks, Libro.fm is hosting an audiobook challenge that goes until the end of this month. I am always up for winning more books and perhaps a mug, so I’m pretty stoked about it.
  • I always wanted a solid layer of pineapple on my pineapple upside-down cake, and this one delivers. My favorite line in this whole piece is “Like revenge, it’s a cake best served cold.” For the record, I would buy her cookbook so fast.

I hope you are having a fantastic weekend!

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Friday Five – Delight

Posted in Beauty, Books, Food, Friday Five, Music, Nostalgia on June 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

This week has been hectic both at work and in my personal life, but there have been so many things that have delighted and pleased me. Here are a few:

  • I am fascinated that such a thing as a happiness expert exists (I’m a fan, to be clear), and I enjoyed this article on their daily habits. 
  • Roxane Gay is saying goodbye to her column Work Friend, and she wrote a beautiful send-off to it. 
  • Dorie Greenspan of World Peace Cookies fame (and baking in general – the cookies are just how I was introduced to her) wrote a lovely piece on getting out of a personal rut/funk entitled “A book that’s bigger than you are.” 
  • Speaking of books, my favorite book I’ve read this week is The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff. It’s the follow-up to 84, Charing Cross Road, and it is just as charming. 
  • I love the Gaia Music Collective (I want to sing with 100+ people!!) but I especially loved this arrangement. I played this song for my piano recital the same month my childhood friend Ginger died, and it always reminds me of her. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend full of all your favorite things and people!

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Friday Five – Inspired

Posted in Beauty, Dance, Feminism, Friday Five, Health, Lament, Writing on June 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

This was a momentous week. This was the first week of the whole year that I had zero doctor’s appointments. Also no labs, no tests, no treatments, no “here is what this next thing is going to cost you” meetings. Nothing. It’s been nice. I could get used to this. I mean, I won’t, because soon I start radiation and will have a treatment every day. But it’s been good to have a break.

Inspiration has come from a lot of places this week. Enjoy!

  • I love this commencement speech that Reshma Saujani gave at Smith last year. Down with imposter syndrome!
  • This is terrifying and inspiring and bring it on (the menopause, to be clear. Some of the rest of it can just skip me right over, thanks.). 
  • I love this piece by Shawn Smucker. We are dancing animals! So we go to independent bookstores like Nooks to commune with other dancing animals.
  • One of my favorite things that show up in my inbox is Susannah Conway’s newsletter. I started following for pics of her cat and the occasional backyard fox, but she also shares a lot of wisdom and a glimpse into the kind of life I’d like to lead someday. She has several online courses, one of which starts on Monday. Journal Your Life sounds perfect for establishing a journal practice if you don’t know where to start or if you just need a few pointers to make it joyful enough to stick even on don’t-wanna days.
  • Finally, this week I read You Can Talk to God Like That by Abby Norman, and it was exactly what I needed to hear right now. I met Abby online many years ago, and she’s been one of my favorite people for spiritual encouragement and wisdom ever since. I’m probably going to talk more about this book in its own post once I process my feelings a little more, but if you were raised to always praise and always be thankful and maybe stuff your anger/hurt/disappointment down under a blanket of false positivity, Abby is here to tell you that’s bullshit, and I heartily second that emotion. 

I hope you have a good weekend, friends!

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Friday Five – Busy Week!

Posted in Alive, Beauty, Books, Feminism, Friday Five, Health, Joy, Quiet, Work on June 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

This week was a lot. First week back to work after surgery, and it went pretty well. We had two Freshman Orientation sessions this week, so our team was running around everywhere between tabling, talking to parents, giving tours, and answering the phone that kept ringing off the hook. And next week’s schedule looks the same.

So this weekend is all about relaxing! I’m gonna DoorDash some dinner tonight (and maybe breakfast tomorrow, too) and read to my heart’s content. Well, read until I fall asleep. I am not sure there are enough hours ever to fully reach my heart’s content when it comes to reading.

Links for this week:

  • I finally broke down and started a GoFundMe for my medical expenses after learning how much I would have to pay out of pocket for my upcoming radiation treatments. But this is the last major phase of treatment – it’s all just ongoing prevention and checkups after that!
  • I’m very excited for my friend Andi who recently signed a contract with a publisher for all her books! I also really like her YouTube channel.
  • Lessons in Chemistry is one of my favorite books I’ve read in the last few years. Easily top five. This interview with author Bonnie Garmus makes me love it even more. Success really is the best revenge.
  • Welp, I did it. I subscribed to Archer and Olive, and I just got the notification that my June box was delivered. So I have that to look forward to later this evening!
  • Finally, I love the Quiet Life community Susan Cain has created, and one of the neatest things they do is the community art project.

I hope you have a great weekend!

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Friday Five – Back Issues and Other Exciting Adventures

Posted in Books, Bookshops, Friday Five, Fun, Health on April 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

It’s been a pretty chill week here overall. I mean, my back seized up (due to sleeping too long? Sleeping in the same position? Breathing too hard? Who even knows.) for the first time in my life, and that was unpleasant. I told the nurse taking my labs that it had never happened to me before and she said, “How old are you?” When I replied, “49,” she laughed and told me I was due. I’ve done a casual survey of people I’ve spoken to this week and can confirm that they all seem to think that’s a fair assessment. *sigh* Fine. 

Anyway, here are some things I ran across on the internet this week. Enjoy!

  • Stop everything and go to my friend Shadan’s Etsy shop, HappyHeartsBoxes. I can personally attest that she puts together the best gifts. Let her take the guesswork out of it for you.
  • I am a big proponent of the 3 Drink Theory, and mine definitely follow the caffeinate/alleviate/hydrate pattern. My most frequent trifecta at work is coffee, an espresso milkshake from The Market, and a bottle of water.
  • I’ve added the Aubrey app for more audiobook options. I’m most excited about the prospect of discussion questions included at the end of many of the books (great for book clubs when I’m in charge of leading) and the monthly listen-alongs! I think my first is going to be Alice in Wonderland in May!
  • I love this piece (and these book selections) from Lisa Bartelt. I, too, am (more) drawn (than usual) to dystopian or darker fiction these days.
  • I met Shawn and Maile at a writing retreat in Virginia a few years ago (I say a few, it was pre-pandemic…what is time…) and have followed their writing ever since. I can’t think of two people more well-suited to owning a bookstore and fostering a literary community. I’m so excited for them and their new adventure with Nooks, and if you’re in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, check it out and let me live vicariously through you.

I hope you all have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!

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Friday Five – Self-Care Tools

Posted in Friday Five, Getting It Together, Health, Mental Health, What I'm Into on April 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

This week has been pretty OK. Today, on his birthday, I’m thankful for my brother-in-law. He is always eager to help out with random tasks, and I think he cares more about my car maintenance than I do. He has a sweet heart and gets nerdy about good deals, which is super endearing. Glad he’s part of our family!

I’ve been thinking a lot about the chaos of the world this week. We humans are just so, so bad at…humanity. The therapy has been really good lately, though, so instead of spiraling, these thoughts have prompted a craving for creating restorative, quiet space and practicing consistent self-care (which are important for maintaining sustainable education, awareness, conversations, activism, etc.). Of course, this has led me down rabbit holes, chasing tools that might help. So that’s what today’s list brings. These aren’t necessarily things I am going to incorporate, but I found them particularly beautiful and thought they might be things others would enjoy as well.

  • I have toyed with the idea of the Archer & Olive subscription box for a few months. I looove and hoard office and craft supplies. Any time I’m at a yard sale or a craft store or Targe with a little fun money to burn, that’s what I’m drawn to. While the subscription is a bit pricey, you get quite a few nice things with each box. And they’re soooo pretty. I may subscribe just to have gorgeous things on hand when someone’s birthday (or any day, really) comes up and I want to give them a little something special.
  • I ordered the latest copy of Bella Grace, and it is a visual treat. The articles and lists inside are not particularly groundbreaking, but they’re easy reads. They’re great for a quick reminder that there is more to life than the to-do list. Sometimes, I just thumb through to look at the beautiful pictures (also would be good for collaging/mood boards, if you’re into that sort of thing). 
  • I am obsessed with the Finch app. I have often struggled with tracking simple daily self-care, and this makes it fun. My birb is named Bandit, and she’s adorable.
  • I find myself using the Insight Timer app more days than not. It’s where I found the sleep music I’ve been using for a while (also, I think I want to make a sleep music album myself. I think that’s my jam.), but lately, I’ve also been using some of the good-morning/good-evening meditations. 
  • Finally, while I think this would be too much stimulation for me personally, I can see how a Northern Lights lamp like this one would be a cozy addition to someone’s home. 

Do you have favorite self-care tools? What are they?

I hope you have a good weekend, friends!

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Friday Five – Rest and Reading

Posted in Books, Friday Five, Fun, Health, Music, Poetry on April 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Happy April! In the past couple of weeks, I’ve had some time off from work to rest and breathe, and it was so good. I should do that more often. Noted.

Here are some things I’ve enjoyed in the last few weeks.

  • On a Facebook post my friend and bandmate Jesse described the music they played during his head CT. I especially loved this quote at the end: “Overall it was a magical concert albeit brief, but this is a simple reminder that the beauty of music and art is fleeting, ephemeral. The only reason I didn’t give it a 5/5 was because the light show left something to be desired, and there was no encore,” and the link he provided to D Magazine’s article about listening to the symphony in space. 
  • Enjoy these 7 reasons you shouldn’t date a reader. Accurate. 
  • I’ve been anxious and insomnia-ed lately and super steroid-zoomie lately, and somatic yoga has helped. 
  • I loooove Ollie Schminkey’s poem. And the delivery? Wonderful. I love the enthusiasm, the frustration, the insight, the passion. I especially love the parts that the audience clearly loves, too, particularly “I am not trapped in my body; I am trapped in other people’s perceptions of my body.” Worth a watch (and a re-watch), especially for those who find themselves in a place of “I just don’t understand.” This might help.
  • “And Yet the Books” – a treasure to read for National Poetry Month from Czeslaw Milosz via Susan Cain.

I hope you have a good weekend!

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Friday Five – Happy Birthday Weekend to Me!

Posted in Alive, Books, Food, Friday Five, Fun, Health, Home, Writing on March 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

My good friends Maggie and Michelle are coming into town today and spending my birthday weekend with me, and I’m so excited!! We are going to eat cupcakes, binge-watch comfort TV, and just bask in each other’s presence all weekend. 

Up until very recently (i.e., a couple of days ago), I have been operating under the assumption that I will have the energy to do everything I really want to do. I mean, I knew in my head that this was not probable. But I cling to the idea that I’m extraordinary. Well, I am. Extraordinarily sensitive to treatment in that I have had almost every one of the milder side effects of chemo so far. Apparently, that means it’s working, so I’ll take it. But still. 

Could it also mean that maybe I don’t stretch myself to the very end of my energy every single day? I think so. I think that would be a good thing to stop doing. Every week, I find more and more that I usually love to do that I just don’t have the energy for, and that’s going to have to be ok for now. The things I love will still be there when I’m well.

In the meantime, here are some things I love that take relatively little bandwidth.

  • Oh, gosh. Ruth Reichl, Laurie Ochoa, and Nancy Silverton have a podcast together. It’s called Three Ingredients and I am obsessed (with a PODCAST?! I know, right?!). 
  • Five ways to trick yourself into decluttering. The timer works really well for me. I can do anything for five minutes, and I can get a surprising amount of things done in that time.
  • Dorie Greenspan has a new book coming out, and it’s about simple cakes. I feel like I need to pre-order it, because simple cakes are my favorites. Give me anything I can throw in a bundt pan and maybe not even ice, and I’m happy.
  • My writing is hitting a slump, so I’m going to refresh a little next week with the Healing Through Writing Festival. It’s all online, and most of the sessions are free. You can upgrade for a pretty reasonable price to get All Access, but per my energy level, I may just need to stick to the other sessions. But if you are a creative and need a boost, too, you may want to check it out. The presenters I recognize are top-notch, so I’m excited to learn what everyone else has to say.
  • Finally, a very helpful product that my friend Steph introduced me to. My skin has been so sensitive – to heat, allergens, etc.  More than usual, I mean. It is a mess. Enter Active Skin Repair Hydrogel. I can put it on cuts, burns, allergy rashes…anything. And it soothes and heals. It has been a godsend and if this product were a person I would marry it. Highly recommend if you are similarly afflicted.

I hope you have a great weekend!

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