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Friday Five – The Hyperfocus Is In

Posted in Denton, Food, Friday Five, Getting It Together, Health, Home, Mental Health, Quiet, Reading Challenges, Work on February 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

It’s been a nutty couple of weeks. I feel more settled at work than I did in early-to-mid-January, probably because the semester is getting underway and everyone is falling back to their routines. Either that, or I have successfully adopted a more relaxed, whatever-gets-done-is-enough attitude (less likely, but still remotely possible). Also, I’m getting more done, so it may just be that that feels good. Regardless of the reason, I’ll take it. 

Meanwhile, I am super focused on a few key things. At home, I am nesting like I’m expecting a new baby. I am constructing an elaborate meal plan that I may actually use occasionally when I feel up to it in the next few months. And the information-sponge part (erm, majority?) of my personality is in overdrive. About everything. Mostly health stuff, but it’s hard to turn it off when it’s time to talk about something else. Yesterday at an appointment the nurse said, “This may be too much information.” No such thing, friend. No. Such. Thing.

However, I am enjoying super easy weekends and shall continue to do so while I’m going through treatment so as not to tax my system any more than necessary or cause any delays. In the perfect world, I would take this opportunity to learn how absolutely essential easy weekends are to my life and general well-being and keep them indefinitely. One can hope.

Here are some things I’m enjoying lately:

  • One of the wonderful things about reading challenges is that I get prompts that remind me of things I love. Nowhere Bookshop’s challenge encourages us to read our “Roman Empire” book – a book about any topic that lives a solid rent-free existence in our heads. One of my proverbial Roman Empires is architecture, specifically house plans. I think about how building homes could not only be useful as a career but also make opportunities to provide shelter and safety for others as well as build communities. I think about it a lot. I have several rough sketches for houses – everything from small bungalows to large spaces with full libraries and indoor pools. Also, I LOVE BLUEPRINTS. This prompt has me deep-diving into this topic that gives me so much joy. Look at these tiny house plans! How cute are they? And I adore the whimsy of this one. I mean, I would need a whole second tiny house just for my books, but I love the creative, economical use of space. Anyway, I put a lot of books on hold at the library about this, so I think I will have this prompt more than covered.
  • Also…I like this article. Not making any plans (for now or in the near future). I just like it.
  • I love cottagecore. Not so much the clothing or decorating style (although I do love roses and carnations and tend to decorate with both, even after they’re dead), but the lifestyle elements. Container gardens, reusing scraps, knitting my own blankets, slow food. Focusing on less waste and more creativity. Great quote – “We can choose to create a world for ourselves filled with gentle moments, while also considering how we can make our homes a place of cultivation instead of a place to store ‘things.’” This also slides right in line with my current nesting habits.
  • I’ve been looking for recipes recently that are high in protein and fiber. I’ve been in a bit of a food rut, but most of these and these look good to me. Perhaps I’ll try one or two of them this weekend (lookin’ at you, sweet potato).
  • I know they’ve reached their goal already, but these are some of the most talented baristas in Denton, and I want them to have all they need and more while they look for their next gig. So if you have a little love (and by love, I do mean cash) to throw their way, please do. Also, there’s going to be a fundraiser at Rubber Gloves, so swing by if you’re in Denton on February 10.

Take care this weekend (and all the time, really), friends. I hope it’s relaxing and fun and everything you want it to be!

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Friday Five – Easing Into January

Posted in Dance, Food, Friday Five, Home, Mental Health, Quiet, Reading Challenges, Work on January 5, 2024| 2 Comments »

Happy New Year, everyone! Back to work this week, getting to do a lot of interviews for next year’s staff. We’re losing almost half of our student staff in the office, and there are a lot of great candidates. Definitely go home and just sit in the silence after all this social interaction, though. Ready for a calm, quiet weekend.

Here are some things I enjoyed this week:

  • I’m intrigued by the concept of house hushing. On the one hand, it makes sense that a neat environment can be more peaceful – more mentally quiet. On the other hand, this feels like another person telling me why I need to clean my house, and I’m not sure I’m open to that sort of advice today. Does hushing still work if I’m overwhelmed and exhausted about it? Maybe I’ll revisit this concept when I’m in a more cleaning-as-catharsis mood.
  • Here’s something more manageable – turning my office into a cozy workspace. My current favorite things about my office at UNT – a full candy jar, inspirational notes on the bulletin board, coloring books and supplies available for students to use, and twinkle lights (battery-operated, per Housing rules).
  • I love this piece about dancing – at parties, in clubs, in your living room – how it feels to move in time with music and other people and be a part of something. One of the reasons I don’t mind crowds quite as much when I’m dancing is that it lets me be a slightly different person than I usually am when I’m standing or sitting still. It’s an experience of being both together and alone. 
  • Leave it to Joy the Baker to speak my mind. Gentle January is such a good idea. I mean, I clearly am not going to leave goal-setting and looking toward the new year until the end of the month. But I am starting off soft in other ways. To me, this looks like even more nights at home than usual and longer writing/piano/knitting/crafting sessions. And I am definitely on board with eating down the fridge and pantry to use up all the things before restocking. Work and medical stuff are out of control this month, so embracing as gentle a January as possible sounds like such a relief.
  • I’m not adding yet another reading challenge to my plate this year. I’m really not. But I do find this one intriguing. If you get book FOMO, this might be a good one for you. A little backtrack on things that might have fallen under your radar in the last decade or so. Enjoy!

Have a good weekend, friends!

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2023 in Review

Posted in Books, Getting It Together, Home, Hope, Mental Health, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, Work, Writing on December 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

This year was a wild one. I’m pretty surprised I accomplished as much as I did. I met the spirit of each of my resolutions, if not the actual goals themselves.

Theme: Home

I’ve thought and read a lot this year about what home (having one, being at, making one, etc.) means. I’ve jotted down notes throughout the year and shared some of them here (click “home” link in the word salad over there —>). As I was finishing up The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik, I ran across a quote that sums up a lot of my thoughts on the theme – “Nothing about deathlessness or permanence, nothing forced; it was only a request, a cry of longing: stay here, please stay, be our shelter, be our home, be loved…”

Home is not something I construct once and have forever. It is a living, breathing thing. I find it in spaces, but I can also carry it with me, a sense of belonging that simply comes from being at home with who I am. A loving, peaceful home – or world – cannot be created from exploitation or greed. It must be cultivated with care. And care is complicated, especially when there are few systems in place to foster it.

I see this working in many of the choices I’ve made this year to put down some things that seem great but are either shiny trash or just not for me. I’ve also put my strategic/analytical strengths to good use in choosing new things to pick up. 

I don’t think this a lesson that ends, but I’m glad to have explored it more thoroughly this year.

Arts/Words/Creativity 

The thrill of having a week off work without having to use any PTO often goes to my head. Especially when setting goals for the upcoming year. I wouldn’t have it any other way, though. I like thinking in terms of extravagant possibilities, particularly when it comes to creative pursuits.

While I didn’t quite make the goal of reading 180 books, I don’t think it’s beyond my reach (in general – definitely beyond my reach in the next day and a half). In fact, I was ahead of schedule for most of the year, until work and health issues exploded. I don’t know how much those things will actually settle down, but I’ll keep the same goal for next year and see how it goes.  

When it comes to setting reasonable creative goals, I first had to fail spectacularly to learn. Most of the year, I faithfully set weekly plans on Sunday…and then did not meet them. Minor tangent – I am delighted to report that failing isn’t half the gut punch it used to be. Perhaps I’m actually healing from my overachiever, perfectionist ways? Here’s hoping. Anyway, in the last few months, I have become better at setting realistic short-term goals, a skill I plan to take into the new year with gusto.

Health/Wellness/Energy

I still really dislike strength training. And I dropped my Pilates membership because I wasn’t going anyway so it didn’t make sense to spend money on it. But I am begrudgingly sticking to a pretty regular schedule, completing at least two upper body and two lower body sessions a week. I am happy to report that it still works even when you whine about it, and a little whining is cathartic. 

My favorite wellness habit this year has been my commitment to making sure I have the downtime I need to function properly. The more I learn about how my brain works and what it needs to be at its best, the easier it is to say no to things that keep that from happening. Same thing with cutting out foods that make me feel sluggish. Actually feeling good and having sufficient energy to do things is so much better than slogging through or pushing myself until I collapse. I’m up to three regular time-outs a week. I think that’s the sweet spot where I still feel connected to people and life in general without getting overwhelmed and out of sorts. 

As it turns out, these are skills I will need in the months ahead.

I have some hard things coming up, health-wise. I don’t know all the specifics yet or the extent to which I will need to reorganize the rest of my life to adapt to these changes in the upcoming months, and I don’t know how much of it I will share here. I do know, however, that I will need the space to figure it out as I go along. And the work I have done this year toward being healthier – both physically and mentally – is going to help me do that. I’m grateful for what this year has taught me in this regard.

Finances

I do not have $1000 in my cushion account. Like I said, some shit has come up. But at least I have a cushion account, and I’m leaving it alone (except for the emergencies and extra surprises for which it is intended) and replenishing it as I am able. This is still an improvement over last year.

As far as my goal of identifying one new way to save or make money every month, I have gone above and beyond. I dropped subscriptions and services that I wasn’t using enough to justify the expense. I curbed impulse spending by giving myself a 3-day waiting period before buying anything I didn’t need to make sure I actually wanted to make the purchase (this was more successful at certain times than at others). Do you know how much more satisfying it makes the purchase when you actually do decide you want it? I had no idea. 

But most of all, I applied for and got a new job that increased my monthly take-home pay by about 18%. I have needed every penny of it, and I am so glad to have it. 

This year has shaken me in several ways, but it has also revealed that my foundation and my support system are stronger than I thought they were. Most days, I’m more grateful than anxious, and I’m pleased about that. 

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Alphabet Challenge – Update 7

Posted in Books, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, Work on December 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I intentionally did not take on most of my usual reading challenges this year specifically to give myself more flexibility, and in that regard, my reading plans this year were successful. Another thing I liked about my reading this year is that it was even more social than usual. I hope someone picks up the ball on hosting staff book clubs at UNT (I’m working really hard not to volunteer for yet another thing at work…but I want to). I really enjoyed reading fun things with people from across campus.

One thing I did challenge myself to read an alphabetical list of both titles and authors and while I didn’t quite finish it, I definitely chose some for this list that I enjoyed and wouldn’t have read otherwise. My favorite part of this challenge was picking some of the books off my shelves at home that I have been meaning to read for years but never got around to it. 

Anyway, although I didn’t quite finish the whole alphabet, I made it through quite a few of them. Here’s the last installment of the year.

For the main list of book titles I’ve finished for this challenge, see this post. For reviews on specific books, see previous posts:

Update 1

Update 2

Update 3

Update 4

Update 5

Update 6

A

Alive at the End of the World by Saeed Jones

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo 

B

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke 

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

C

The Castlemaine Murders by Kerry Greenwood 

The Postmistress of Paris by Meg Waite Clayton 

D

Dear Bob and Sue by Matt and Karen Smith  

Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz 

E

Excuse Me While I Disappear by Laurie Notaro 

The Measure by Nikki Erlick – So good! I can see why so many people recommended it, and I’m glad one of my book clubs worked it in before the end of the year. The basic premise is that people over the age of 22 all over the world started receiving mysterious boxes with strings that measure the length of their lives, and the plot developed from there. It was told from multiple perspectives of a few interconnected characters and addressed several issues that would arise from such a phenomenon. Why would/wouldn’t someone open their box? Should people running for office or those going into military service be forced to open their boxes and divulge the contents? Is there a duty to disclose to partners/employers/friends/parents/etc.? For the record, I would 100% open the box. Even though I agree with a lot of the reasons not to, and I am firmly in the right-to-privacy camp, it would come down to the simple fact that there is information there for the taking…and I would absolutely take it. I’ve already convinced one of my book clubs to read this next year, so I’m excited to see what they think.

F

Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland 

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney 

G

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman 

Winter Recipes from the Collective by Louise Glück 

H

How To Be Perfect by Michael Schur 

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris 

I

The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne

J

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry 

The Friend Zone and The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez 

K

Writers & Lovers by Lily King 

L

Lucky Turtle by Bill Roorbach 

Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón

M

Marie Kondo’s Kurashi at Home 

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

N

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik 

O

The Opposite of You by Rachel Higginson 

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

P

The Pisces by Melissa Broder 

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath 

Q

Queen of the Flowers by Kerry Greenwood 

Blessings by Anna Quindlen – Reading this book, I realized something about my selections this year. I’m in the habit of reading books where either everything goes wrong and is awful all the way through, or after a few small bumps everything magically works out in the end. This book is a realistic mix of both. There are real joys and heartaches all throughout the story, and it’s not particularly predictable at any turn. The writing is rich, and the characters are layered. Highly recommend.

R

A Rhythm of Prayer, edited by Sarah Bessey

The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay – This book’s premise has so many things going for it for me – quirky characters, inheriting/running a bookshop, budding romances, healing relationships. But it was a slog to get through. There were definitely some good moments, but when I find myself counting page numbers and looking at the clock to estimate how much time I have left until I finish, it’s not a good sign. If the book had been any longer than it was, I probably would not have finished it.

S

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle 

T

Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation by Hannah Gadsby 

Women Talking by Miriam Toews

U

V

Verity by Colleen Hoover 

Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa – Oh, my heart. I cried for like the last 80 pages of this book. I was mad and happy and sad and furious and proud and touched and about fifteen other feelings. I can see myself reading this one again. The characters use a lot of slang, so it will be interesting to see how it reads in a few (or twenty) years. I hope the difficulties the characters face read differently in that time, too (I don’t have a lot of hope, but I do hope).

W

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

Witch King by Martha Wells – This is the latest from the author of the Murderbot series I love so much, and this found family fantasy novel is just as good. After 400+ pages, I feel like I’m just getting to know the characters a little bit, and I want more! The world contains demons, witches, immortals, and other types of fantasy characters from a unique perspective, and the interplay of both their powers and limitations offers endless storyline opportunities. I don’t know if this is the first in a new series, but I would be the first in line to read more.

X

Y

Z

Welcome Home: A Guide to Building a Home for Your Soul by Najwa Zebian

I am excited to pick up a couple of reading challenges for next year (more on this in an upcoming post), but I think I’m going to finish this one out, too. 

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Friday Five – Happy Almost-Holiday!

Posted in Books, Food, Friday Five, Home, Roots, Work on December 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

It’s the last workday of the year (well, at one job – probably going to do some writing for the other one next week. Probably. Maybe. We’ll see.). I am in the process of interviewing everyone who passed through the application portion of selection (for the department’s new live-in student staff next year) and indicated they were specifically interested in the Housing Ambassador side of things, but I am done with today’s round! I desperately need to organize my office, so that’s on the to-do list this afternoon.

Then tomorrow, it’s off to the family farm with my sister and brother-in-law! 

But first, I have some things to share with you today:

  • My favorite news this week – Martha Wells’s Murderbot is going to become a show! I love Murderbot. Very excited to see what they do with it.
  • I Am From Here by Vishwesh Bhatt – This cookbook is written like a love story to food and family and all the influences that brought Bhatt to where he is today. Beautiful pictures and a horde of new recipes to try.
  • In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren – I enjoyed this book, but I was stressed out for most of it because there was a going-back-in-time/Groundhog-Day-esque element, and I didn’t feel like the conclusion to that was thoroughly flushed out. Are they OK? Did everyone make it out alright? I needed answers sooner and also more completely.
  • Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – I LOVED THIS BOOK. The characters are endearing and one of them is an octopus. It’s not as weird as it sounds. It’s charming and wonderful and if you liked A Man Called Ove or Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine or books like that, you will like this one, too.
  • And finally, while I’m definitely going to pick up dinner tonight on my way home, I am looking forward to my upcoming slower week. Gonna make some big-batch meals in the crock pot and roast a whole lot of vegetables for warm salads. Maybe make some soup. I’ve pretty much depleted my stash of frozen leftovers in the last couple of weeks, so I’m excited to replenish them.

I also look forward to posting some year-in-review thoughts as well as my theme and goals for next year in the upcoming week. I wish you contentment and love as you finish out the year!

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Friday Five – Books and Festivities

Posted in Books, Friday Five, Fun, Seasons, Work on December 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

This month is out of control already, but I am reading up a storm. Carving out the necessary time to do so is even more crucial in busy months. 

  • I’m also participating in Susannah Conway’s December Reflections challenge as part of my reflecting-on-the-year process. Today’s prompt is ‘Best Decision of 2023,’ and hands down, the best decision I made was applying for and accepting the Coordinator for Housing Services job. I love working more closely with the Housing Ambassadors in a position where I get to both witness and aid in their professional growth. It’s such a privilege. (Having my own office is nice, too.)
  • Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey – I gave this book 4 stars for two reasons. First, one of my favorite audiobook narrators, Julia Whelan, reads it. Superb. Highly recommend. Second, the main character, while a mess, is embarrassingly relatable to me. She leaned full in to that downward spiral after her divorce, and that is exactly my irrational bad attitude after a breakup or fizzling of any kind. Everything is terrible, love is a sham, wallow and refuse to heal for a good minute because if you don’t, the cults of productivity and respectability politics win. This is exactly what that feels like and (spoiler alert) what it feels like to emerge.
  • Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage by Heather Havrilesky – I mean, the title alone was enough to hook me. An unflinchingly honest memoir about the joys and trials of marriage. I think anyone who is planning to get married (ever) should absolutely read this book so they can go ahead and set reasonable expectations for it. I would also recommend it to those who are married as a cathartic “Oh, good – it’s not just us” or “Oh, good – at least we don’t do that” or “Oh, wow – maybe we should get some therapy” tool. I would expect nothing less of Ask Polly.
  • Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan – FANTASTIC. I zoomed through the audio this past weekend because it’s been on my TBR for a minute and one of our work book clubs was scheduled to discuss it this week. I’m going to recommend it to at least two other book clubs for next year. I appreciate it when popular authors are humble enough to bring in other writers to collaborate on books that center on things outside their own experience. It makes the story so much richer.
  • The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun – Dark eco-tourism tale. My favorite parts of the writing were the bits of humor sprinkled throughout, which gave it a moderately unhinged, uncertain mood. I’d be feeling a certain way about the horrible things it was describing and then one of the characters would do something quirky or slightly charming, and the effect was jarring. Really well-written and unsettling.

Soon, we are off to our over-the-top departmental holiday party. It’s my favorite Christmas party at work of the year. Then I am getting my hair done…and going to Chelby’s I-beat-cancer party…and Molten Plains Fest is tonight. It’s just going to be a good day.

I hope you have a good day and a great weekend, too!

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Day 20 – Free Friday Five

Posted in 31 Days, Books, Food, Friday Five, Fun, Home, Joy, Mental Health, Roots, Work on October 21, 2023| 2 Comments »

I love having a free day. I was off work today, and my car is fixed, and I had cookbook club tonight, and it was just a great day.

Here are some foodie things I enjoyed reading this week.

  • And we’re right out of the gate with some controversy, but I really need to get something off my chest. Sweet potato pie is superior to pumpkin pie. Discuss if you must, but I said what I said.
  • We had a whole discussion about favorite holiday foods and favorite sides at staff. There were divisions, alliances were formed, shots almost fired. It was glorious. Best staff meeting ever. In related news, I need cranberry salsa in my life. 
  • When I find a foodie book I really love, I often re-read it. In fact, of all the genres, foodie memoir or fiction is what I’m most likely to re-read. We are discussing Lessons in Chemistry in a book club at work on Monday, so I’m listening to it again this weekend. It may be my favorite book I’ve read this year. It’s so good. I’m also re-reading Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi, and I love it just as much as I did the first time. The stories people tell about food, its place in their lives, and its impact on culture are meaningful to me. It’s one of my favorite ways to get to know someone.
  • The Modern Proper: Simple Dinners for Every Day by Holly Erickson and Natalie Mortimer – I adored this cookbook from the beginning when one of the authors was talking about her grandma teaching her the “proper” way to dice. What little culinary education I gleaned during childhood was learning the proper way (i.e., Mom’s way) to do something. My mom and I once had an argument because I was adding water to the pie crust recipe wrong (my point was that I had seen several bakers doing it a different way and their pies turned out ok…to which she responded “But they weren’t baking in my kitchen.” Welp, they sure weren’t. She had me there.). Conversations like this one were why, while most of my formative memories of food stem from the place I grew up, most of my actual cooking skills were developed when I had a kitchen of my own. Like the authors of this cookbook, I have great memories of observing Mom, Aunt Gale, MeMaw, and (later in adulthood) Dad in the kitchen, but my workable knowledge is the result of experimenting and creating my own sense of the proper ways to do things. It’s how I learned that the way I add water to a pie crust is just fine and also that if you replace half the water with vodka (or gin), you get a flakier crust (the dough puffs as the alcohol evaporates). Sometimes learning new ways to do things is good.
  • And this has absolutely nothing to do with food, but it has everything to do with home, and also I love Jenny Lawson, and maybe someone here might benefit from reading it, and plus…I do what I want. Actually, looking at the drawing, I can picture myself curled up in a blanket, drinking something warm and eating something comforting in that little house. So it IS sort of food-related after all (if you really want it to be). Read all the way to my favorite line at the end – “Sometimes the mistakes are beautiful. Just like you.”

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I hope you’re enjoying this series on the food that reminds me of home this month!

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Friday Five – September Home Edition

Posted in Books, Friday Five, Home, Mental Health, Music, Nostalgia, Work on September 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Today is National Coffee Day, so I am celebrating appropriately (i.e., I am WIRED). Coffee is the scent that greets me any time I walk into my home, so it just makes good sense that today is also the day that I share other things I’ve found that help me ponder what home means to me. Enjoy!

  • I adore the whole vibe of Apartment Therapy’s guide to staying in (although I do ruffle at the idea of staying in or taking care of yourself as being “lazy.” I mean, I get that the guide is basically a long commercial for LazyBoy recliners, so they’re using the term in that context, but still). My favorite title within it is the one about the Instagram captions for your “homebody era.” I feel like homebody is more of a solid personality trait for me than an era, but it made me happy nonetheless.
  • I want to read all the books about mothers and daughters on this list. This year, I’ve been reflecting in my private journal on the family I grew up in and how that shaped me as a person. My relationship with my mother has been particularly on my mind lately. She has been having some accelerated memory loss in the last few years, and that’s been hard. The last time I was home, however, I played some hymns on our old piano, and she sat next to me the whole time, singing the alto parts she still remembers from all her years in choir. I enjoyed it so much. 
  • How badly do I want Stanley Tucci’s GreenPan line? So, so badly. Look how beautiful (and the cookware isn’t bad either).
  • One of the ways that I’m working on being at home with myself this year is learning to accept my neurospiciness as a whole, both the great and challenging parts. I’ve taken on the role of co-president of UNT’s Neurodiversity Professional Network, and we just finished reading The Neurodiverse Workplace by Victoria Honeybourne. It was so refreshing and informative. If I were the highlighter sort (I am typically not), I would have a lot of highlights in this book. The best thing I got out of it was a lot of tips on how to reframe conversations about better ways to do things in the context of customer service and universal design/practice. Also, the format of the book is visually pleasing and thus easy to read – lots of bulleted lists and checklists and a summary of the main points at the end of each chapter. I recommend it for any managers of people in general but ND folks especially.
  • I am trying to branch out with my media choices, so I started listening to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s podcast Wiser Than Me, recommended to me by my friend Sarah. It usually takes me about 14 years to make it through a whole episode of most podcasts (audio conversation/monologue…especially when they skip around, talk over each other, or there is music or other random sounds…which happens a lot in most podcasts…challenging for me to focus), but this one seems easier to follow. The first episode is an interview with Jane Fonda, whom I love. I am inspired by the idea of consistently waking up each day and thinking about what we’re doing to make a positive mark on the world, which she talks about a bit. As podcasts go, I like this one, as I enjoy gleaning wisdom from those who are older and wiser. I think I’ll listen to more!

I hope you get a discount (or freebie) on your favorite coffee today. Have a good weekend!

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Friday Five – August Home Edition

Posted in 31 Days, Beauty, Books, Food, Friday Five, Home, Joy, Resolutions, Work on August 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I love that the last Friday in August is here. I know that there’s no magical off switch for all the busyness and the horrible heat and the general ARGH of my most stressful month of the year when the date changes to September, but it feels like there is. Y’all – I take my relief and my peace any way I can get it, even if it’s just through the story I’m making up in my head.

Here are some of the ways I’ve been reflecting on my theme of home this month.

  • I love the meandering path of this piece on minimalism. Minimalism is a nice concept but also can be judgy and steeped in privilege and is often a thinly veiled excuse for even more shopping (and thus the inevitable accrual of more things, which one might argue is the exact opposite of the true spirit of minimalism). As someone who appreciates minimalism as an idea (and omg I love Marie Kondo) but leans more toward cozy and whimsical in decorating a home/office/patio that actually feels like a home to me, I have had every single one of the feelings the writer describes.
  • Speaking of accruing things, Bed, Bath, and Beyond is all online now that they have closed/are closing all their stores, and I am riveted. I look at this website at least once a day. I have yet to buy anything because these days I get stressed about the prospect of actually spending money on anything, even if I need it (a positive swing in my spendy attitude but also I could stand to dial back the trepidation a little – I’m sure in time it will balance). But I’m making plans. So. Many. Plans. I need a new mattress, and I want to upgrade some of my chairs in the apartment over the course of the next couple of years. And this table is so cute and functional. I love it when things are both.
  • “What if we understood our lists as menus instead?” But seriously. WHAT IF WE UNDERSTOOD OUR LISTS AS MENUS INSTEAD!?! I resonated with this piece so much that my eyes welled up with tears. My life, my home, my writing, my reading (etc.) are all governed by a series of lists. Reading this essay took a weight off my shoulders that I didn’t know I was carrying. If you have a love-hate relationship with the to-do lists (or the TBR list) in your life, consider the perspective of Oliver Burkeman (The Imperfectionist – also love that blog title and I’m a little mad that I didn’t think of it first). I also love the tagline on the main page “…building a meaningful life in an age of bewilderment.” You know what, let’s just sign up for the newsletter. I feel like I need more bold imperfection in my inbox.
  • I love these reflections on home compiled by Amy Studarus as featured on Shondaland, especially the ones that talk about helping others make their home dreams a reality. I like the way we are all connected by our own concepts of home and what that means, even when we mean very different things. One of my favorite things about having a theme word for each year is gathering the wisdom of others who have given it more thought than I have and thus have had time to put that thought into action. I like seeing how their reflections are playing out.
  • Even though my current kitchen is the least favorite kitchen I’ve ever had, it’s still an important part of my home and one I spend a lot of my waking hours in. In my 31 days series coming up in October, I am going to talk about the foods and recipes that remind me of home, whether that means the farm where I grew up or one of the places I’ve lived since then. I strongly connect food to the places and people I love, and I am looking forward to hashing that out a bit in writing. In the meantime, I am reading cookbooks and kitchen memoirs and foodie fiction, gleaning inspiration on how I want to present my thoughts on the meals that hold special meaning for me. Joy the Baker is one of my favorite people who write about food, and her post about this summer’s peach crisp is a good example of why. She starts off with a short personal reflection (i.e., she actually blogs on her food blog, which is inexplicably a source of contention for many people, which I will address in my anchor post on October 1). Then she explains what makes this recipe stand out among others of its kind and goes through the role that each ingredient plays. This is my favorite part of her posts, because as long as I’ve been cooking and baking, I still usually learn something. She’s not just handing us a recipe – she’s teaching us why it works, which ultimately helps us, her readers, become more confident and more adventurous in our own kitchens at home. I love that.

Friends, I hope you are having a good day, and I wish you a relaxing weekend!

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Friday Five – Good Mornings, Good Advice, Good Books. Good Times.

Posted in Alive, Andilit, Books, Friday Five, Work, Writing on August 18, 2023| 2 Comments »

I think I might be starting to find my rhythm in the new job. This week was always going to feel a little lighter, as the halls are officially open for the semester, so there are so many more people across campus to help put out fires with fall residents as they come up. But it also feels lighter in terms of I may…actually know what I’m…doing…now? For the most part? I say with some minor hesitation and a continual knocking on the nearest wooden object?

Here are some things I read this week that I thought you might enjoy. 

  • The low dopamine morning debunked. After a quick googling on what constitutes a “low dopamine” morning, I didn’t even really care about the details of the science that debunked it; I’m just glad it did. Because it sounds dreadful. Like…just the very worst way to greet a new day. I have 0/10 interest in giving up whatever small pleasure I can scrounge out of waking up, even if it did have some marginal benefit. I also enjoyed the reminder that habits are meant to be flexible, not rigid. This article was very soothing overall.
  • The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa – I had to read this one fast because someone else put it on hold at the library, but I’m so glad I had time to do so. Anyone who’s ever loved a cat should read this. Very sweet story about family and friendship from the perspective of a persnickety and adorable cat named Nana. 
  • Andi’s piece on how to write a book in a month (and also maybe…don’t) is just what I needed to read right now. I mean, I don’t write full books in that short a time even in easy months, but August is often a time when my creative writing gets put on hold because the full-time job is so busy (and has been especially so this year). Although that all makes logical sense and I know I’ll be back to it with a fervor in September, I always manage to feel bad about it on some level. Grateful to Andi for these words.
  • I don’t follow basketball at all, but I’m so glad some of my friends do. This is such a wonderful moment, and I’m glad I didn’t miss the end of Dwyane Wade’s Basketball Hall of Fame speech. 
  • Anxious People by Fredrik Backman – Our book club discussed this one on Tuesday. This is the second time I read this book, and I loved it even more than I did the first time I read it. It’s quite charming and witty. I think what I like most about Fredrik Backman’s books is that I usually like every single character in them (or almost every character). He is very good at showing their vulnerabilities and humanity. And I’m always a little sad that they’ve ended when I finish reading them.

Friends, I hope you’ve had a good week and have a great weekend!

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