Quote of the week:
“The thing that screws us up the most is the picture in our head of how things are supposed to be.” –Glennon Doyle
What I’m reading:
With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt
What I’m listening to:
Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
What I’m watching:
“The Accidental Tourist” (oldie but goodie)
A bunch of Dateline murder mystery episodes
The new season of “Alone“–caught up to the latest episode
Writing news:
My first piece for the New York Times was published this week: “I Gave Birth, but My Husband Developed Postpartum Depression.” Reading this will give you some insight into what inspired the Angie storyline in my latest novel, No Hiding in Boise.
In other news, I received the below email from a reader, which made me chuckle.
What I’m talking about:
- The dramatic rise in Covid cases across the country. This gives me a lot of anxiety, particularly because I have a young child who is not eligible to be vaccinated yet
- The Olympics! I’ve got my DVR set to record all the gymnastics
- How the pandemic highlighted that women/mothers are always expected to put themselves last. This is a great read. Quote: “Our society functions because women have been conditioned to believe that it is our job to accommodate, to step in when someone is needed, to put others first. We get this messaging from society: Selfless mothers are praised while “bad” moms are shamed, and our role as mother is assumed to be our primary identity“
- How companies need to be prepared for employees to quit if they are not allowed to continue working remotely (read here). Side note: I resigned from my full-time job to take on a freelance role and one of the reasons was that the pandemic showed me how much I love working at home. I always wanted to work remote but was never allowed. My former company is back to in-person work and I’m so glad I don’t have to deal with that
- Billionaires going to space. It’s made for a lot of great jokes (my favorite below), but it’s really so maddening. These men could literally solve world hunger with just a portion of their wealth
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
Mac and cheese ice cream. (I was curious after hearing about this on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. It’s a real thing. Sounds…weird).
Interesting things I learned this week:
- Teeth enamel is the hardest thing in the body
- Every 7 to 10 years, most of our cells replace themselves
- There is only one Friday the 13th this year, and it’s next month!
- Australian researchers want to rename shark attacks “incidents” or “interactions”
- The US life expectancy has dropped by 1.5 years, the steepest decline since World War II
- The beds in the Olympic village are made of cardboard
What I’m grateful for:
The ability to run. My dad was a runner for much of his 30s. I never understood the appeal until I hit my 30s and started running more seriously. Now I love it. I love the time to think, the magical flow state. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to my dad on my runs lately. I decided to sign up for the L.A. Marathon (it’s November 7). My dad ran it twice and I think it will be special to do the same race. For anyone interested, I’m raising money for The McCourt Foundation here.
