Happy April! I missed last week’s post because I was in Austin, Texas. No, I was NOT there for the eclipse. My friend and I booked the trip ages ago, before I knew the eclipse was happening, and our departure date was two days before the big event. Oh well! We each brought our daughters and had a wonderful little Spring Break extravaganza. This will be a packed roundup with two weeks’ worth of random things to share. Here we go!
Quote of the week:
“Learning to have an inner life is like getting used to being outside in nature at night. At first, you can’t see anything and fear takes over. But if you stay with it, you start seeing everything clearly and a peace grows in you that sets you free. Do not fear yourself. Spend the time.” –Jaiya John (in this beautiful book that I’m slowly making my way through)
What I’m reading:
On my plane rides to/from Texas, I read All the Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow (loved it!) and a fantastic nonfiction book, While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence by Meg Kissinger.
Last night, I finished None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell, which totally held my attention and kept me wanting more.
What I’m listening to:
Last week, I listened to Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves Through Dark Moods by Mariana Alessandri and really liked it. This week, I’ve been listening to The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante. Complicated mother character? Yes, please!
What I’m watching:
I watched the entire miniseries of Apples Never Fall in one week, which says something. It usually takes me a month to get through a season of something. It’s based on the book by Liane Moriarty. I have book amnesia and cannot even remember the book, but I love Liane Moriarty in general.
Writing news:
I’m working away on my new novel. I’m currently at the stage of wondering if it makes any sense.
Interesting things I learned this week:
- On Eclipse Monday, Internet traffic dropped by 40% or more in the path of totality
- There will not be another solar eclipse in the U.S. until 2044
- The 4.8 earthquake in NY was the third-largest earthquake in the northeast in the last 50 years
- Pet ownership has jumped from 56% of U.S. households in 1988 to 66% in 2024
- A group of 2000 Swiss women won a major victory by a European court ruling that Switzerland’s failures on climate policy are a violation of their human rights
- Costco is selling up to $200M of gold bars each month (whoa)
- The NCAA women’s basketball final drew more viewers than the men’s final for the first time ever–18.9 million viewers vs 14.8 million
- The U.S. has fallen out of the top 20 on the world’s happiest countries list (read here)
- Parts of Asia (eg, Taiwan, China, South Korea) offer luxury postpartum hotels for women to recover for a month after giving birth (read here)
- Chipotle is planning to introduce avocado-peeling robots for more consistent guacamole
- A large scientific review has confirmed the many benefits of human touch
- California is now mandating a $20/hour minimum wage for fast-food workers—the highest in the nation
- Jeff Bezos made $7.9 million AN HOUR, every hour, in 2023
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
“hermit crabs trade shells.” What I learned: “When a hermit crab spots a new shell, it’ll size up the shell for a good fit. If the shell is too big, the prospecting hermit crab will sit back and wait to steal the castoff shell of a larger crab that decides to upgrade. In the meantime, while the first crab waits, other crabs gather around the shell and do the same… The hermit crabs form a sort of conga line ordered from largest to smallest crab. As the largest crab enters its new home, the next crab in line takes the vacated shell, leaving an open shell for the crab behind him. The shell swapping continues down the line until everyone has upgraded. This chain reaction is called a vacancy chain, and it’s an ingenious way for the creatures to survive while sharing limited resources.” SO COOL. (source)
What I’m grateful for:
- A great trip to Austin with my friend and her daughter. My daughter and I had so much fun with them. Loved the summer-time temps, swimming, Book People bookstore, playgrounds galore, daily Taylor Swift dance parties
- Returning home to all the pets. One of my cats got out while we were gone but, thankfully, returned safe and sound. Phew
- Beach day with friends back home…before the weather turned dreary again
Snapshots:
From top to bottom: Relaxing in the Austin sun with my friend of 20+ years; reunited with my pup, watching my daughter’s soccer game; the bare-naked sun on Eclipse Monday in So Cal; my cat holding the secrets to the universe; pets always find the sun spots; the flowers are blooming; weeknight beach visits have begun.
