Quote of the week:
“…things get broken, and sometimes they get repaired, and in most cases, you realize that no matter what gets damaged, life rearranges itself to compensate for your loss, sometimes wonderfully.” –Hanya Yanagihara, A Little Life
What I’m reading:
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid — just finished last night; an enjoyable read, like all her books
What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster — starting today
What I’m listening to:
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara — this is a long one (and very good); might take me another week or so
Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing by Margaret Atwood
HSP podcast: Honor Your Intuition and Use It As Your Guide
Pandemic Parenting webinar: Pushed to the Limit–How the Pandemic is Impacting Working Moms
What I’m watching:
Palm Springs (movie on Hulu)
Surviving Death (Netflix docuseries)
Writing news:
Working Mother published one of my essays, “Going back to work after a miscarriage.” I have a couple more essays coming soon.
Also, All the Acorns on the Forest Floor was named a finalist for the Foreword INDIES Awards (general fiction category). Yay!
Here are your usual reminders:
- All the Love: Healing Your Heart and Finding Meaning After Pregnancy Loss will be released NEXT WEEK (on March 23).We are doing an online launch event on Tuesday at 4pm–register here (it’s free!)
- People Who Knew Me will be re-released on May 11
- No Hiding in Boise will release on June 15
What I’m talking about:
- The shootings in Atlanta and the rise of Asian discrimination and hate crimes since the start of the pandemic. I’m so disheartened by all this. I’m sad that my Asian friends have to worry about walking around in public
- Sarah Everard’s death. She was just walking home. Again, so disheartened… We need to shift the conversation from what women can do better to stay safe and talk about how to stop violence against women
- Everything we’re still learning about Covid. The long-term effects on the body are terrifying (this story brought me to tears)
Interesting things I learned this week:
- Japan’s laws demand married couples share the same last name; this seems so antiquated. I did not change my name when I got married and would have been annoyed if I’d been forced to
- Amazon used enough plastic bubble wrap in 2019 to encircle the globe 500 times
- Three men were banned from Yellowstone National Park after attempting to cook 2 chickens in a geyser
- Endangered black-footed ferrets are being inoculated against COVID-19 (they and other mustelids are very susceptible)
- The mass of human-made things now exceeds that of all living things on Earth
(I learned the last 4 bullets in the latest issue of Sierra Club magazine)
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
Pain over eyebrows. (I developed a fun sinus infection this week.)
What I’m grateful for:
My little family. I am so, so, so lucky.
