Quote of the week:
“All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them.” –Karen Blixen
What I’m reading:
A Radical Awakening: Turn Pain Into Power, Embrace Your Truth, Live Free by Dr. Shefali Tsabary
What I’m listening to:
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal
What I’m watching:
World Series baseball. I’m rooting for the Braves because I haven’t forgotten about the Astros cheating scandal.
I’m also still watching Maid on Netflix. It takes me forever to get through a series. It’s great.
I also watched Four Hours at the Capitol, the HBO documentary about the Capitol riots. Riveting.
Writing news:
No big news this week. I’m doing my first in-person book club appearance since 2019 on Monday, so that’s pretty exciting.
What I’m talking about:
- The abysmal state of paid leave in the US. It was cut out of the Build Back Better Act meaning the US remains one of six countries in the world without any form of national paid leave. This is very much a women’s issue–78% of moms and female voters listed paid family leave as a top concern. We need to do better
- Funding for climate change. This is part of the Build Back Better Act (thank god). The Clean Energy Performance Program was reduced (#politics), but I’m still considering the funding a win (if it goes through… #politics)
Interesting things I learned this week:
- The word “quit” has its origins in the Latin word “quietus” which means “to set free” (source). This is interesting to contemplate since the word “quit” often has such negative connotations. Glennon Doyle discussed this on her podcast this week
- There are 26 bones, 30 joints, and more than 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments in each foot
- Carrots have seeds. About 2000 of them can fit in one teaspoon
- There are more S&P 500 CEOs named Michael or James than female chief executives (source)
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
“Alpacas vs llamas.” We went to a petting zoo and I mistakenly referred to an alpaca as a llama–the horror! Apparently, alpacas are significantly smaller. They have small, blunt faces with short ears, while llamas have more elongated faces with banana-sized ears. Now you know.
What I’m grateful for:
42 years. My birthday was on Wednesday and while I was more melancholy than celebratory (first birthday without my dad), I feel immensely grateful for my health. This past year was the hardest of my life. I survived, which gives me confidence. I go forward into this 43rd year with so much less fear. I’m excited to see what’s ahead.
