We are in the midst of a heat wave in California so it is feeling very much like summer. I’m going to go ahead and enjoy it while it’s here. Hope you’re heading into a nice weekend where you are. Here’s the roundup.
Quote of the week:
“The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes. If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it. Your life will be impoverished. But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.” —Frank Lloyd Wright
What I’m reading:
Martyr by Kaveh Akbar. This is my book club’s pick for the month and I’m liking it a lot. Worth the hype.
What I’m listening:
All of This: A Memoir of Death and Desire by Rebecca Woolf. I’m only a couple hours into this one, but it’s so well-written and complex and beautiful. It’s about a strained marriage that the author thought would end in divorce, but ends in widowhood after her husband dies of pancreatic cancer.
What I’m watching:
I’m a few episodes into Presumed Innocent on Apple TV. It is gripping and I want to binge all the remaining episodes in one sitting. We’ve got a couple episodes left of Season 1 of Fallout. I’m going to be jonesing for Season 2. I’m also watching the HBO docuseries, Chimp Crazy…which has me on the edge of my seat.
Writing news:
Working away on my 2026 novel, title TBD.
Interesting things I learned this week:
- Sloths poop once a week. I guess everything about them, including their digestive tract, is slow
- Cats have unique nose prints that are similar to human fingerprints. What?! How did I not know this?
- Women blink almost twice as many times as men, and older women blink more than younger women
- Giraffes are 30 times more likely to get hit by lightning than people
Weirdest thing I googled this week:
“Nemophilist.” I saw someone describe themselves as this and I had no idea what it meant. From Google: “A nemophilist is someone who loves or has a fondness for forests, woods, or woodland scenery. The word comes from the Greek words nemos, meaning grove, and philos, meaning affection.” I’m a bit of a nemophilist myself—who knew?
What I’m grateful for:
- This morning’s run. The sky was doing all sorts of glorious things (photos below)
- Watching my daughter grow. She’s been such a little buddy lately. I just love who she’s becoming
- Pet affection. There’s just nothing like it
- Knocking things off the “headache” list… This week, I resolved an electrical issue (with help from a pro) and also an issue with my taxes that has been lingering for months. Adulting is hard
Pet snapshots of the week:
