Um, hi! If you're there, thanks for sticking around. If you're dipped, I don't blame you; it's been a while. We've all been on this really bizarre journey of a pandemic forcing us to focus on our values, ethics, and morals. Time has lost its meaning (I keep thinking my husband had short hair last year, when actually he hasn't had a haircut in 3 years) and this state of being feels like it's always been this way and also just happened.
And my writing has dropped off.
To be fair, that isn't entirely COVID-19's fault; it was already sporadic and difficult for me to eke out something I felt good about publishing. I'd start something and then, halfway through the first paragraph, lose the drive, and the excitement of the idea; so my queue is littered with "drafts."
Good writing hygiene requires the writer to just write. Every day. Even if it sucks. Because probability indicates that at least one of the sentences will be, at best, the kind of truth that Ernest Hemingway was obsessed with, and, at worst, not awful.
Writing, like will power, is a muscle: it gets stronger with use; habitual use.
So, I'm setting myself a challenge of posting at least once a week, and not about anything too heavy:
At least 5 things I'm enjoying. They may be things you can purchase, things you can listen to, things you can watch, things you can make, etc; With my last post going live in <checks notes> 2018, with a cumulative 36 views, obviously I'm not sponsored or shilling any of this stuff for my own benefit.
Listen, I'm white and a female so I'm contractually obligated to think Trader Joe's stuff is so much better than anything plain old Stop'n'Shop can offer. But also this candle has the closest smell to apples that I've ever experienced; it's practically pavlovian in making me want to chomp and scrunch my way through a 5lb bag of Macoun apples.
Based on the YA novel by Karen Cushman, I gobbled this Amazon Prime movie as soon as it was available. When I finally culled the book from my shelves it was dog-eared and wrinkled with some of the pages falling out of the spine; that's how much I loved this book. Vera Brogsol's "Graphic Appreciation" speaks for all of us Elder Millennials who were starting their teens and tweens in the late 90's/early 2000's and figuring out girlhood with this newfangled internet thing. This film adaption is written and directed by the ever-complicated Lena Dunham, and I think it's very uncomplicated to say that she fricking nailed it! The cast is *chefs kiss* perfect, the costumes are not rigidly accurate, but in the theme and style that works, and the adults are graced with nuance in making hard decisions for their children that are, presumably, for the best but are met with great unhappiness.
At times my favourite breakfast is some whole fat Greek yogurt, with a little fruit compote, and some homemade granola. If you've never tried making your own granola first thing to know is that it is stupid easy! Take some oats, take some sweeteners, take some oil, take some spices, take some nuts (if you want), mix, roast until golden and BOOM! You're now a crunchy granola hippie!
This recipe from King Arthur Baking is a tropical, Indian spiced mix with flavours like cardamom, allspice, anise, and tahini to give you that crunchy chai experience.
It's not an exaggeration to say The Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) is a national institution. Officially started in 1936 (though some stations pre-date that year) and receiving funds from the government of Canada it's what NPR dreams it could be someday. What I find truly astonishing about the corporation is how its true crime podcasts do not spare police ineptitude. Whether it's the police force of Toronto, the RCMP or Provincial Police Forces, the ball is frequently dropped on murder investigations only to be picked up by journalists like David Ridgen of Someone Knows Something (or SKS as us fans know it).
David is very sensitive to the survivors of these cold cases; they may be the parents, friends, and/or children talking about an individual they were close to who just vanished and have stayed vanished for upwards of 30 years. This recommendation comes with the caveat that I have yet to hear a season of Someone Knows Something in which the case was solved; these podcasts are published mostly in the hope that, well, someone knows something about the case and will contact David or the police.
Last week I finished my second reading of The White Mirror and it was just as good as the first time I read it, if not better. Author Elsa Hart writes from a background of wandering the globe with her parents, and it shows in the character of Li Du. Li Du is a disgraced and exiled librarian from the Kangxi Emperor's imperial library and, with nothing left to him in the capitol city, takes to wandering, and his wanderings lead him to find untruths throughout the Chinese empire. Hart's prose is meditative and calming, and follows the very satisfying format established by mystery novel Queen Agatha Christie.
Comments
Post a Comment