As I write this, I am sitting on a rather comfy couch in a house we rented for the weekend. Normally, we rent a huge house in this area with a bunch of our friends. Due to COVID, that hasn't happened for two years. This year, we decided to get out of town as a trio. Just the husband, the kiddo, and me.
In front of me is a large, plate glass window that looks out over an inlet of a lake. There are a bunch of other houses below and I can see smoke lazily drifting up from chimneys. The kiddo just went down for her nap, and the husband is on a run to grab more firewood. For the moment, it's just me sitting alone in the living room.
There are no city sounds outside. I can't hear the neighbors. I haven't heard a car drive by in hours. It's an overcast day and, while I can see birds flying around, they're not calling out. It's the closest thing I've heard to silence in a long time.
When I'm alone, I normally default to listening to podcasts or watching TV. I always feel like I have to "catch up." Not this time. I'm enjoying a serene silence that is oddly comforting. It feels like the world has hit pause. The only obvious passage of time are the cloud shadows drifting across the ground outside.
I know this respite is only temporary, but I am going to soak in it for as long as I can.
When was the last time you sat in silence?
I’ve got a few pages left in Journal Me Organized: The Complete Guide to Practical and Creative Planning. I didn’t read as much of this as I wanted this week because I was distracted by my backlog of email newsletters. Should polish it off in the next few days. The bulk of this book is pictures of the author’s actual journals. It’s hard not to read everything on the pages. It’s a fascinating insight into someone else’s daily life.
Paywalls make the truth expensive to access. [NPR]
Glaciers have less ice stored in them than we thought. That is bad news for fresh drinking water supplies. [WaPo - gift link]
The new "democratized" forms of money only work if you already have money. [Vox]
Creating information literate kids starts early - pre-school early. [Is My Kid the Asshole?]
The intense internet sleuthing behind what this Pizza Hut used to be is incredible. [The Deleted Scenes]
How to curate your kids' mementos. [WaPo - gift link]
As a new cubicle dweller, this story about how the cube came to be is relevant to my interests. [99% Invisible]
The difficulty of scaling good ideas. [The Indicator]
How to lose well and recover from disappointment. [Life Kit]
The Japanese history of Chinese American fortune cookies. [Gastropod]
There is a brilliant Gen Z movement to combat misinformation. [The Daily]
A meticulously planned bank heist where you almost have to admire the thieves. [Planet Money]
Have ice skaters reached the limit of physics? [Short Wave]
I know they're particularly controversial this year, but I am watching as much of the Winter Olympics as I can. I tend to default to the main NBC feed, but we've caught some longer coverage of hockey, curling, and skiing on the sister channels. This is one of the few times I allow myself to stay up past 11 to catch something live. I get oddly into whatever sport is own, even if I wouldn't watch it at any other time. [NBC]
I mentioned last week that the husband wanted to try cooking more elaborate meals this year. I voluntold him to make cheesy spinach stuff shells. Stuffed shells are never hard, they're just time consuming. This recipe requires five different types of cheese and a block of frozen spinach. They were tasty as is, but we both wished we had stuffed a pepperoni or two in the shell first. [Eat, Live, Run]
I found a sneaky way to get the kiddo to eat a piece of shrimp. I made shrimp tacos, but turned hers into a quesadilla. I finely chopped the shrimp and let the cheese melt over it. For the adults, I made a simple slaw to go with the spicy shrimp. We served it was a side of fire-roasted corn straight from the can. [Well Plated - slaw inspiration]
This weekend, we cracked open a two-person game I purchased months ago. I love word games - Scrabble, Words with Friends, Wordle, Boggle, crosswords, etc. The husband is "fine" with said games but they are not his favorites. I play them so often I have an edge. This new game, A Little Wordy, is a word game but there is no advantage to having played word games before. Often times, the easiest or most common word wins. There's a lot more strategy than vocabulary involved. Plus, it can be a super short game if you don't have much time. Highly recommend! [Exploding Kittens]
In keeping with the simple vibe of this week’s intro, I want to share a soothing website. Click to Relax is one button that leads to soothing spa and water sounds. You can drag your cursor across the screen to create more ripples in the Winamp style art.
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A friend from college used to say “tiny hearts!” and make tiny hearts with her hands when she excited about some things. This GIF reminds me of that and I love that it comes out so much in February. Happy Valentine’s Day!