Weekly Roundup: July 31

Quote of the week:
“Talking to yourself can be useful. And writing means being overheard.” — Zadie Smith in her new essay collection, Intimations (which is fantastic)

What I’m reading:

The Highly Sensitive Parent by Elaine N. Aron (finished this week)A Burning by Megha Majumdar (finished this week)Intimations: Six Essays by Zadie Smith (halfway through)

What I’m listening to:

On Being podcast — Pauline Boss on ambiguous lossThe Nix by Nathan Hill (still loving it)

What I’m watching:

“Love on the Spectrum” (Netflix) — finished season 1 and really want a season 2“I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” (HBO) — finale is on Sunday. Can’t wait“Down to Earth with Zac Efron (Netflix) — didn’t know I needed Zac Efron in my life, but I guess I do

Writing news:

About 6 weeks (but who’s counting) until All the Acorns on the Forest Floor is OUTPeople Who Knew Me will be re-released (with a new, awesome cover!) in OctoberAll the Love: Healing Your Heart and Finding Meaning After Pregnancy Loss will be out on March 23, 2021–follow us @allthelovetalk on Twitter and Instagram

What I’m talking about:

The federal occupation in Portland (and other cities). My friend lives there and has sent me photos that you would swear were taken in a war torn country (maybe that’s what we are now?)Trump changing the reporting structure for COVID statistics so we no longer know if we’re getting accurate data. In my county, we were averaging about 1000 cases per day; now it’s more like 100-400. Seems fishy. Personally I think Trump wants the numbers to look better so people go on with their lives and the economy improvesTrump’s ridiculous idea to delay the election. People, we are getting much too close to a dictatorshipHow COVID-19 has put a spotlight on America’s childcare crisis (Refinery 29 article here)The ridiculousness of work ending at 5pm (or later) when schools let out at 3pm (or earlier) (article in the Atlantic here)The possibility of a 4-day work week, something proposed in New Zealand by their progressive Prime Minister (yes, I am still pondering moving there) (Washington Post article here)The “should my kids go back to school?” debate and the prevalence of mom shame during this pandemic (article in The Lily here)Mom bias in the workplace (article in The Lily here)

What I’m grateful for:

Masks! Because they protect us from deadly viruses. Seems like the least controversial thing to be grateful for, but we live in strange times.

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