Weekly Roundup: April 8, 2022

Happy Friday! Let’s get right to it.

Quote of the week:
“Everyone writes in a way; that is, each person has a ‘story,’ a personal narrative which is constantly being replayed, revised, taken apart, and put together again. The significant points in this narrative change as a person ages—what may have been tragedy at twenty is seen as comedy or nostalgia at forty. All children write. (And paint, and sing.) I suppose the real question is why do so many people give it up?” –Margaret Atwood (from this book)

What I’m reading:
Well, I finally finished Red Comet, the Sylvia Plath biography. I give it one million stars. I read Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel this week and just started The Art of Receiving and Giving by Betty Martin. I’ve got Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader on my coffee table and read a few entries each day. It’s so great.  

I’ve also been re-reading The Meaning of Wife as part of research for the novel I’m writing, which is where I discovered this accurate quote.

What I’m listening to:
I’m listening to All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir. This isn’t marketed as a YA novel, but it definitely is in my mind. I’m usually not that into YA, but I’m liking it so far.

What I’m watching:
I have watched absolutely nothing this week. One of those weeks when I’ve needed more quiet than usual.

Writing news:
No big news this week, but this message on Instagram made my day. Reminder: Ways the World Could End comes out on May 10.

What I’m talking about:

The Boston Marathon—10 days away!The concept of the “good enough” mother (read here)National Poetry Month! My favorite poet of all-time is Mary Oliver, but I’ve been discovering some more I love. I try to read a little poetry every dayThe confirmation of KBJ—such great news. I’m disturbed that the vote was so close, but trying to just celebrate and move onJon Batiste’s Grammy wins. So well-deserved. I bought his album when it first came out and listen to it often on my runs (if this performance doesn’t make you smile, I cannot help you in this life)The atrocities left behind upon Russian retreat in Kyiv. Horrific. We are definitely in war crimes territory so…now what?

Interesting things I learned this week:

Positive drug tests among US workers have reached their highest levels since 2001The word “picnic” evolved from the French expression pique-nique, which described a group of people who met for dinner at a restaurant and brought their own wineA handful of old mammals, such as the platypus, don’t have nipples, and instead just leak milk from their abdomensAstronomer Carl Sagan and his wife Ann Druyan had a love story fit for a novel (read here)The heart of a blue whale is so big, a human can swim through the arteries
 

Weirdest thing I googled this week:
“Do animals dream?” I assumed they do (I’ve seen my dogs twitch in the midst of sleep, as if they’re being chased by a mountain lion in a parallel universe). Studies have, in fact, proven that animals have complex dreams (read here). Animals’ brains follow the same series of sleeping states as ours do.

What I’m grateful for:

Feeling strong and healthy as I get ready for the marathonBlue-sky days that feel like summer (see photo below)Conversations that make me feel aliveExcitement about the novel I’m writing

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