Pertinent to my Interests

Documentary reviews, body neutrality, parenting, Jupiter, piano, cats, European history, ghosts, rodents, the collapse of civilization, and if this goes on long enough I'll probably end up cataloguing my entire smushed penny collection.

Month: November 2023

  • Abu Simbel

    Have you heard about the temple complex at Abu Simbel in Egypt? It’s one of those things I get really excited about, and I just read a book about it so I want to talk about it! The temple complex at Abu Simbel is a magnificent set of two temples on the edge of the…

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  • She (maybe) chose poorly.

    I went to the gym today, after more than a week away due to illness. It doesn’t take much to keep me from the gym. If I experience even the smallest little bump in the road of life my exercise plans are the first things to be thrown out the window. Had a bad dream?…

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  • Fun-sized character studies

    My youngest had a sore throat on Monday, and I ended up taking him to the doctor twice in one 24-hour period. I didn’t used to be this mom. I used to be the mom who let illnesses develop for at least three days before even calling the nurse line. I used to be the…

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  • Living deliberately

    I don’t usually listen to podcasts, but my kids’ piano teacher (who blogs over at Midlife Creative) recommended this one to me and I can’t stop thinking about it. The podcast is about a class taught at UPenn, Living Deliberately: Monks, Saints, and the Contemplative Life. Students in this class are asked to live as…

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  • M&Ms

    I’m starting to enjoy peanut M&Ms and I am a little embarrassed about it. My natal family is an M&M family. My grandma loved plain M&Ms, my mom loves plain M&Ms. Plain M&Ms were my toddlerhood potty training reward and my little brother famously referred to them as “num nums” for many years. I still…

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  • Costco

    Every time I drop off junk at Goodwill I swing by Costco on my way home. The irony is not lost on me. What a horrible warehouse of wonders. I’m not even talking about all their Christmas decorations. The snack aisles alone are enough to make me gleeful (welcome home, giant box of Cheez-Its!). They…

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  • Boiler problems

    We went up to our cabin this past weekend and walked in to discover that for the third time in eighteen months we had experienced a complete boiler failure. The details on all of this bore me at this point so I’ll try to give the short history for those who don’t know it: Anyway,…

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  • Time & Memory, a follow up

    I wanted to follow up on my recent post about reading all the Life magazine issues from 1963. I am fascinated by the nature of time, how the present tumbles into the faraway past in mere seconds. We lived in New York City in our early twenties; it has only been eleven years since we…

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  • 2023 Resolutions

    I’m not usually big on making resolutions at the new year, but this year I had three goals that kind of naturally bubbled to the surface of my brain. With less than eight weeks left in 2023, now seems like a good time to do a progress report. Goal #1 – Push harder on my…

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  • 1963

    A few months ago I read all the Life magazines from 1963. 1963 was an interesting year. There was an eclipse and a new pope. Prayer in schools was the divisive issue of the day. Beer can technology was changing quickly (at least according to all the Schlitz ads), and long-distance calls were the new…

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