Brief Update
February can be a bleak month. It’s definitely been a roller coaster ride for me, emotionally.
I am reading some great books, though. In addition to the ones that have already come up in my Accomplishments, I’m working my way through Savage Beauty, Nancy Milford’s biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay. (Who happens to be one of my favorite poets. Yes, I’m the kind of person who has multiple favorite poets, not just one). I’m utterly fascinated by the similarities in the development of a writer — I identify strongly with some of her feelings and behavior.
I’m also reading (listening to) Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo, which I have been posting about on Facebook. It’s so good. I’m a bit iffy on the seven narrators in the audiobook version, but it’s growing on me.
I’m re-reading Word Work, by Bruce Holland Rogers, a book about writing I bought and read many years ago — I have distinct memories of reading it while sitting in the spare bedroom of my Haverhill apartment. I remember precisely none of the actual content, however, so it’s been a great rediscovery. I especially have enjoyed his essays on dreams, which have inspired me to start keeping a dream journal.
In my habitat project, February is devoted to the living room and the downstairs bathroom. I haven’t had a lot of free weekends, but I’ve been tackling it when I can. I went shopping for some new living room furniture this past weekend, but didn’t end up selecting anything — it kind of turned into a decision paralysis situation.
Also, I’ve started logging habitat related stuff here, so get used to seeing boring entries like “washed the shower curtain.”
Finally, I managed to save the day at work this week — by catching an odd bug before it went into production, and ultimately fixing it — so that’s pretty neat.
Links
Minimalism Is Just Another Boring Product Wealthy People Can Buy. I used to be heavily invested in minimalism, but I soured on it after a while. This is part of why.
(Also, as I discovered, there’s a flaw in the “buy fewer high quality things that last longer” logic. That “last longer” part, while implied, is frequently not delivered. A personal example for me is clothing. It does me no good to buy an expensive capsule wardrobe or “essentials” when I know my unnaturally-pointy elbows will destroy all the shirts, I’ll spill pasta sauce on the pants, and/or I’ll be too fat/too thin to wear it all a year from now. Might as well just buy cheaply…)
Accomplishments
Writing
– 2h 40m work on Lioness
– Wrote a poem for my character in Bloody Slippers to perform
– Wrote blog post The Year of Habitat: the detailed plan
Reading
– Read Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain
– Read “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™”, by Rebecca Roanhorse, in Apex #99
Other Media
– Listened to Happier with Gretchen Rubin, episodes #152 and 156
– Listened to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, “The Nine Dream Worlds of Frederik van Eeden”, “Conjoined Dreamersâ€, and “From the Vault: Dune Biologyâ€
– Did Ulduar timewalking in WoW with Terbodhna
Health
– 17m on exercise bike/15min ZR supply run
– 2 x Did Hacker’s Diet introductory fitness ladder, rung 1
– Did Zombies Run 5K training, week 4 workout 1 (2.93mi in 51:24)
– ZR5K, week 4 workout 2 (2.75mi in 48:33)
Habitat
– Washed rags, towels, and shower curtain
– Cleaned out the downstairs bathroom cabinet under the sink
– Did a 45/15 on the living room
– Vacuumed upstairs
– Broke down cardboard for recycling
– Cleaned the shower
– Went shopping for new living room furniture
Picture of the Week
Some fabric samples for a sectional, on top of a coffee table we were considering.
