Weekly Journal 9.1.26
Reading
I'm sort of in between books while I wait for the library to release some of my holds (Famesick by Lena Dunham being one of them). I started a Sophie Kinsella novel called Surprise Me, which is cute but not really for me.
On the Internet, I'm trying to pay less shallow attention to some of the good reporting and writing that deserves thorough reading. Social media feeds provide a ton of links to good information, but I fall victim to constant scrolling and links to paywalled content. While there's nothing wrong (and everything right) with paying for quality writing, I am overwhelmed by the options and could easily become trapped by hundreds of dollars in monthly subscriptions. I also don't want my email inbox cluttered with articles to be read. So I found a good old-fashioned RSS reader that lets me create feeds from the websites I want to follow. It's easier than bookmarking sites individually and remembering to check them regularly, and less annoying than subscribing to email updates.
Watching
I came down with Covid last week and had nothing but time to isolate in my bedroom and watch TV shows. Mostly I watched Girls, a show that I've had mixed feelings about. I get an icky sensation from how shitty the characters behave toward one another, and after finishing the series the first time, I felt like I didn't understand it. Later on, I gave it another try and just tried to enjoy the humor. It's very funny and very well written. I don't really see the 25-year-old version of myself reflected in the main characters, but I can laugh at their self involvement and poor decision making.
Cooking
Having Covid means eating lots of takeout: pizza, Jersey Mike's, Dave's Hot Chicken, Yumm bowls ... but I made one dish this week that I thought was pretty good, although my sense of taste was dulled by the virus. I cooked a batch of squid ink linguine and tossed it with fresh tomato; mozzarella balls marinated in olive oil, tomato juice, and herbs; shallots; and chopped hazelnuts. Only the sharpness of the shallots really cut through my taste buds, unfortunately.
Doing
I'm glad that I planned a solo vacation this month because it's given me something to dream about while being stuck at home. The weather in Chicago should be fantastic in two weeks' time. I don't like to overschedule my vacations, but I have booked a couple excursions and flagged a lot of places of interest in my guidebook: mostly food and museums.
I hope that the corrections I've been making to my posture recently will help tamp down the pain from walking around the city. Last time I went to New York, I was hurting quite a bit at the end of three days.
Listening
The "back in Chicago" line from this song is very sticky in my head these days. I gave the full album a listen and didn't find it very compelling, but "End of Beginning" is undeniably good.