Finished reading: Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel Wiped away a troubling day of work with another beauty of a book. | Continue reading
Finished reading: Thanksgiving: How to Cook It Well by Sam Sifton This book became my buddy over the past few weeks as I figured out how to host Thanksgiving dinner for ten for the first time. Wonderful resource! | Continue reading
Finished reading: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel A book about a pandemic, time travel, and the simulation hypothesis could easily go awry in myriad ways. In this author’s expert hands, it shares a small story of unraveling that deeply resonated with me. | Continue reading
Finished reading: Real Tigers by Mick Herron Another fun one in the Slough House series. On to the next! | Continue reading
If this week were a flavor, it would be chewable antacids, only the chalky lime-flavored ones. Returning to work after several days off was a bit more stressful than I thought it would be. And this is the time each November when I question my ability to write anything at all, let … | Continue reading
If you’re looking for distraction-free writing in your web browser, I recommend Sprinter. You can use the default sprint time of 15 minutes, or set your own time or wordcount goal. | Continue reading
If this week were a flavor, it would be the aftertaste of Halloween candy, because we bought way too much for the volume of trick-or-treaters (read: four). Also, Halloween candy is a good NaNoWriMo snack! Yes, I’m attempting NaNoWriMo again, which means I have even less time than … | Continue reading
A total of four trick-or-treaters tonight. Which means my coworkers are about to get a bunch of candy tomorrow! | Continue reading
Finished reading: Dead Lions by Mick Herron Ahh, I love this series! Now I have to wait in the holds queue for the third book. | Continue reading
Finished reading: Waking Up by Sam Harris Some interesting reading about consciousness and meditation here. Now that I’ve finished the book, I’m trying the Waking Up guided meditation app. | Continue reading
Finished reading: Slow Horses (Deluxe Edition) (Slough House) by Mick Herron I lost count of the ways in which this is so much better than the TV adaptation. Happily continuing with the series. | Continue reading
I usually start these out with my flavor profiles of the week, but I’m not in a pithy mood. Everything about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is more nuanced than anyone can summarize and solve with a blog post, so I’m not going to do that, and I encourage you not to do that, eith … | Continue reading
Diamine Celadon Cat, a grayish blue-green. ️ Tested in a Col-o-ring ink testing book. I purchased both the ink and book from Oblation Papers & Press. This ink has a drier flow than my usual inks and performs best in larger nibs. | Continue reading
Finished reading: Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam That was the fastest I’ve read a book in a while. It was quite a page-turner, beautifully constructed, but the ending was too abrupt for me. | Continue reading
Currently reading: Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam I checked this out from the library on a whim, after hearing that it’s going to be made into a Netflix film. I’ve read over half of it today. | Continue reading
A somber first day of October in our home, as we reckon with the loss of a friend, far too soon. A good day to ponder and treasure the words in this project, “For You." | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 30: treasure. My sister-in-law and I made pumpkin spice macarons today, our first attempt. I treasure the cookies almost as much as the time spent baking, chatting, and laughing. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 29: contrast. I enjoyed the contrast of the serious sign and the not-serious googly eyes. #mbsept | Continue reading
Feeling accomplished today! So far I’ve: read, responded to, and filed ~200 emails reorganized pantry & reordered spices baked pumpkin muffins and started mulligatawny in slow-cooker downloaded game I’ve been eagerly anticipating (Mineko’s Night Market) | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 28: workout. Meet my new daily creativity workout: a few pages a day in “Make Time for Creativity: Finding Space for Your Most Meaningful Work” by Brandon Stosuy. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 27: embrace. When I returned home from Scotland in April, Crivens would not let me out of his sight. He would crawl awkwardly into my “lap” (in quotes because I use a kneeling chair) and wanted to stay there for hours. #mbsept | Continue reading
Today held both a work milestone with sparkly feelings of accomplishment and the gaping ache of my claw-like heart on this anniversary of Tazendra’s passing four years ago. | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 26: beverage. An old favorite with a new twist: turmeric tea with maple brown sugar oatmilk. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 25: flare. A different view of the drop-stitch scarf I am still leisurely knitting. Extreme flare closeup! #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 24: belt. This little gadget is a page keeper for my Hobonichi Weeks, but sometimes I use it to keep the whole thing shut. Like a belt? #mbsept | Continue reading
I am awash in autumnal feelings, and in a desire to stop endlessly fretting over my health and to start doing something about it. I’ve decided to create a focus for each season, and my first seasonal focus is on improving my health. I’ve chosen four metrics to track for improveme … | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 23: a day in the life. Feeling icky, but testing negative for COVID. Some things made the day bearable: an iPad game, manuka honey lozenges, a flannel handkerchief, and my journal. Not pictured: FunkyPlaid and our sweet cats. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 22: road. Just an artsy, heavily-filtered snap of a road outside Kelso, WA. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 21: fall. I first wrote about Diamine Autumn Oak in 2015. Why did it take me eight years to get a bottle of my favorite fall ink? #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 20: disruption. When I walked upstairs, I disrupted some brotherly grooming. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 19: edge. This book cover has been with me for decades. The leather has faded and worn, making it even more precious. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 18: fabric. This triangle garter wrap is one of the easiest things I’ve ever knitted, and so cozy. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 17: intense. How could anybee resist this color? #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 16: oof! Criminy wears himself out running, playing, begging for attention, or merely being anxious. And then he rests, but he insists on resting on a very high ledge, which makes me anxious. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 15: red. I hadn’t swatched any Private Reserve inks yet, so I decided to break out Fiesta Red, a dark red I don’t use enough. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 14: statue. A steampunk seahorse at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 13: glowing. My friend L’s marvelous glass dice that look like they are lit from within. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 12: panic. The last time I was in DC, I panicked when I thought I wouldn’t have time to finally visit the Library of Congress. But I made it! #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 11: retrospect. Went looking for a photo that I may never find because the person who took it is gone now. Put me in a mood. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have looked. But here’s another one I found, almost as good. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 10: cycle. I’m trying out these habit tracker sticky notes on my planner’s monthly pages. When I meet my hydration goal, I add a grey dot to the day. Next month, the cycle begins again. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 9: language. Doodling with Diamine Autumn Oak. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 8: yonder. A bridge over yonder. (What a great word!) Inverness, Scotland, last April. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 7: panorama. I haven’t taken many of these, so it was easy to choose one for this prompt. Five years ago, Culloden Moor. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 6: well. I didn’t intend for this to be another ink-related photo, but I couldn’t come up with an idea better than my crystal inkwell. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 5: forest. I’m stretching the prompt a bit to share Diamine Woodland Green, a bright medium green with just a touch of shading and sheen. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 4: orange. As soon as I saw the prompt, I knew what I was going to photograph. Here’s Noodler’s Southwest Sunset, a bright orange with bodacious shading, perfect for early autumn days. #mbsept | Continue reading
September Photoblogging Challenge Day 3: precious. Criminy is the very definition of the word. #mbsept | Continue reading