More than anything right now I want it to be warm enough that we can open all of the windows and the house can just take a nice deep breath.
I have worn my light jacket more than my heavy jacket in the last week while walking around the neighborhood and I’ve started using it as a relative happiness measure. Spring is almost here!
My favorite part about this jacket (or “technical hoodie”) is how I wasn’t even looking for one, but it was 50% off on a clearance rack, fits perfect, and is exactly what I need for non-rainy fall and spring days.
Of course somehow I’ve also found myself wearing a heavier hoodie over a long sleeve t-shirt when at home this week, which makes no sense at all.
I didn’t mention last week that I do realize people all over the world use a moka pot every day without a recipe. Dump pre-ground coffee into the basket until it’s kind of full, fill the base with water, screw the top on and put it on the stove.
I have no idea how this works for other people! I’ve failed miserably every time I try to be nonchalant about it. So I’m okay having a “recipe”. 😂
Tweeting is to talking what polling is to voting.
I really enjoyed Jill Lepore’s commentary in The New Yorker this week, “The Problems Inherent in Political Polling“.
Max von Sydow passed away. I didn’t recognize his name at first, but when I saw his face, I immediately remembered him (among many other roles) as Karl Oskar from The Emigrants, a movie that follows a 19th century Swedish family during their preparation for emigration to the United States. I read the book during our trip to Sweden last year and had a lot of fun using it as an imaginary gateway into what things may have been like.
I have a whole separate draft post recording how I’ve been processing COVID-19, so I’ll leave most of it out of here. But of course there are words to say.
Even though our county does not yet have a confirmed case (is it possible to confirm what you don’t test?), we are taking the approach of participating in social distancing. It seems to be the best thing to do early—even before you are at risk—to help the community at large. It worked in St. Louis in 1918.
That SARS-COV-2 appears to often be spread by people who do not show any symptoms helps solidify that as the right decision. Even as relatively low-risk carriers, we could increase the risk to our community.
Which means… tonight we had our first ever remote book club via Zoom! It worked out really, really well—much better than I expected. Still great people, still great conversation.
One thing I started to pick up on is how interesting it is to see everyone’s face at once. When you’re sitting around a table or on a couple of couches, you’re often turning your head to look at who is talking and not catching all of the reactions. I’m not sure which is better, because in person reactions are definitely more… personal? But it’s pretty cool.
Our book was Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers. It was an interesting and quick read, though I’m always wary of reading his books. I feel like a statistic repeater when I’m done.
“Did you know?”, “Did you know?”.
And then I’m not sure if I really know or if I’m just repeating statistics. Which is actually great for the thesis of the book because when I read Gladwell, I default to accepting that he’s writing the truth.
It was still a fun read and we had some great discussion around almost every chapter. So I’m happy to have read it, but I’m still wary of Gladwell. 😂
Today Happy Prime will have its first ever Friday lunch online instead of meeting downtown. It will be a bummer not to hang out in person, but I’m also interested to see how it goes.
Happy Friday! 🍻
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