Who is Your Emergency Contact?

We were watching NCIS recently, and two characters who have newly started dating are talking about who their emergency contacts were. The boyfriend confessed that he made his new girlfriend his. Her reaction is sweet and loaded with significance. Which got me thinking about how much meaning we put on this simple, practical gesture. It …

Books to Know Thyself Better

Is reading self-help and pop psychology books a hobby? If it is, I've been quite prolific this year! Here are some books that I've found useful for examining the inner self and taking positive steps forward. These are all books I've read in the last year, and this list is not intended to be comprehensive …

Checking in with My Summer Bucket List

At the beginning of the summer I published a summer bucket list. Now that we are nearing the end, I thought I'd review what I was able to complete and what I'm carrying over into the rest of the year. Really nothing like returning to do a goals list to make you realize that you …

19.8.10 Curated: Links from the Week

What I'm Reading: Verity, by Colleen Hoover. Every once and awhile, I like to read a thriller, the kind that keeps you on the edge of your seat and desperate for the next chapter. Since I was taking a trip by plane, it seemed like a good time to bring along such a book. Verity …

19.7.27 Curated: Links from the Week

What I'm Reading: First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Story About Anxiety, by Sarah Wilson. As I've gotten older, I've definitely noticed my anxiety increasing - not to the level of a disorder, but in a way that affects my sleep and what I feel willing and able to do in my daily …

19.7.21 Curated: Links from the Week

What I'm Reading: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, by Jenny Odell. I'd been hearing about this since it came out earlier this year, and honestly, based on the cover I thought it was just going to be memoir about a woman learning to let go of busyness and embrace quiet and slow, …

TV Shows that Stuck with Me

You know when you watch or read or see something, and you just can't stop thinking about it? That's how I feel about Mad Men in general, and one plot line specifically.   There's a subplot in season 5 (spoilers, I guess? The episode aired in 2012, so if you haven't seen it by now, …

19.7.13 Curated: Links from the Week

What I'm Reading: The Seas, by Samantha Hunt. This strange little novel takes place in a poor seaside town that has been hit hard by dwindling economic resources, leaving its residents depressed and trapped. Our main character is a young woman who believes she is a mermaid because her father told her so, before he …

19.6.30 Curated: Links from the Week

What I'm Reading: Red, White, and Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston. This is the upcoming book for July's book club (June's was A Place for Us). This isn't normally the kind of book I would pick off the shelf - I don't usually read romance. However, I saw it featured on Powell's Midyear Roundup, and …

Big Cats and Giraffes

When I was young, we would visit the Oregon Zoo several times a year. I loved owls, and I would carry a little Audubon pocket guide and look up all the information I could find about the various owl breeds as we encountered their enclosures. The Oregon Zoo also has a successful Asian elephant conversation …