Quote of the week: “Life is under no obligation to give us what we expect.” –Margaret Mitchell
What I’m reading: I just started Again and Again by Jonathan Evison . It’s my book club’s pick for the month and I’m excited to get into it. I was on a panel with the author some years ago and he was great.
What I’m listening to: The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell. Just started it and will report back. I’ve heard good things.
What I’m watching: I started the new season of The Jinx , following Robert Durst’s arrest after his accidental confession at the end of the first season of The Jinx. Quite a fascinating story.
Writing news: I’ve crossed the 50,000-word mark in writing my new novel. It’s sort of like mile 17 of a marathon, when you start to feel confident that you’ll actually finish the thing.
Interesting things I learned this week:
On average, we make about 35,000 conscious choices per day, 200 of which involve food
The circulatory system is more than 60,000 miles long
The US ranks 12th for teacher salaries on a list of 38 countries
The first person processed at Ellis Island was a 15-year-old girl from Ireland
The tiny pocket in jeans was designed to store pocket watches
Japan has one vending machine for every 40 people
Weirdest thing I googled this week: “Longest living guinea pig.” We have two guinea pigs and we were curious. Most guinea pigs live 5-7 years. The Guinness record is just under 15 years!
What I’m grateful for:
Getting to see one of my best friends while she was in town. We went to a nice dinner at a fancy-ish restaurant and it was a wonderful change of pace for me
Visiting the Carlsbad Flower Fields with my daughter last weekend. It was one of those perfect outings. We made friends with another single mom and her daughter and plan to see them again soon
