Around the Interwebs
How a nonlinear workday might help you get more done. I really enjoy the flexibility that I have since I started working from home.
Do you remember when hanging out was effortless.
Entertaining. Do You Know How to Behave? My favorites are 6, 21, 23, 36, and 52.
Bonhoeffer’s “theory of stupidity”: We have more to fear from stupid people than evil ones.
Do you keep an emergency cash stash?
Middle age, the mysterious case of the disappearing life stage.
Do you dine solo occasionally?
Around the blogosphere
I really appreciated Elisabeth’s openness and vulnerability to talk about her period. It’s still something women don’t talk about openly and freely enough, therefore often lacks understanding and advocacy in the medical community.
Rachel’s post “Ambitious is my “moist””gave me a pause. I never thought of the word ‘ambitious’ as a negative word. In the context of exercise, I often think of myself as ‘ambitious (as in aspiring), but not necessarily competitive’. In other contexts though, I can see how it can have a negative connotation, especially when used as a trait for women. Interesting. What are your thoughts?
Terra has the best solo travel adventures, I am always looking for her tips: How to Spend 9 Days Adventuring in Southern Utah.
I loved Anne’s word for the year: engage!
Craftiness/DIY
Crafting Tips You’ll Absolutely Love.
So pretty. Vellum Paper Clover Lanterns.
I wish we had space for an entryway. Ha. How to create an entryway in a small space.
For my runner friends
What to eat before an easy – moderate – hard workout.
Understanding the Psychology and Physiology of Running Motivation.
Deliciousness
Right up my alley! Cozy White Bean Mushroom Stew.
I am usually a red curry kinda girl, but I want to try this easy green curry with chicken.
I don’t bake cookies very often, but these Cowboy Cookies look delicious.
Salted Chocolate Almond Balls.
Share a good link with me in the comments!
Melissa
February 27, 2023 at 6:58 pmI love reading Bonhoeffer generally, but his piece on stupidity made me laugh, even though it is a serious matter, just the way he is so scathing and doesn’t hold back at all. This has the full quote if you’re interested: http://southsidemessenger.com/bonhoeffer-on-stupidity-entire-quote/
I liked the entry post. We just have the front door coming into a t-shaped hallway space, and I’m still working on the space. I’ve ordered as a bench, and we have some hooks up. We have a bench with a shelf for shoes underneath on order. Hopefully, it arrives soon.
A post about using the 1-line a day journalling method: https://www.wellandgood.com/one-line-a-day-journal-lessons/
Elisabeth
February 28, 2023 at 5:54 amLoved the link about nonlinear work days. This is me and has been for…over a decade. I think the fact that my working routines don’t match a traditional 9-5 have contributed to my imposter syndrome over the years, but I really do have tremendous levels of productivity when I work…it just happens to be at unusual times to fit around my flexible work-from-home schedule. I sometimes work in the evenings, or before I get out of bed in the morning. I will work will I eat lunch. But then I might fit in a walk with a friend at 10 am or go to the library at 2 pm. I’m so fortunate that my work is outcome-based (here are the tasks and spend however long it takes to get them done). Some days are really packed with work tasks and I DO end up working a 9-5 (or a 7-7)…but then other days I have a lot of white space.
This link was a great reminder that it’s okay to be different…as long as it works!
A few other thoughts:
– I go out for coffee alone, but can’t think of a single time in the last decade I’ve dined alone in a restaurant.
– We always have some cash in the house. Not a lot, but enough that we could buy some groceries, fuel, and basic necessities if bank machines stopped working for a few days. This actually happened locally a few months ago. For about 12 hours credit and debit machines simply wouldn’t work. It’s a bit scary to think through!
Engie
February 28, 2023 at 7:55 amDan Kois was on a podcast (Slate’s Culture Gabfest) I listen to talking about this article. The stat that fascinated me was that 20 years ago, 38% of Americans socialized or communicated with friends on an average day and today it’s down to 28%. I want to dig into that number more because does it count if I send a text to my friend? Does that count as “communicate”? That seems quite different from having someone over to play Mexican train dominoes at my kitchen table. Also, 28% of people get together with friends on an AVERAGE DAY? That’s unheard of in my world.
I’ve been trying to get one of my husband’s co-workers over for a game day for the better part of a year! Our schedules just don’t match up, which is crazy since my calendar is generally wide open. Anyway. I love to hang out and sit around and gab and lackadaisically play board games. But it feels like a lot of people want to do things – leave the house and go somewhere new and do something different. Maybe it’s a product of the pandemic and people are not eager to return to just being at home?
Ally Bean
February 28, 2023 at 9:20 amI tend to agree that stupid people are more dangerous than evil ones. I think of Hanlon’s Razor: never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupid. All the recipes call to me, thanks for the links.
J
February 28, 2023 at 3:22 pmI had forgotten about keeping cash in the house. We stashed away a couple of hundred a few years ago (OK, more than that, in 2008 or 2009 I guess) when banks were failing. I think it’s a good idea to have some on your person as well, though clearly not as much. Not that I have ANY in my house right now, or any in my purse or car. I had $5 the other day, but I spent it. Oh well. A few weeks ago, our Safeway’s system was down. Power was on, but at ALL Safeway’s out west, you couldn’t purchase using a card for maybe an hour. I left my basket and went to the ATM, got some cash, and came back. The system was up again by the time I got back. The manager was so grateful that I was nice about it and came back quickly so they didn’t have to restock my groceries, he gave me $10 off of my purchase. Nice!
I enjoyed the ‘how to behave’, but gave up after about 100…there were a lot of tips there! I agreed with a lot of them, but I disagreed about splitting checks. When we go out with friends, we split evenly, we don’t think about it, which is what the author suggests. But I remember at a job I used to have, we would sometimes go out for group lunches, and some folks made quite a bit more money than others, and would order wine and dessert with lunch, while others made less and would just order a side salad. They very much remember and resent having to split that bill evenly, all these years later. To say just split it assumes everyone there can afford to do so. One way out of that, if it’s practical, is to say ‘Could we perhaps go somewhere less expensive?’, which would also be awkward, but better than your rent check bouncing because you had to pay for your coworkers’ wine and tiramisu.
Jenny
March 2, 2023 at 10:02 amGreat links as usual! I love the modern etiquette article. And some really interesting blog posts from around the blogosphere that I hadn’t read before. Thanks as always for posting these!
Stephany
March 2, 2023 at 1:08 pmI started using a nonlinear workday once I started working from home and got into my groove with it. Thankfully, I work for a flexible company and my boss doesn’t care WHEN I work, just as long as I’m available for meetings/chats during work hours. I love being able to take a long lunch break to run errands or go for a walk outside. I’ve even started taking a near-daily 45-minute nap because my body just works better when I can get a midday siesta in. It has improved my life immensely!
Rachel
March 3, 2023 at 1:42 pmThese are awesome links San! I love your roundups. Thanks for the link again, I’m still thinking about the word “ambitious” myself.
I love the article on “hanging out” – it does seem that we’ve shifted away from casual hang outs and people need to plan things. I love inviting people to my house for a “play date” which is sort of the kid-parent version of “hang out” but even so I think people often feel they need to plan structured things or go to kids places to invite people. I love just “hanging out” so hope that it makes a return.
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
March 6, 2023 at 8:52 amIf it wasn’t for my husband, I would rarely have access to cash! He has an envelop of cash in one of his dresser drawers. The boys often get cash for gifts so we transfer money into their 529 when that happens and keep the cash. I very very very rarely have cash on me, though. I almost exclusively use credit cards and now I mostly use the apple ap on my phone to buy things – which I love! But it is helpful to have cash on hand!
The entertaining post is interesting! As someone w/ a food intolerance, #52 is tricky. I do not want to offend a host by not eating something. If it’s a buffet-style meal and a larger party, I can stick to what I know I can eat. But I’m thinking back on when I met a boyfriend’s parents for the first time. I asked if he told his mom I can’t have gluten and he said he didn’t because he didn’t want her to stress out. But then they served lasagna and it was a small group of people so it was very very obvious that I was not eating anything but the salad… so I ended up saying that I had a gluten intolerance so she’d understand why I didn’t eat most of what she prepared. But for example, when I go to Phil’s cousin’s Christmas Eve party, I don’t say a thing about my gluten intolerance since there are always plenty of options for me and it’s a large party w/ a buffet of food.
Anne
March 14, 2023 at 9:01 amOhhh, that mushroom and bean stew. YUM! Thank you for sharing!
And thank you for the shout-out. You know, since I’ve not been engaging with my blog recently…sigh. Need to remedy that.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
March 19, 2023 at 3:03 amI do enjoy solo dining. But only if I am truly alone. I hate eating alone at home. But when the husband is in the office, I sometimes go out by myself. During work travels, great.
That list of how to behave was a great collection. I smiled a few times.