My cozy place
Daily savings nearly destroyed my will to go on, and with the bleakness of stick season bringing down my joy on the daily, my main coping mechanism is buying tickets to things. I don’t want to add up what I’ve spent on experiences lately, but I’ve got tickets to at least two things a week for the duration of 2019.
On Saturday I saw Rachael and Vilray. This weekend I shall see Dom Flemons. And just today I bought tickets to Crooked Still — all at Western Mass venues. I am also in possession of four tickets each to two different Nutcracker performances, and am worried about how we are going to shoehorn in our annual visit to Santa’s Land.
In trying-to-be-a-better-parent-and-citizen news, I signed up for a series of Parenting for Racial Justice workshops — the first of which I’ve already attended. When I told a few of my friends I was doing it I got the digital version of an eye roll in response. One of them even said “Wow, that sounds very white of you,” which made me laugh — and she was not wrong.
(It’s easy to dismiss racial equity work when you’re a white person living in a pretty white place like Vermont. But if you believe the notion that parenting is about raising good people, then you have to care about their worldview. As much as I have been a privileged white person my whole entire life, I don’t subscribe to the very American idea that individuals should just capitalize on their fortune and ignore what’s going on for other subcultures.)
(My kids go to a private pre-K where diversity is a cherished value. I’ve been the admin for the anti-bias committee this year, and it’s really opened my eyes to how much work there is to be done on a daily basis to make our community a truly equitable place for all people.)
(Truth, the workshop was powerful.)
I also went to a parenting workshop at school last week. This one was about “acting like you mean it without being mean” or something super idealistic like that. I truthfully loved this workshop and got a ton out of it. I have been yelling maybe 30% less as a result.
My next workshop on the list is an Everlasting Flower Swag workshop at Tapalou Guild, just down the street. I think she has a spot left, if you’re into joining me this Saturday to get our elderchic on!
Otherwise, if you know of any other cool workshops coming up… please don’t tell me about them. I am weak in the face of opportunities to make plans.
What I’m reading:
Lots of reading on my plate right now.
First, The Testaments, Margaret Atwood’s prizewinning sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. I finished this book last night and have mixed feelings. I really wanted to love it, but honestly, it read like a paperback mystery novel, and the writing was so off-brand from Handmaid’s Tale that I questioned at times whether Atwood even wrote it.
Then for the articles:
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This New York Times story about some entitled Bay Area white male nerds with too much time on their hands.
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A Bloomberg story titled America’s Largest Health Insurer Is Giving Apartments to Homeless People on exactly why compassion is better for economics. Boom.
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And Do You Want to Be Touched? In the New York Times, in regards to the insidious sexual harassment and downright abuse to rampant in the yoga industry — a big part of why I got out of it, and a part of my personal history as well.
What I’m watching:
This amazing video (thank you, Coco) — a mashup of Trump’s al-Baghdadi Speech & Obama’s Bin Laden Speech — just lays it all out. Pure class versus complete embarrassment. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you’re not feeling “political” you’re not paying attention.
What I’m listening to:
Just started the podcast Dolly Parton’s America which is weirdly uplifting and heartwarming.
Also really enjoying this Natl Geo podcast about beavers.
What I’m working on:
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For Eventbrite: 5 Nonfiction Books That Every Event Professional Should Read (blog post)
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For Eventbrite: The 2020 Guide to Instagram for Event Marketing
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For Helpshift: 5 New Technologies That can Help Reduce Customer Churn
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For Jones + Waddell: Failure: The Seed of Innovation
