here are some thoughts: June 30, 2024
WELP we are more than 3 months into this whole parenting thing, i’m about to start a new job, and that seems truly wild? here are some thoughts.
🕹️ it’s so interesting to see the various ways my brain is rewiring itself. i talked last time about how now i can listen to audiobooks and actually absorb what i’m hearing — my prevailing theory is that the consistent exhaustion of parenting turns down the chatter in my brain enough that i can actually focus on sound. wild, i know. speaking of exhaustion, i was incredibly worried about the “getting less sleep” part; i’ve been a 8-10 hours a night MINIMUM person for a very long time. i can go on less, but only for a day or so, and then i crash real hard. it’s not pretty. but apparently your body knows that you just HAVE! TO! DO IT!!!!, because i’ve been managing pretty well on 5-7 (non-consecutive). also wild!
and the most recent discovery: i used to love “chore” video games. think Cozy Grove, Fae Farm, Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, etc. anything where you could do small concrete tasks for rewards was my jam (see also, level grinding or collecting things in RPGs. forget the battles, side quests only!). i think it was because i spent my workdays doing things that were more thinky than task-based, not to mention Very Important For Bottom Line, and so it was a balm to have zero-risk, often silly, finite tasks. i would harvest all the vegetables and collect all the blue leaves and mine all the faery ore! let’s do itttttttt.
but now? i tried both Cozy Grove and Fae Farm in the last month and thought immediately: PASS. parent-life is so full of daily, finite, low-level but high-import chores, the rewards of which are having a child who is fed, clothed, and relatively clean, in a functionally clean environment, and you yourself showered in the last 72-ish hours. very clear goals! but sitting down to do even more chores, even if they’re magical? NOPE. this makes me sad because Cozy Grove 2 is out now and i want to want to play it. but here we are!
i’ve played almost nothing but the Suika Game (on Switch) and Two Dots (on phone) for three months, and i regret nothing. i will probably restart Bubble Puzzler sometime soon. but today, i was jonesing for something new and trying to find Tetris equivalents that are less frenetic (i cannot handle increasing-speed-games or anything that requires me to have fast reflexes), and stumbled across Cats Organized Neatly. PERFECTION. arrange cats in a grid puzzle? yes, i absolutely will.
i guess what i’m saying is, if you know of a game equivalent to those three that’s worth the price of admission, i’m all ears.
📚 i am mostly switching between the Lady Sherlock and Veronica Speedwell series on audio — taking FULL advantage of not being on book podcasts for work — but i also read some nonfiction recently that i highly recommend!
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker — if you have ever or will ever plan an event, this is a MUST READ. forget about the logistics — how do you create the atmosphere/vibes/ambiance/buy-in that you want from attendees, whether it’s a political negotiation or a baby shower? PARKER KNOWS HOW. excellent on both print and audio.
Easy Beauty by Chloé Cooper Jones — if you are a fan of Nicole Chung, Helen McDonald, Elissa Washuta, and other essayists/memoirists who make you go “OH SHIT” as you read, then you must pick this one up. i actually think Jones and i must have overlapped in NYC based on some of the events and people in the chapters, and i am kind of bummed i never got to talk to her? her perspectives on beauty, disability, parenting, travel, writing, culture, basically everything she talks about, are incisive and thought-provoking, and she never sugarcoats or takes the easy (ahem) way out.
🖥️ oh right i mentioned that i’m starting a new job! i’ll be a full employee of Above the Treeline/Edelweiss as of tomorrow, July 1, and i’m excited for the adventure as well as 🤔 about what working remotely with an infant in the house is going to be like. STAY TUNED.
👋 that’s all the brain i have for today. hope your Junes are closing well and your Julys contain joy and rest and appropriately-temperatured rooms!