This past week was a productive and shockingly enjoyable week considering I experienced a comedy of errors on Thursday (Halloween). This weekly review will (hopefully) be a recurring series on my blog covering some the highlights of the past week.
Storytime
First, I decided to go into the office but I totally forgot it was Halloween. Luckily happened to have chosen some orange linen pants and a black shirt for my outfit. After dropping L off at his office, I went to get some bloodwork done. At this point I realized that I forgot my cell phone at home. I thought to myself, “Oh well, I have a mac so I can just message there.” When I got to the office I realized I also forgot my security fob, so I had to use the doorbell. As soon as I plugged in my computer I needed to change my network password. We use multi-factor authentication though and the only way to authenticate is using your cell phone. I was locked out of email, Teams, and pretty much all functionality of my computer. I stayed until lunch and then headed to vote early. It was the first day of early voting. I stood in line for about an hour and was late getting home to a work call that I couldn’t log into anywhere. All that aside, it was a really productive week and I made headway on some larger projects so it really was a win.
Reading
This was a pretty good reading week for me. I finished Amari and the Despicable Wonders and A Dark and Secret Magic. I loved A Dark and Secret Magic and a review will be coming later this week. It was the perfect pre-Halloween read, very vibey. I also loved the latest in the Amari series, but I thought it was the last in the series. Thankfully, it was not but I was a little frustrated that it ended with a bit of a cliffhanger. I then started book five in the Agent Pendergast series, Brimstone. It is the start of the Diogenes Trilogy and I am already excited that this story arc will be across three books.
Researching
If you know me in real life, you know that I always have a notebook with me to take notes, but often they never make it out of that notebook. A couple of months ago, I got really fed up with this. I know I have good ideas but sometimes really struggle to make things actionable or (worse) I forget about that great idea. So I started doing some research and came across the concept of Zettlekasten. I am now obsessed. As a knowledge worker, aka someone who does a lot of research and writing for work and my hobbies, this concept was made for me. The concept is that anytime you are reading, you should be taking notes, converting those notes into your own thoughts and then using that to constantly make connections and write more.
I am utilizing Obsidian for my Zettlekasten. It has quite the learning curve but I am finally starting to really understand it. In fact, I find myself looking forward to my evening wind down where I spend about an hour working through my daily notes. I’m thinking I may write a whole post about about this system, how mine is set up and how I’m utilizing it. If you don’t want to wait for that, I recommend the books How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens and A System for Writing by Bob Doto.
Cooking
I pre-ordered What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers. It has quickly become my go to cookbook. It is so useful and the recipes are ones that even my picky as hell partner enjoys. A few weeks ago I made the Bo Ssam and Ginger Scallion Dressing recipe. It was fantastic. I cannot recommend it enough. Unfortunately, on a weeknight I don’t typically have the time to slow roast pork. We loved the taste of the dressing and the spices on the Bo Ssam though. So I modified it slightly to make a marinade for a weeknight chicken. It has been so delicious that we actually used the chicken to make a fusion taco. It will definitely be in our regular rotation.
Buying
L and I share one of our spare rooms as our joint office. My desk has been set up (but not perfected) since we moved in. L however has all of his stuff stacked on my extra desk and can’t really do anything. We decided to convert the closet to his desk. By doing this we give him his own desk and entire area and we also free up some space so that I have the ability to delineate my work and my hobbies. I spent some time this weekend doing a bit of demo, removing the doors, getting the space ready for the desktop and then I started hanging the peel and stick wallpaper that we got. We have a monitor arm so we can mount his giant gaming monitor. I also got some pegboards so that we can have some functional storage for him along with acrylic shelves for his bits, bobs and tchotchkes. Hopefully I remember to take pictures so that I can share the set up.
As we shift to winter hibernation, L and I decided we wanted to be able to host cozy game nights. We are going to try to set up a dungeons and dragons night with some friends. That could take some time for us to arrange though so we also wanted some other types of cooperative board games. I bought a couple of Clue escape games. They are one off plays but we played one on Friday and really had a blast. I also bought the base for Arkham Horror. COVID was terrible, but I think it really went a long way toward reminding me that nights in can be just as fun as a night out. I’m really excited to host some friends, cook great food and spend a few hours trying to solve a mystery!
Watching
Television has been absolutely fantastic for me recently. This past week we got the finale for Agatha All Along. If Marvel movies aren’t for you, you may still like Agatha All Along. It plays with the magic side of the Marvel Universe. I really loved the show, Kathryn Hahn was *chef’s kiss* perfection. It was a bit darker than I expected for a Disney+ show and it did not end how I expected at all.
Then on Thursday, the second season of The Diplomat dropped on Netflix. I was obsessed with this show as soon as it dropped last year. Keri Russell is brilliant but more than that it gave me big time The West Wing vibes. It feels quasi-realistic without being boring at all. The relationship between the ambassador and her husband is fascinating. They love each other but at the same time you completely understand why it doesn’t work. It introduces extremely complicated nuanced political issues in a very approachable way. On top of that, the dialogue is so good. I think this is what reminds me most of The West Wing, it is intelligent, sarcastic, and just feels like real conversations.
