Category — Mental Sampler

A few weeks ago, I peered down into my Yeti and noticed the burnished patina on the bottom of my tea cup. It wouldn’t come off the stainless steel, no matter how much I scrubbed. Internet to the rescue.

I dropped about eight denture cleaner tabs into the bottom of the cup and added boiling (not just hot) water. I let it sit for a few minutes, then spilled it out and scrubbed. It took a few rounds, but the Yeti looks unused at this point. The metal sparkles. And the tea tastes better. Win-win.

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The dek for this article about Goodreads says it perfectly: “It’s glitchy. It’s mean. It’s a mess. It’s my favorite website on the internet.” It’s the only social media site where I scroll back to see where I left off because I don’t want to miss anyone’s reading update. It’s like a book club that never ends, accessible 24/7.

I learn more about other people than I do from other social media sites. I’m not just talking about what they’re reading; it’s how they talk about the books.

I know there are other, better book communities out there. But I still like Goodreads, not just for the critical mass of people and opinions.

I like chocolate. I like pistachios. I like kadayif. I wanted to try Dubai chocolate, but for like… under $8. Preferably less than that.

Trader Joe’s had their version of the chocolate for a hot second, but it sold out within a day, and they’re not getting more until the fall. Places we’ve found it were selling it for much more than $8, so we passed. But we finally found a bar of Dubai-style chocolate — made in Turkey — for $5 and grabbed it.

The bar was fine. Not amazing. I couldn’t really taste the pistachios or kadayif. Better than the chocolate itself was their website, which contained this strange line: “You’ll called for yielding male, so lights Stars abundantly, is their.” What could this possibly mean?

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We’ve watched the Taskmaster seasons out of order, but we’re finishing Series 19, and it is an excellent lineup. We liked all of the comedians very much, and even the Wolvog, who does not love television, joined to see all of the episodes. If you’ve never watched Taskmaster, it’s a good lineup to start with because everyone was really funny.

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Quentin’s favourite thing is to beg for me to fill his ceramic dry food bowl with baby food, stand next to it to make sure I’m watching, and then pick it up with his teeth and throw it so the food goes everywhere. Then he runs around in a circle, wheeking and popcorning with happiness while I yell, “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?” It’s actually pretty impressive because the ceramic bowl is heavy for a little guinea pig mouth.

But on the plus side, he will never pee on you. If he has to go to the bathroom, he will bite your shirt and gently tug (and then frantically tug if you do not immediately start moving), holding it in until you set him down in his cage. Good piggy.

We went to a town on the eastern shore to read by the water. When we sat down on the benches, it became apparent that the group of people standing on the bank were scattering someone’s ashes. They were taking turns opening plastic bags and dumping the ashes into the water. Later, they climbed up onto the grass and continued to catch up with one another now that the ceremony was over.

I’ve scattered ashes myself, but it was my first time witnessing another group releasing ashes. I found it oddly moving to get to bear witness to an ending.

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Our local library system holds a yearly summer reading program. I participated in it as a kid. They’ll put your name up at the local library if you read the requisite number of books.

This year, the library invited adults to participate, too. We don’t get our name up at the local branch, but if you read six books, you get a coupon for ice cream and stickers. We signed up as a family, and if we reach our reading goal, I’ll cut out paper stars and put our names up in the kitchen. You need to take the wins where you can.

Beorn can differentiate Saturday from all other days of the week. On Saturdays, we have popcorn and apples for breakfast, and he gets apple slices off my plate. It’s the only day of the week when he calls out for us if we sleep in, and when we come down, he continuously wheeks for us to start apple time from the moment I pour my first coffee.

We would prefer not to eat popcorn or apples first thing in the morning, but there is only so long the pig can wait. And it’s super impressive that he doesn’t anticipate apples on Sunday mornings or any other day of the week. He only does this on Saturdays. Smart pig.

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I’ve never seen Paddington, but they were heavily promoting Paddington in Peru while we were in the UK this winter, and I decided that I wanted to see the first movie because everyone said it was wonderful.

I wrote myself a note. Then I forgot about it. Then I found the note and promptly returned to saying I wanted to watch Paddington. Then I forgot about it. Then I found the note…

I feel like this is the story of my life. Deciding I want to do X, writing it down, forgetting about it, finding the note, realizing I want to do X, forgetting about it, repeat, repeat, repeat.

I still haven’t seen Paddington.

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I wanted to go to the beach this weekend, but Josh had a work event and it made no sense to go away for a single night. I decided to stage my own beach vacation in the living room. I’m getting the snacks I like at the beach and placing a blanket on the floor and putting on the sound of waves and reading books.

Is it a beach vacation? No. I am not biking to the beach and smelling salty air and hearing real seabirds and watching the waves. But I’m getting close-ish to it. Sort of.

Who knows when to mark the five-year anniversary of COVID? I looked back at four updates, each a week apart (1, 2, 3, 4), and marveled at how little I knew. And how I would still be masking five years later. Still dealing with it five years later.

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I started a folder called The Price of Things where I take a screenshot of the cost of maple syrup and avocados at the grocery store. I’m not sure what watching the price of maple syrup go up accomplishes except to stoke my rage.

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If you haven’t watched Severance, I recommend watching Severance. It’s really good. But if you are going to watch Severance, know that the Chikhai Bardo episode is one of the most moving, accurate depictions of infertility. Ever. They captured the highs and the lows of five years of trying to build a family.