Kate Moss turning 50 has churned out numerous op-eds about turning 50, middle age, etc. It’s interesting because I didn’t remember articles like this when she turned 40, but a quick Google search shows me I’m wrong. Though in the case of 40, her milestone birthday was newsworthy because the festivities went on for multiple days. Ten years later, the articles are not so much about Kate Moss but using her birthday to opine about growing older in general.

Kate and I were born in the same year, so these articles align nicely with my life. Or maybe “nicely” is the wrong term. This comment gave me pause: “The proximal moment of becoming 50 is, in the end, a lot less terrifying than the point it marks in your life, a whole half-century lived, probably somewhat less than that to come.”

Oh.

Who wants to think about the downward slope?

And this: “Time has more consequence when it’s running out … You thought you were playing Scrabble, but actually you’re playing Boggle.”

I don’t like Boggle. I don’t like the timer on the New York Times mini crossword. I just want to play my word games and not think about time passing.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

*******

We’ve always been a shoes-off-in-the-house home, but during the pandemic, we instituted indoor vs outdoor clothes, which we still do. I felt so seen by this recent article in the Washington Post because I didn’t know other people were doing this, too.

To keep things mentally straight, I made jeans my outdoor clothes and cargo pants my indoor clothes. So if I’m going to the store, I change into jeans and a sweatshirt, and when I return home, I change into cargo pants and a different sweatshirt. We never sit down on furniture or get into bed with outdoor clothes, though we’ll sit at the foot of the bed in outdoor clothes in a hotel room because… the whole place is kind of an outdoor clothes space. (Though I still want to keep outdoor clothes away from my face and the pillow, which is why the foot of the bed.)

Do you wear indoor and outdoor clothes?

*******

Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

A final story from the trip. Many years ago, when we were in Montreal, I took a photo of Velvet Moustache pillows in the window of Conseil des Metiers d’arts du Quebec.

I am not a great flyer, and I took a pill to get through the flight. I have no memory of the flight itself, but in my hazy state, I informed the ChickieNob that I wanted to make her fox stuffed animal that could house a hot water bottle so she could have a warm stuffed animal. I apparently crooned this very earnestly and pulled out that photo to illustrate what I meant by a fox.

This has been a family joke for many years.

When we were wandering in Mechelen, Josh commented that he wanted to take a random left turn — that he just had a good feeling about the street. And then moment we turned, there it was: A fox stuffed animal with a pouch for a hot water bottle.

For 15 euros, I am now the proud owner of a fox hot water bottle holder.

And it is every bit as wonderful as my drugged mind imagined. You lift the mouth and there’s a little water bottle inside that you can fill with hot water.

The life lesson: Take the random left turn.

Every few months, I go through a reading lull. I have books I want to read at the ready — both purchased or queued up at the library — but nothing will feel quite right. I can’t point to something I want to read more than what I have on hand. I just don’t feel satisfied with my options.

I sometimes get this way with meals — nothing appealing to eat — or plans — nothing feels like a good enough plan for a special day, but a reading lull feels ridiculous because I own so many books. And I keep a very detailed TBR and put dozens of books on hold at the library at the same time. How can nothing sound appealing?

I went through a little lull like that at the end of the year until I decided to dive into the S.J. Bennett books and read the first three back-to-back. And I recently went on a book-buying spree to ensure I have stuff to dangle in front of myself when I go through the next lull. No profound solution: I’m just commenting on it in case you go through the same thing.

*******

Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

*******

And now the blogs…

But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

Scientist on the Roof has a fun time-capsule-of-a-post jotting down how they spend their time, day-to-day. It’s true; I often look back at old blog posts and think, “Huh, I totally forgot about this.” And then you’re reminded of a snippet of daily life. So I love this idea of planting it for your future self to read. She explains: “I hope I keep up with the writing through the years. So that in another 10 years, I can look look back at 2024, and be reminded of the things that were important to me then (now), of the struggles, of the every-day things that tend to get lost.”

Lastly, No Kidding in NZ has a post about perspective. I love this point: “Perspective grounds me. It gives me balance. It helps me understand and appreciate my life. It also gives me more confidence in my own views, knowing that I have tried to consider the positions of all involved.” It isn’t easy to see the world exactly through another person’s eyes, even when they tell you everything they’re seeing. But it’s a good reminder that our perspective is just that: our perspective. And being mindful that other perspectives exist can only make communication better.

The roundup to the Roundup: Reading lulls. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between January 26 – February 2) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.

After Amsterdam, we used Antwerp as a base to see the Flemish region of Belgium because we did the French side a year and a half ago. Our only wish is that we had known how much we would love Antwerp.

When we checked into our hotel, they told us they had plenty of masks behind the desk in case we ran out of them. Run out of masks? The Fords do not run out of masks. But that moment summed up the perfection of Antwerp — kind people, slow bicyclists (in comparison to Amsterdam), great waffles, great street sculptures, and the best museums. Our two favourite: KMSKA and Plantin Moretus.

It’s a gorgeous city.

But the next day, we took the train to Ghent. We climbed the tour (and saw the dragon that guarded the city for 500 years), ate Liege waffles, saw Graffiti Alley, and totally by accident found Lena, Nestor, and Luna (Ghent’s equivalent of Brussel’s Manneken Pis).

The day after that, we explored Bruges. More Liege waffles, unaccompanied horse carriages, and art art art.

The day after that, we went to Mechelen. That may not seem the obvious choice, but the ChickieNob and I love this virtual walking tour of Mechelen that we found on YouTube, and it was strangely emotional to be in the city and follow the same path. There were (you can probably guess) more Liege waffles.

Back in London, we climbed the 528 steps to the top of St. Paul’s, where I flipped out from the height.

We visited their stone at the Tower of London (we bought them a stone in the tour for completing their college applications) and visited Anne Boleyn’s grave in the chapel. We saw a show — The Unfriend — and bought so many books. I had to squirrel them away in everyone else’s suitcase. We closed off the trip pretending to be spies at Bletchley (but really saw a lot of super cool computers, including a recreation of the original Bombe).

All in all, a great trip.