We’re watching Sherlock with the twins, and we’ve moved into the fourth (and final?) season.  Before we started the first episode, the Wolvog asked me a question about it, and I shrugged saying, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” he asked, looking back at the screen.  “But you’ve already seen this.”

I have but I don’t remember any of it, so it feels like I’m seeing it for the first time.  Or… it’s actually more enjoyable, like seeing a puzzle come together again.  As each piece moves into place, you see the picture emerge that you remember liking once upon a time.  I only re-watch shows and re-read books that I enjoyed the first time around.

In the explore/exploit continuum, I am far on the exploit side.  It doesn’t feel like a waste of time because I’ll always find things I missed the first time encountering the show or book, AND I know I’ll like it because I liked it before.  I just don’t remember it.

There was an Atlantic piece last week on how the way we consume television or books or movies actually leads us to forget more of it.  Knowing you can see it again (or read it again) makes our brain less likely to hold onto it:

Research has shown that the internet functions as a sort of externalized memory. “When people expect to have future access to information, they have lower rates of recall of the information itself,” as one study puts it … You don’t need to remember a quote from a book if you can just look it up. Once videotapes came along, you could review a movie or TV show fairly easily.

So my brain doesn’t retain the facts of Sherlock (or even basic stuff like who is still alive in the fourth season) because it knows it can rewatch Sherlock as many times as I wish.  Even stuff that is a one-time-only viewing (such as a Fathom Event) isn’t retained because we’ve told our brains that they don’t have to remember the details, it just needs to remember where to find it again.

It’s a really cool article on memory and what you can do if you want to retain more facts about Sherlock.  Which, clearly, I don’t because it makes for a more enjoyable second (or third or fourth) viewing experience.

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

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There was a statement made in one of the Second Helpings on the last Roundup that I can’t stop thinking about.  The person said that they always order what they want in a restaurant and never look at the cost.  They go to restaurants within their price range, and once they’re there, they allow themselves whatever they want to eat, even if it’s the most expensive item they’re considering getting.

This isn’t how I order at all.

I only look at menu prices after I’ve narrowed down what I want to eat.  I’m a vegetarian so my meal is rarely expensive in comparison to the other things on the menu, but if one pasta option costs $11 and another costs $16, I’ll go with the $11 one.  Even if I sort of wanted the $16 one more.  Mostly because once I put it in terms of “do I want this enough to warrant the extra $5?” the answer is usually no.

If it was yes, I would get it.  But it rarely is.

Do you look at prices in restaurants that you can generally afford?

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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 that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

The ChickieNob and I started playing NationStates.  Many years ago, I had a region with a bunch of students.  I’ve thought about playing since then with the kids, but never took the time to sign up and create a new country.  But then the ChickieNob brought it up at dinner; her friend was playing NationStates and it sounded like fun.  Would I want to play with them?  Uh… YES.

So I started a country and the ChickieNob started a country, and I started a region so we could live in peace without being recruited dozens of times per day by other regions.  I love my little country.  Political freedom is at the world benchmark level.  My civil rights are superb.  We have quokkas despite being nowhere near Australia.  Life is good.

Life isn’t as great in the ChickieNob’s country on the mainland.  Crime may be unknown within her borders, but her citizens aren’t happy.  She is learning the hard work of being a ruler.

If you haven’t played NationStates, you set up a country and choose a few basic traits, such as the type of government and the history of your inhabitants.  Then you start playing.  Playing means getting an issue several times per day and making a decision on it.  Your decision always has an impact on your citizens or country.  Someone is always unhappy with what you’ve chosen to do even as others are celebrating your action.  For instance, I stopped someone from mining gold from a government-owned lake.  The environmental groups were thrilled because mining would have harmed the wildlife.  The mining industry was furious because they couldn’t make a living.

I like the game because it makes you think deeply about how every action you take — in your day-to-day life as well as the game — affects other people, positively and negatively.  When I buy a container of yogurt, I’ve given money to a store which in turn supports a business which in turn employs people.  When I decide to drive the longer but easier route, I burn more fuel and impact the environment.  That yogurt negatively impacted the people who work for a rival brand.  That drive benefited the gasoline manufacturers.  It can be immobilizing if you think about it too hard.

The ChickieNob is learning that it’s not so easy to be the queen.

It is raining here.  A lot.  The rain causes flash flooding, so you have to take detours and plan extra time to get where you’re going sometimes.  There is rain in the forecast every single day for the next 15 days.  There may be more rain beyond that; the forecast only goes for 15 days on my weather app.

It’s hard to feel cheery when everything is so wet.

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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 in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

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

• “The Hedges and the Midwife” (Regie’s Blog)
• “Insensitive Sister” (Infertile Phoenix)

Okay, now my choices this week.

No Kidding in NZ has a post about the Netflix special, Nanette, which I also watched this week.  As I commented over there, I watched it without any preconceived notions or knowledge about the show or Hannah Gadsby, and I think that’s the best way to experience it.  (Don’t Google it!)  Luckily, there are no spoilers in this post.  So go view and then jump into the conversation.

Inexplicably Missing is going on an amazing trip, but first she’s discussing whether it’s a good thing to block yourself off from your feelings.  Is it something to be admired?  I’m inclined to lean towards admired, too; feelings are just that — feelings.  In other words, they are real but can change and are often subject to information coupled with many other factors.  So I’m sort of in awe of anyone who can compartmentalize.  And the trip sounds amazing.

Lastly, Countingpinklines welcomes her baby.  I love this post for the happy news AND because it feels like old school blogging; connecting with others by stating your truth.  It’s amazing.  It’s surreal.  It’s emotional.  It’s exhausting.  She writes, “Right after he was born, they put him in my arms. And I just started crying. He’s here. Finally. And he’s mine. And I cannot believe that little 100 cell blob I saw on the screen grew into an actual baby with all his fingers and toes and is so perfect.”  Congratulations!

The roundup to the Roundup: It’s raining, it’s pouring.  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 July 20th and 27th) 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.

Updated at the bottom

I am days away from starting a new bullet journal.  I’m at that point where I don’t have enough space left to squeeze another month in the current journal, but I’m leaving a few pages unused.  Hate waste.  Also hate having my months in two different spaces.  Alas.

In addition to the regular bullet journal sections, I also keep a few running lists in my journals.  One is a “Things that make me happy” list.  I decided to drop my “Things I’m worrying about” notes into regular months and mark them with a worried face (instead of a box, which is what I use to note tasks, or a dot, which is what I use to note thoughts).  I have a list called “Things I want,” so I can note things I’d like to one day obtain, though the fact that I never get these things is probably a sign that I don’t need this list.  I have another list called “To be read” of things to be read, and one called “Reading list,” which notes what I’ve read since the journal began.  (46 books this time.)  There is a list of names I like.  It’s always smart to travel with a list of good names.

And now I’m thinking about dividing a section into fours and trying these lists every month or so.

• Things I Want
• Things I Want More
• So I Choose
• And Will Stop

It’s from that linked post, which is about an Elizabeth Gilbert talk and an Amber Rae book.  It’s easy to say no to things you don’t want to do.  It may be cringe-y in the moment, but it’s not as if you have regrets about not doing that thing, even if you have regrets about how someone else took your “no.”

So this is an interesting exercise to list out all the things you want (or think you want) to do.  Then pare it down to the most important things.  Then choose one and look back on the rest, releasing them.

This is how I removed “learn Irish dancing” from my to do list.  Goodbye, Irish dancing.  I look forward to watching other people dance without taking the time to learn myself.  I said goodbye to book projects that didn’t seem worth the time.  Goodbye to games that looked really good but I didn’t want to play at the expense of other activities.

Hello new bullet journal.

Update:

I’m happy to show people how I bullet journal and the various sections.  I’ve added quite a few over the years.  Let me take pictures, and I’ll post them after I finish setting up the new journal.

And then show the second bullet journal that I use to balance work projects.  So I actually use two very different bullet journals daily to keep everything straight and make sure everything gets done.