I joined a writing group. Once a day, we get on Zoom, chat for ten minutes (sometimes about our projects, usually about something off-topic), then silence our microphones and turn off our videos, and write. Someone is the time keeper, and when their alarm goes off, they turn back on their microphone and video and tell us to return. We chat for five more minutes, and then hop off the Zoom.

I write about one to two pages each time.

I didn’t think I would enjoy it or stick with it as long as I have. I’m a solitary person; I like working alone and in silence.

But there is something about knowing that everyone else is a microphone click away that makes me focus and stick with the task. I won’t lie and say I never go down a rabbit hole of Googling elementary school classmates to see where they ended up (favourite time waster), but I do it less knowing that I’m going to have to get back on at the end and admit how much I accomplished.

I didn’t realize how much I wanted to be average until I started answering the 95 questions (side note: you don’t have to answer all of them to enjoy the experience) and wanted to see myself on what I silently deemed “the correct side.”

The results will change (I’m assuming) over time as more people answer, though they only show the results for questions that have over 500 answers. And if you look above the answer, you can see that most questions have around 44,000 answers.

I’m not sure how it performs on a mobile device — I took the quiz on a laptop — but it’s a very pretty interface, and it’s interesting to see how other people answered.

Anything surprise you when you saw the answers?

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

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I am normally NOT a fan of timed games – I prefer to relax and think and not worry about moving quickly – but Outlier is a lot of fun. You get a block of nine “things,” and need to figure out which one is not like the other. That one becomes a hint because it’s the theme of the next block of nine. For instance, if you had eight vegetables in the first group and a lemon, then lemon (and either fruits in general or terms for something that doesn’t work, etc) would become the theme of the next block.

You can only make nine mistakes, and you need to complete it before the time runs out. The nice thing is you can play the archives.

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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 connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

Is it more painful to shove all errands into a single day and take the other day of the weekend to rest, or is it better to spread out the errands between two days?

We decided to find out yesterday by shoving a trip to IKEA (Yes! And setting up the IKEA purchases — an equally terrible step), the eyeglass store (to choose new glasses), two grocery stores, and a hardware store (and installing all new smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors because we couldn’t remember how old they were) into a single day along with house cleaning, decluttering, cleaning up Quentin.

Happy weekend?

Disney+ uploaded several first-person Disneyland ride videos to their site. I love these types of videos and often watch them on YouTube, but they’re even better on Disney+ because they filmed them when the park was empty and used optimal lighting (vs. ride lighting) for inside portions. It feels like you’re there.

Two of my favourite rides are on the list: Soarin’ and Haunted Mansion. There are also a few parades on the list. No one else in the house is as enamoured as I am with the videos, so I’m watching them slowly.

It was a fun, unexpected addition to my week.

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

And now the blogs…

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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:

• “Monarchs & Infertility” (LindsayMader)

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Next 15,000 Days has a post about an overheard conversation and what the woman could have said instead. It comes down to acknowledging someone else’s words instead of launching into advice. Not every statement needs to be followed up with action items; especially action items that may not actually bring relief.

Lastly, No Kidding in NZ also tackles what is and what is not helpful when you want to support someone going through something difficult. I like this opening: “I learned what worked for me, and that is always helpful. And I learned how to support others as a result. But I’m definitely still learning, and have been far from ideal over the years, I am sure.” Again, asking the other person what would be helpful to them goes a long way. This list is a great place to start.

The roundup to the Roundup: First-person POV Disneyland rides. 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 25 – August 1) 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.