Happy Friday! It’s been a nice, short week for me, Aron and I celebrated 15 years of marriage with a couple of nights in Calistoga at the start of it! Today we celebrate my mother’s birthday and tomorrow we head into Marin for a friend’s birthday hike. Lots to celebrate!
We’re also almost entirely moved back in after re-doing our floors. I’m debating how many of my books to put back on my bookcase—a question I posed on InstaStories. I think I’ve asked before about people’s proclivity to hold onto or let go of books and it definitely felt like there were more in the let-them-go camp this time! Where do you stand? Especially with regards to those formative “school classics” like the Jane Eyres and Judith Butlers.
Related, our pantry is done and I’m trying to take my time on that, too! I finally ordered some of those minimalist labels for all of our spices and jars (like these and these) and they’re making me so happy!
The countdown is on for the last days of school. 15 more days, I believe? Hoping no one gets sick in that time as we have flights booked to Barcelona for as soon as school is out! (Related: Any cities in Catalunya with not-to-miss Corpus Christi celebrations on the 16th?)
We’ve been largely occupied with home projects the past two weeks: We are finally getting our pantry! Here was my inspo post a few years back. Also, we replaced our damaged cork flooring this week. We’ve been moved out of the house and will move back in this weekend! Here’s an older tour.
Other house projects I’ve been occupied with: we’re taking out a lot of our large Agave Americanas and replanting the area with a mix of things we’ve been propagating—some succulents and such. (Here’s a garden inspo post with some of my favorite photos from when we redid the front yard.) Hoping to get the balance just right! And we’re also looking at projects for the cabin that will lighten it up a bit inside and doing a lot of painting.
But also… like everyone, it seems… I’ve been reeling over the leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The draft decision, published by Politico, would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision legalizing abortion. “There is no mention of the procedure in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787. This seems to be a surprise to Samuel Alito,” quipped Jill Lepore in The New Yorker. Her article nicely describes how “the [constitution] history test disadvantages people who were not enfranchised at the time the Constitution was written, or who have been poorly enfranchised since then.”
There’s so much that could be said on this topic, so much regret about how we got here! But in thinking on how to best move ahead, I think about one of Beto O’Rourke’s remarks this week: “If they want states to decide, then we must elect a governor who will protect a woman’s right to abortion.” (And morning-after pills, and IUDs, and IVF, and all of it!) Elizabeth Warren also focused on the midterms and state government elections in her comments, supporting Cisneros in Texas. A minority of Americans believe the unborn are more important than the people who give birth to them—which points to our problem with representation. The possibility of so many civil rights being rolled back is terrifying. Moira Donegan, in her Op-Ed, writes “There is no condition more essential to democratic citizenship than a person’s control over her own body. We can’t call ourselves a free country without it.” Could we? It’s a provocative question and her article is worth a read regarding all of the potential ways this plays out for all sorts of families and communities.
I really loved the quotes shared on Even*Cleveland this week, but especially her own reflection on bodily autonomy: “No single story ever encapsulates any human experience. And I am increasingly wary of stories, anyway. The ugly power of narrative is evident everywhere in this country. Maybe what we need is to step away from storytelling—the repeated tales of what a mother is, of what a person should be—to dwell in possibility. Why is what we do with our bodies endlessly up for debate, whether that is choosing not to be pregnant or getting the care needed to align an inner and outer self? Why are people so afraid of making space for choice? Of accepting that people do, in fact, know what is best for them, in a way others can’t?”
It’s difficult to pull together lists of fun links when doing so might be misconstrued as not putting enough emphasis on the real stuff, but alas… some other things…
Thanks for the well-wishes from some of you on my surgery! I’m about 2-1/2 weeks out since repairing a deviated septum and I can breathe out of both sides of my nose again! All in all, it’s been a good recovery. I’m just still trying to learn how to get a good sleep through the night on my back. I imagined I’d watch a lot of TV, but as it turned out, podcasts were my best friend. I could keep an ice pack on my eyes and listen. For some reason I spent lots of time deep-diving into SNL history… mostly with Dana Carvey and David Spade’s Fly on the Wall, which I came to from a Smartless interview with Spade. But also via Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend and the new Bob Odenkirk memoir on Audible, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama. Other favorites remain Everything is Fine, You’re Wrong About, You Are Good, Reply All, and Pop Culture Happy Hour…
The TV shows I did binge: Working Moms and Life & Beth—both wonderful! Aron and I watched the first season of Working Moms together and loved it, but then we sort of lost interest during a so-so season two. But now I sort of feel bad for watching season three without him because it was wonderful! Sorry, Aron. Same with Life & Beth. Together we’re so excited about the new season of Better Call Saul that we’ve been re-watching the start of Breaking Bad to remember how Saul and the other familiar faces enter into the fray.
What sort of shows and podcasts are keeping your attention lately?
