9 Things Making My Life Better This Quarter (Jan.-March 2018)

The first three months of the year are always a rough time for me, what with work density, grey weather, and mood stuff. So I’m always glad to find activities and stuff like these that make my life better! Here are some new things that worked for me this quarter:

1. Pokémon Picross (free-to-play game for Nintendo 3DS)

The thing about free-to-play games is it’s tough to say if they actually make my life better; they certainly affect it, since I get suckered into playing every day for the “rewards.” But I like puzzles, and so far, I’m enjoying the 1-2 minute speed picross warm-ups that you do every day to earn points–excuse me, Picrites–to unlock larger puzzles. I also kind of like seeing if I can identify the Pokémon in the picture from the pixelated art I eventually solve.

2. Abeego wrap

I got this reusable wrap to see if it could help reduce my waste footprint. I’m liking it a lot. It can’t go in the oven–the only downside compared to aluminum foil–but it’s great for replacing Tupperware, Ziplocs, plastic wrap, etc. I love how it’s easy to mould with the natural heat from my hands and wipes clean in a flash.

3. vacation planning

So our honeymoon is coming up in a month and a bit, but this whole winter, I’ve had a lot of fun planning everything from what I’ll pack to what I’ll take in my carryon to which snacks I want to bring on the plane. Apparently, those happiness articles that recommend planning a trip (whether or not you’re going to take one) were onto something. Husband is somewhat bemused by how much fun I have making detailed lists of things over and over, but I guess I find it soothing and engaging, and it makes me anticipate feeling happy, which helps my mood now?

4. Ken Liu’s The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories (adult speculative fiction book)

I love short-story collections that feel like boxes of assorted chocolates from a master candymaker: every piece will be different but delicious. This was one of those.

5. my therapy light

The numbers aren’t in yet–nor will they ever be, because I don’t conduct my life like a scientific study–but subjectively, the sun lamp seems to help my mood a lot. I have it on my desk and sit with it on for at least thirty minutes each morning. It makes working easier. I have it on right now.

6. Becky Chambers’s The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (adult SFF book)

It was refreshing to read a space opera where the stakes weren’t the end of the universe. The characters and their relationships are the draw here–nobody is a villain, nobody is perfect, and everyone works hard to get along. I especially love how the setting, in which humans are one of the minor species in the galactic network of allies rather than Heads of the Federation, etc., gave room for cool exploration of fictional alien species, their cultures, and how humans would have to learn to adapt. IDIC!

7. anime on my commute (so far: Fullmetal Alchemist and Psycho Pass)

Yeah, I’ve mentioned before that I like watching Netflix on my commute, but anime specifically is great. The subway is noisy, and it’s not always easy to hear the dialogue. I turn on the subtitles no matter what language I’m listening to, but when it’s a language I know, it seems I can’t help but strain to hear the spoken dialogue. I don’t speak Japanese, so my ears relax when I’m watching subbed anime, but I can still hear enough to get the emotional tone of the voice performers without getting distracted trying to hear too much.

8. noise-cancelling headphones

For the holidays, Husband got me Sony headphones that let me turn off the world. Really, I press a button, and the whole world goes quiet. Well, except Husband–his voice is so low it cuts through the noise cancelling. When he has friends over, the headphones cut out their voices but not his entirely, so it sounds like he’s mumbling to himself. It means I can work or read without closing my door and turning my office into a sauna.

9. getting married!

We got married January 20, and although neither of us is the sort who was super excited about having a capital-W Wedding, it was fantastic to see so many of our family and friends. A welcome respite of love and joy in the middle of the grey winter!