9 Things Making My Life Better This Quarter (Jan.-March 2020)
Note: I wrote this, like, the day before everything in Toronto went strict social distancing. I’m glad we’re taking such precautions as a community to flatten the curve and protect our vulnerable community members. I think most of this still stands though. An additional few things that are shaping up to be life-improving in the coming months: the Toronto Public Library’s many exciting online services. Google Duo and other video conferencing apps. Walks outside in the sunshine. All the streaming services, video games, and podcasts!
It’s that time of year again. The time when everything’s grey, and I have to be very gentle with my mood. Luckily, I have plenty of little things to be grateful for. Here are a few of them:
Weighted blanket
Thank you to my in-laws for this very kind holiday gift! Ever since I was a kid, I’d pile heavy knitted blankets on my bed to feel cozy and secure. I’m not sure whether this blanket has improved the quality of my sleep, but it certainly makes my bed feel comfier. And now I don’t have to sweat it out under all that wool.
The Mensa Puzzle Calendar
This calendar caught my eye because the puzzle creator is also writes the Globe and Mail‘s Saturday cryptic crosswords, which I very much enjoy. I like having little daily surprises to keep me looking forward to tomorrow. I know if I’m not careful and pressure myself to complete each puzzle by bedtime, I’m liable to start considering them a to-do task rather than a treat. But so far, I’ve kept my control-freak self in check and am enjoying the variety of mental goodies.
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Pérez (2019)
In this book, Criado-Pérez argues that a history of treating men as the default human being and women as a weird sub-variety of men has had wide-ranging, infuriating consequences for women’s health and wellbeing from the distant past to the present day. Her writing is strong and engaging, her sources are comprehensive and well documented, and her examples are well chosen and interesting. I would have liked to see more consistent acknowledgement and inclusion of LGBTQ+ folks (for example, writing, “In most heterosexual couples, the man…” instead of writing, “In most couples, the man…”), but this book is nevertheless effective at showing exactly how sexism affects everyone’s daily life in concrete, terrifying ways.
ASHL Hockey 101 at Scarborough’s Canlan Ice Sports
My previous beginner league was a lot of fun, but the atmosphere was unfortunately a product of the toxic masculinity endemic to a lot of rec sports. I like the format of this league a lot–practice followed by a game with a coach on your bench giving you real-time feedback. I like the culture even more: it’s the most inclusive and supportive formal league I’ve ever played in, and you can tell it’s not just me because there’s a) a proportional-to-the-population number of women, b) some of whom travel hours out of their way to attend this league rather than their local one. Kudos to the administration and staff!
The Black Tapes (podcast from “Pacific Northwest Stories”)
This sci-fi podcast is basically The X Files for the smartphone age, presented as though it’s a non-fiction investigative series along the same lines as Serial.* Our host, Alex Reagan, is our open-minded, impulsive Mulder to the enigmatic Dr. Strand’s rational reductionist Scully. Oh, but every episode so far is a MOTW (Monster of the Week), which, let’s be honest, is a major improvement.
Partake non-alcoholic beer
Partake doesn’t taste exactly the same as alcoholic beers, but it has the nuance and crispness I like in regular craft beers. Plus, the brewery offers a few different types–stout, IPA, pale ale, etc. I also love that it comes pop-can size cans, which is about how much beer I usually feel like drinking–in fact, I first found it at the LCBO because any small can draws my attention.
Basically, especially this time of year, I like the way I feel after drinking this beer a lot better than I like the way I typically feel in the 24 hours after drinking a regular alcoholic beer.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses: Cindered Shadows (Nintendo Switch game DLC)
This short “fourth” story path went live mid-February, and I’m enjoying getting to know the four new characters of the Ashen Wolves house. The Hard mode is super actually hard (not in the least because I didn’t get to develop my team/convoy supplies the way I wanted to but instead got dropped into the side-game with the characters, classes, and skills the developers decided were standard). I’ve relished the challenge of approaching tough battles over and over again until I finally beat them.
I’m loving these dishwasher-safe, easy-to-handle reusable zipper bags. They’re good for just about everything, and, unlike other designs, they’re a single piece.
Having a driving buddy
Massive thanks to my friend, JB, for generously being my driving buddy. Having you in the passenger seat helps me reclaim my confidence as a driver. :) Plus, our Value-Village expeditions are fun!
(Backstory: I’ve never liked driving, but I did used to drive myself and others around my home city when necessary for work or leisure. However, as I get older, I find myself going way out of my way to avoid driving and have even started to feel anxious as a passenger. That never used to happen before. My counselor and I came up with a plan to help me practice coping with those feelings and maintain a healthy attitude toward driving. Practicing driving with a supportive friend was/is part of that plan.)
* To be honest, I find some of that presentation a little over-the-top–I’m in the camp of “Willing suspension of disbelief is more effective for storytelling than deceptive belief,” and crediting the work to fictional people and a fictional podcast producer without also providing the real artist/creator credits seems unnecessary to me, going beyond interesting verisimilitude to unnecessary secrecy. Like, your writing/acting is effective, and I love the faux-investigative-journalism style; I won’t suddenly find this less believable or intriguing because you tell me who the voices are irl. The existence of David Duchovny didn’t make me care less about Fox Mulder. Not saying that they shouldn’t do this because it’s “objectively” bad, just that it doesn’t work for me.