Finished reading: The New Economy by Gabrielle Calvocoressi 📚
Poems I really liked in this collection were “My Perimenopausal Body Cistern Bow Disappointing”, “Write the Best Thing That Happened Today”, and “Good Friday”
Finished reading: Best Woman by Rose Dommu 📚
Bluebirds 🩷
I was trying to snap a photo of the boy who landed on our deck railing. I wasn’t concentrating, just trying to get the shot. After taking it, I looked at photo and was blown away that I’d also caught a snap of the girl too. I’d seen them both a few minutes before but only saw the boy when I grabbed my camera. Congratulations on her perfect, in focus photobomb!
On a day like today, it’s nice to have something positive to appreciate.
Watched: Carrie 🍿 pretty good though parts felt a little rushed in that some characters changed too quickly to be believed.
Warning, do NOT watch the trailer if you’ve never seen this flick. Gives away way too much.
My App Defaults
I saw this post about the default apps the writer uses for various services & tools. I love seeing these lists. I learn about new apps and sometimes I feel vindicated for having choosing something similar.
Here’s my list. But I warn you that what normally happens when I do something like this is that it gets my mind churning and the next thing I know, I’ve changed my defaults. 🤣 But, this is a current snapshot. As you will see, I’m pretty much an Apple fangirl.
- 👩🏻💻 Blogging: Micro.blog
- 📚 Book tracking: Book Track
- 📅 Calendar: Apple Calendar everywhere and Calendar 366 on iPhone
- 💬 Chat: Apple Messages
- ☁️ Cloud Storage: iCloud
- 📇 Contacts: Apple Contacts
- 📀 Database: Collections DB
- 📔 Journaling: Apple Journal
- ⌨️ Launcher: Raycast
- 📬 Mail client: Apple Mail
- ✉️ Mail service: Apple iCloud
- 🧭 Maps: Apple Maps
- 🎸 Music: Apple Music
- 🗞️ News: Apple News
- 📝 Notes: Apple Notes (hands down so amazing)
- 🔐 Passwords: Apple Passwords
- 🌅 Photos: Apple Photos & iCloud
- 🎙️ Podcasts: Overcast
- 🛠️ Productivity suite: Pages, Numbers and Keynote
- 📖 Reading: Kindle (physical & app), Libby
- 🧐 Read Later: GoodLinks
- 📰 RSS client: News Explorer (sync via iCloud)
- 🛒 Shopping Lists: Our Groceries
- 🙋🏻♀️ Social Media: BlueSky, Tumblr
- ✅ Tasks: Apple Reminders
- 🌤️ Weather: Apple Weather
- 🌐 Web browsing: Safari everywhere, and also DuckDuckGo browser on Mac
Year in books for 2025
I read some amazing books and poetry in 2025. The depth of these writers was amazing and some will nestle in my heart for a long time to come.
Ending the year with Jeanne Thornton’s A/S/L was a true treat. She is an amazing writer, both in storytelling and craft
A Transformative Year
This has been an incredible and insane year. I’ve come into my own identity just as so many have been working to erase me and my brothers & sisters from the greater culture. We’ve got a long road ahead of us but we have always been here and we will always be here.
I have found that I have surrounded myself with so many wonderful people in my life. They have been accepting and supportive of me as I explore the world through awakened eyes. I have been lucky and I hope that I have been as supportive to them through their lives as well.
And I’ve found such a great home here, on Micro.blog. It’s such a great system and the community is wonderful. I’ve “met” some wonderful people and I can always find something to make me smile whenever I scroll through my timelines.
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! 🩷
Watched: Night Gallery S2E1, The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes 🍿
The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes is probably some of the finest pieces of television I’ve ever seen. Tight, fun, dark, well acted. I really enjoyed it. Clint Howard is excellent in this role.
Finished reading: A/S/L by Jeanne Thornton 📚
This couldn’t be anything but 5 stars. I might even have liked it more than Summer Fun. Fantastic story and writer.
Letter writing
While I like to text, I love emails more. I like having the time to form thoughts, massage the text, and think about how my words will be received.
Reading about the Danish government’s plan to end postal letter delivery at the end of 2025, I thought of how before email, I loved to send and receive (!) physical letters.
The thought that this joy will stop for some is heartbreaking to me. I can’t say how important it was to receive letters from a loved one or a pen pal as I was growing up. I would ride my bike to a favorite secluded place and read the letter, rapt.
I will strive to write physical letters to my friends in the future to keep this practice alive. I beg you to do the same.
Had to happen eventually. One person, a friend but not a close friend, seemed to reject me. It doesn’t change things but it is a sad moment.
Watched: Good Boy 🍿
Oh My God. The dog lead character acted better than most of the A list Hollywood folks. An amazing, jump scare, emotional film. Loved.
Watched: Ginger Snaps 🍿
Wow. Twisted. Epic. Powerful.
Like a new pair of shoes I wrote about yesterday, you have to enjoy the little things. I went grocery shopping today and the bill was $64.64. 😁 I thought that was so cool. I’ve always loved numbers.
A simple new pair of shoes: cute, red, strappy, my size. It’s seems trite but like the Grinch, my heart grew three sizes.🩷
Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr
Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr is an amazing short documentary by Kimberly Reed. It’s on State Rep. Zooey Zephyr from Montana, an open transgender woman who was sanctioned and kept off the floor of teh chamber SHE was elected to. The internet archive has more info from the original documentary site and the New Yorker has an article.
The documentary is only about 15 minutes long, well worth it to watch, cry, smile and hope.
Might not close my rings on my Apple Watch, since I wore a beautiful rose gold analog Skagen watch to dinner with necklace and perfume. Was so happy. Literally affirmed my existence. The little things, everyone, matter the most.
New perfume!
If you’re into perfumes, I think that an important choice is picking a scent for yourself. An even more monumental choice is picking your first one. I finally crossed that threshold and I’m super happy. It seems silly or trite, but little moments are sometimes the easiest to come by and the simplest to enjoy.
I did a bunch of online research for this. I’m a vanilla and musk kind of girl, but I hate stuff that’s overpowering (to myself and to others). I wanted something delicate, feminine, but something I could wear everyday or on a special night out.
Hello Lake & Skye’s 11 11 Vanilla! It is my new signature scent. It’s light and smells of fresh linen, some powder, a little musk, & hints of vanilla. I did one spray onto a wrist, touch the other and my neck pulse points. It was heavenly. I could smell it but it wasn’t overpowering at all. It was at peak scent for about 3 hours. After that it started to decline unless you were up close to where it was sprayed. By 6 hours, it was mostly gone.
This is an intimate scent, one for you and those closest to you. I think that’s really cool. Something for myself to enjoy or to share with a loved one. It’s not “in your face” for the whole world to share, even if they don’t want to share.
This was a nice indulgence for me during the winter season.
