COVID and the brain: researchers zero in on how damage occurs
Interesting Twitter thread about Omicron, Long COVID, and other related issues Thread by @IanRicksecker on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App
Finished reading: The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk 📚a fun read. A bit too much 18th century fashion detail but a nice magical world and interesting characters.
Currently reading: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell 📚
Finished reading: Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s Journey by James Rebanks 📚A beautiful, hopeful book. If you have any interest in the local food movement and regenerative agriculture, this is a fabulous, accessible introduction.
Currently reading: The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk 📚
Finished reading: Ghostwritten by David Mitchell 📚I’m beginning to see how all of David Michell’s novels are one big novel, and luckily, I like it.
Finished reading: Beautiful World, Where Are You: A Novel by Sally Rooney 📚The clarity of her writing takes my breath away. I didn’t like the characters as people, but it was interesting reading about them.
Finished re-reading: The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran 📚
Currently reading: The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran 📚
Currently reading: Pastoral Song: A Farmer’s Journey by James Rebanks 📚
Currently reading: Beautiful World, Where Are You: A Novel by Sally Rooney 📚
Finished reading: Convenience Store Woman: A Novel by Sayaka Murata 📚A strange book but I liked it. I was reading this at the same time as Mitchell’s Ghostwritten and there were strange parallels: humans who don’t feel human; along with taking place in Japan.
I made the family traditional Christmas Eve dinner for today instead. Herring-beet salad and Russian Chicken Salad. It’s from the German side of the family, which has some Polish roots. And it’s all SO GOOD. I love tradition.
A fun, slightly creepy, short story by Sarah Pinsker (A Song for a New Day).
Those who like English ballads, editing Wikipedia articles, or general research into arcane, nerdy stuff might like this one.
Advice from someone who’s had Long COVID for two years
The regular refrain of the self-employed person: “Oh, is today a holiday?” 🤣
News Bulletin: Ember® mug causes long-time “tea with cream” drinker to begin taking her tea black. It’s true, after a lifetime of milky tea, there’s something about the way the Ember “cooks” the milk that makes me prefer the tea black. Which is better for me in every way.
Finished reading: The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery by Ross Douthat 📚Excellent book. I liked how much the author let us into his head in terms of living with chronic illness and pain. It helped me with insight and even more compassion for my Long COVID brother.
I’m going all-in on Apple Fitness+. I’ve been using a different app for strength training along with occasional sessions with the trainer who customizes that app for me. But I said goodbye to her, with some sadness, because the attraction of Fitness+ is too big.
Currently reading: Convenience Store Woman: A Novel by Sayaka Murata 📚
I’m bummed that Racket is switching away from the 9-minute web recording concept to 99-second iOS-only recording. Their email said “no traction” from the web and that they’re seeing rapid growth with the 99-second concept. Another case where I’m not the target audience.
Currently reading: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë 📚
Currently reading: Ghostwritten by David Mitchell 📚
Finished reading: What Could Be Saved: A Novel by Liese O’Halloran Schwarz 📚I loved it and I hated it. Child abuse, and in general, adults behaving badly. Deeply felt descriptions of siblings and how they relate. Protagonist exactly my age, DC and foreign service in common.