Interesting community science project
Brain imaging before and after COVID-19 in UK Biobank | medRxiv
We identified significant effects of COVID-19 in the brain with a loss of grey matter in the left parahippocampal gyrus, the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the left insula.
Ugh. I installed Big Sur on Tuesday on my iMac. Now I’m having intermittent network issues – it looks like the iMac is sucking up all my bandwidth (fiber 250M). Reboot fixes it for awhile. Apple Support gives me dumb advice. I make my living on the Internet! Frustrated.
Currently reading: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates 📚
Finished reading: The Arrest: A Novel by Jonathan Lethem 📚
Finished reading: All for Nothing by Walter Kempowski 📚 I’m reading books about Germany and Poland during and after WW2. This one is especially brutal and especially good. It’s the mundaneness of the banal cruelty that is giving me nightmares and that’s the point.
The World's Best Breakfast
Here’s my utterly baroque method for cooking breakfast cereal.
In a double boiler, add
- ¾ cup steel cut oats
- ¼ cup whole grain teff
- 1 heaping teaspoon Cured Sumac
- 4 cups water
Cook for 30 minutes, give it a really good stir, let it sit for 15 minutes, give it another good stir. Let it sit for 6-10 hours, then refrigerate.
Heat it up in the microwave, about 2 minutes. Add lots of fruit, fresh yogurt and some soaked chia seeds.
This amount feeds my husband and me for two breakfasts. We look forward to it every single day, year round.
Our local library is partnering with a new international market to do “Spice of the Month” where you can pick up a new spice and check out a cook book. This month’s spice is fenugreek.
I just spent some time in Facebook (trying to keep it to no more than once a week) and then came here to Micro.blog. The difference is stark! I have such a collection of interesting and thought-provoking posts here in MB. Thank you all.
Viewing this story on an iPad is amazing. A really good use of technology. I hope this link isn’t paywalled.
Currently reading: All for Nothing by Walter Kempowski 📚
Finished reading: Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo 📚 I loved most of this novel but felt that it fell apart at the end. Even so, it’s a contender for Great American Novel.
The effectiveness of rest and pacing make obvious the need for greater workplace protections and an expansion of disability benefits for people with long Covid
I love summer, sourdough waffles with fresh strawberries and apricots 🍞
People who survived Covid-19 are 59% more likely to die within the following six months than people who were never infected
Long Covid May Help Us Understand Diseases Like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - Bloomberg
Currently reading: Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo 📚
Currently reading: The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem 📚
Finished reading: The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel 📚 So fun. I loved this book. Read it twice over and expect to re-read it many times.
Finished reading: What I Found in a Thousand Towns: A Traveling Musician’s Guide to Rebuilding America’s Communities-One Coffee Shop, Dog Run, and Open-Mike Night at a Time by Dar Williams 📚 Definitely an interesting and thought-provoking read. This book provides support and some guidance for anyone who has ever wanted to build more community in their town.
Finished reading: The City We Became by N.K. Jemison 📚 A very fun read, highly recommended, especially if you are fond of the city of New York. I’m looking forward to the next books in this trilogy.
Back home after 8 days away, 1200 miles, 24 hours of drive time. It was wonderful to visit a beloved aunt and my long-COVID brother. I have two podcast recommendations.
The first podcast 🎙️ recommendation: Lolita Podcast. I know I’ve been dissing Nabokov this past year. After listening to over 12 hours of this podcast, I’m ready to re-read Lolita from a new perspective.
The second podcast 🎙️recommendation: Over the Road — Radiotopia. Perfect for many hours of drive time, as we learn about the lives of long-haul truck drivers.
Teaberry ice cream A Pennsylvania specialty. Similar to wintergreen. I quite like it.
I’m about to leave home for a road trip. It’s the first time I’ll sleep somewhere else since February 2020. I’m surprisingly nervous! But I expect to get over it and have a good vacation.