November 30, 2020 – December 6, 2020
Bucket List Items Accomplished
- Try a sensory deprivation tank. It was very quiet and peaceful. I had full control over the lights and music. Floating in complete darkness and silence was quite relaxing. The weightlessness / increased buoyancy is from dissolved epsom salts. I went to Floathouse Victoria. They provide earplugs and a private room with a shower for the session.
- Eat morel mushrooms
Things I Enjoyed this Week
I came across this quote in a Reddit thread. I have greatly enjoyed the small bit of Terry Pratchett’s work that I have read and should endeavor to read more. It’s such a joy.
“All right,” said Susan. “I’m not stupid. You’re saying humans need… fantasies to make life bearable.”
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
“Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—”
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
“So we can believe the big ones?”
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
“They’re not the same at all!”
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME…SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
“Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what’s the point—”
MY POINT EXACTLY.”
Terry Pratchett, Hogfather
- I want to continue posting the new words I find in the wild from books or podcasts.
- Tyro – a novice or beginner
- I watched no Oscar Best Picture Winners.
- I taught myself no new constellations this week.
Meal Prep and New Recipes Tried
I got back on the meal prep train properly this week.
- One Pot Lentil Butternut Squash Chili from Yay for Food
- Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash from Budget Bytes. I used just brown rice and added some rehyrated morel mushrooms for some delicious umami flavour.
Updates
- I crossed only three things off of my bucket list in November. It was a hard month, but these three things were all gratifying and I’m glad I accomplished them.
- Send someone a thoughtful care package
- Eat ackee and saltfish
- Do cross-stitch again
- In the month of November I read and listened to three books. I listened to an audiobook for just one of them. Here’s what I finished reading this month. The House in the Cerulean Sea was a deeply enjoyable and charming fantasy world. It centres around a bureaucrat whose job is to inspect and scrutinize orphanages for magical beings on behalf of the prejudiced government. The story was uplifting and celebrates the value of ordinary kindness.
Mayfaring 