Welcome back to my sleepy corner of blog land. As a part of cutting down on screentime, I have obviously stopped writing. But I miss writing up my recaps and sharing tidbits of my week. Whether or not anyone reads them is a whole other story, but I find it to be an enjoyable practice!
I am taking inspiration and going to the Friday Five format. This was sparked by an email we get from our local farm box company, Yellowbird Food Shed. I am a HUGE advocate of Yellowbird, we get fresh produce and local products delivered to our home, and we know that our food choices are making an impact on the local food chain. If you’re local to central Ohio and want an referral, please let me know! For Benji’s weekly roundup, he shares a book, a movie, podcast, a recipe, and a song. I love this! I am going to tweak to my needs just a little and instead of a song, I want to share something fitness related instead. Here goes, the first Friday Five of 2019.
BOOK – Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. I just finished this book on audio. I started with The Husband’s Secret which was great, and the absolutely fell in love with Big Little Lies. (The show was a perfect adaptation!) I started this one on a roadtrip to a race. At first, it was hard to follow the characters (probably because I was driving?!) but as I got in to it, I really enjoyed it. The story could have been tightened up a little bit, and I wouldn’t describe the story as psychological fiction, but I did find myself wondering what I would do in the situation of the characters. Caroline Lee, who narrated the other two audiobooks I listened to from this author, does a great job infusing humanity and humor in to each of the characters.
MOVIE – Sorry to Bother You. What. A. Trip. This movie was fascinating. I enjoyed it, but MAN did it go off the rails at the end. It has some interesting things to say about consumerism, race and power in our country. The first 2/3rds explores the life of a black telemarketer who climbs the ladder of his telemarketing company by using his “white person voice.” He is able to endear himself to all his clients and work his way up (literally) to become a power caller. All this is going on while his co-workers and his girlfriend are on strike against the company, and Cassius is going to coke-fueled parties hosted by the CEO. There are elements of Fight Club here, but what Cassius discovers at these parties just sends the movie around the twist. I recommend it, but I know it’s not for everyone!
PODCAST – The Wilderness from Crooked Media. I am going to be the first to admit it, I am not a political junkie. I know that media is biased, and I do find myself leaning towards liberal media for my news. After the 2016 election, I actually just shut down with consuming political news all together. I stuck my head in the sand. But guess what? That is not how we make change. The Wilderness was created by Jon Favreau (not of Swingers or Chef fame, but of President Obama‘s speechwriter fame), and “tells the story of a party [the Democratic party] finding its way out of the political wilderness through conversations with strategists, historians, policy experts, organizers, and voters. In fifteen chapters, the series explores issues like inequality, race, immigration, sexism, foreign policy, media strategy, and how Democrats can build a winning majority that lasts.” I am using this as a re-entry to and beginning of my own political education. I had to take a break from it awhile ago because, frankly there are heavy feelings involved here.
RECIPE – I am doing my best to eat vegetarian at the start of 2019, so I am taking a 31 Day Vegetarian Challenge with Budget Bytes. But let’s talk about the first day of January. I woke up, met friends at a diner for a run, then scooted up to the counter for pancakes and bacon. Yep, I totally forgot about my veg challenge ON DAY ONE! So, I still plan to eat veg for the rest of the month, and the first dish was Spicy Peanut Stew with Ginger and Tomatoes. The NYT Recipe is the one I used because BF doesn’t eat sweet potatoes, but I have also made the Budget Bytes version in the past and I LOVE it! It’s spicy sweet, it’s loaded with veggies, it is really filling. Try it out!
FITNESS – Humblebrag time! On Saturday December 29, I finished the Huff 50k at Chain O’ Lakes State Park in Albion, Indiana. This race was one that I attempted two years ago as my first Ultra run. The weather was horrible (deep snow and ice/rain), and the course was shut down before I could finish. So in October of this year, a little last minute, I decided to try it again since I had the base of the Chicago Marathon, and I really wanted to finish. The training was slow, and I regretted the decision every morning when it was cold and dark and I had spent the evening drinking wine and eating Christmas cookies. The race was difficult for me, but I had great company and they were able to help get me through the day. I am super proud of this day!
Running makes me ____________! 