A Few Things

Hello, Friends. How are you? What was your week like? It was an intense work week at our house — so many phone calls! With the time difference between France and the U.S., our work calls typically start around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon, and can go till 11:00 or midnight.

Mostly I feel like the time change is a big advantage — it’s amazing to wake up and feel like you have lots of hours of a quiet inbox. Though sometimes, it’s not ideal — like when work calls happen at 10:00 PM on my Friday night and it feels like the weekend will never arrive. Hah!

This weekend, we’ll be celebrating Oscar’s 15th birthday (HOW is he 15?!), and we’ll also enjoy every last bit of time we have with Maude and Ralph before they head back to California for the start of the next semester — they fly out on Monday.

There was A LOT happening news-wise this week. Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share — I feel like I could have shared twice as many items!:

-A new study suggests that raising the minimum wage may lower the suicide rate — and that doing so might have saved tens of thousands of people from dying by suicide in the last quarter century.

-A story about that old box of cords you’ve been hanging onto for years and never open but are too scared to throw out.

-90 percent of jaywalking tickets given out last year were given to black and brown New Yorkers.

-Internet Archive is a treasure. Take a look at this Teacher’s Manual for Freehand Drawing in Intermediate Schools, published in 1876.

-The Justice Department has ended the Clinton-related inquiry once championed by Trump. It found nothing of consequence. (WP)

-Black Britons Know Why Meghan Markle Wants Out. (NYT)

-A mysterious radio signal coming from a nearby galaxy.

The ZORA Canon — a list of the 100 greatest books written by African-American women spanning 160 years, from 1859 to the present.

-A new Instagram account featuring street lamps.

-Oh dear. The demand for almond milk is killing bees.

-The 72-year-old retired teacher Jo Cameron feels neither pain nor strong negative emotions. “I know the word ‘pain,’ and I know people are in pain,” she said. “I’ve seen pain, what it does, but I’m talking about an abstract thing.”

How to say no.

-Re-reading The Feminine Mystique after 20+ years and shocked at how much I don’t remember from the first time around.

And here are some tweets I saved for you:

-Are you a fan of the Lord of the Rings movies? Today I learned most of the Riders of Rohan were played by women.

https://twitter.com/ElleOnWords/status/1215195930489769984

-“There are no end of good things in life besides husbands.” From a letter published in Texas in 1918.

https://twitter.com/Texarchivist/status/1214683461530902528

-This thread describes how tragic the Ukraine Airlines crash is for Canada.

-His intense facial expressions! His graceful arm motions! Everything about this is delightful.

https://twitter.com/ashleyn1cole/status/1215168494657916928

-Woah. This thread! If there hadn’t been video proof, what would have happened?

-Do you have a sense of how big Los Angeles is?

The responses to this question are making me laugh/cry. Can you relate to any of them?

I hope you have the best weekend. I’ll meet you back here on Monday. I miss you already.

kisses,
Gabrielle

11 thoughts on “A Few Things”

  1. One thing about the time difference between Europe and North America – your Friday post is waiting for me first thing in the morning.

  2. The married people arguments is the greatest thing I’ve read on the internet in forever! Also, it makes me appreciate that my spouse and I are totally normal (or weird in all the ways other people are weird). Ha!

  3. OMG. That twitter thread about married fights. It’s the most wonderful thing. I have been literally clutching my pearls and biting my lip to keep from exploding in laughter in my silent office. It’s fabulous.

  4. That Tweet about the size of the City of LA – love it! I live in the outskirts of LA County and have had issues with visitors several times not realizing how big the area is and how long it can take to get somewhere. Enjoy these last few days with your older kids!

  5. I just had to pull myself away from the argument thread…it’s great! Thanks for sharing. I’m off to count my blessings while ignoring the fact that sports, any sport but boxing, is ALWAYS ON THE TELEVISION WHEN MY HUSBAND IS HOME (and sometimes when he isn’t home, if he doesn’t bother to turn off the TV before leaving. Does he think I want to watch luging?).

  6. LOVED the Twitter thread! Thank you!
    How were you able to read the “spinster” document? I tried opening it several different ways and the print is always too tiny to read!

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