What I've Been Into - Summer 2013

I've decided to try something new here. I was talking the other day to a friend about our summers, and I realized two things:

1. I loved hearing about what she'd been doing, what she'd read and seen, where she visited, what she'd been mulling over.
2. Although I had read/seen/visited/thought over actual adultish things myself, I could hardly remember any of them. 

I am blaming this on my dear sweet little boy and the scientific FACT called "Baby Brain." And I am using it as a reason to put together a post now and then--maybe once a month? once a season?--to remember what I've been into between the rocking and feeding and human-jungle-gyming exploits that soak through so many of my waking hours. A good number of other bloggers do this same thing, and despite the fact that there's nothing overtly lovely or inspiring about a list of television titles, I look forward to these posts. They open the door to that writer's humanness, I think, and they establish a sense of community. That said, I hope you don't mind my intermittent forays away from the sublime edges of life and toward its muddier middle. I'd also love for your to share some bits of what you've found interesting lately, too.

So, to start us off, here's my first installment of what I've been into:

Books:

1. The Round House by Louise Erdrich -- my hands-down favorite read of the season
2. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides -- +++
3. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg -- thinking about how to use these insights in my classroom
4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green -- sweet and sad; will recommend this to my students
5. I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb -- couldn't really get into this one?
6. Stacks of picture books, most notably Frederick by Leo Lionni and The Deer Watch by Pat Lowery Collins

Articles/Posts:

1. "Snow Fall" by John Branch -- I'm a bit behind, but I thought this was a well-told story presented in a fascinating fashion
2. "The Opt-Out Generation Wants Back In" -- fascinating as I think about mothering/working/etc.
3. "The Tragedy of the Sunset Photo" -- forgive me, world
4. "Dear Prudence" -- guilty pleasure #1
5. "Kissing" by Diana Whitney
6. "In the Community Garden" by Mark Doty

TV and Movies (mostly via Netflix and Hulu):

1. Breaking Bad -- the only TV show in years that has made me wish we owned an actual television 
2. Dexter -- we have a thing for complicated characters
3. World War Z -- husband's idea; kind of liked it?
4. Jim Gaffigan stand-up
5. So You Think You Can Dance -- guilty pleasure #2

Videos:

1. "Treasure" -- spoken word written and performed by a former student
2. Sheep protest -- oh, the power of the herd!
3. The North Shore of Lake Superior
4. Red Heart the Ticker -- love this VT musical duo

Finds:

1. The Lucky Day collection at our local library -- books normally buried a mile deep under a wait list sometimes just show up on this shelf, and if you check it at the right time... ba-bam! 
2. Norwex products -- who would have thought a wash cloth could win my heart?
3. Nordicware popcorn popper -- okay, I actually found this a few years ago, but it's amazingness needs to be shared with other lovers of the perfect evening salty snack
4. Grocery stores at 8pm on week day nights -- so peaceful you can hear the freezers hum
5. Pureed sweet potatoes -- delicious? Yes.
6. The Fourth River Magazine -- another place-based publication
7. You Are My Wild -- beautiful photography of children
8. Feedly -- I was a bit distraught when I learned that Google Reader would disappear in the beginning of July, but now after having used it for two months, I'm a happy convert. I really love swiping articles left and right on the iPad.

So that's that. Of course I feel like I forgot about one hundred things I intended to share with you here, but now that I've cleared a space for this kind of record keeping, perhaps I'll do a better job of making notes as various things inspire/move/humor/startle me. That's the goal, anyway. I start back at work in one week: eeeeeep! Here's hoping my baby brain doesn't fill with such a sweep of new need-to-knows that I suddenly forget how to type. :)

How about you? What's kept you thinking this summer? What did I miss? 

Be well, friends!