I’m shaking off the last aches and sniffles of a summer cold this morning, but my grumpiness about the cold is being offset by my delight in a beautiful, dry, and clear morning here in NYC. It’s been damp and gray for the last few days—good weather for staying home and sipping tea, but a little dreary overall. It’s nice to see the sun. I’ve been reading some articles on loneliness in the last day or two, both published in The New Scientist….

I had every intention of sharing some food this week, but blogging (and a bunch of other things) got put on the back burner. My mom had a total knee replacement, so I’ve been pitching in at her place, keeping her fridge stocked and doing my best to be helpful in other, small ways. She’s healing well, giving PT all of her effort and attention, and I know she’ll be up and about in no time. Being by her side brought up a…

Some of you may have seen a story, which is now making the rounds, about the response that one employee got from her CEO when she let her coworkers know that she was taking a mental health day off. Software developer Madalyn Parker sent out an email to coworkers that read, “Hey team, I’m taking today and tomorrow to focus on my mental health. Hopefully I’ll be back next week refreshed and back to 100 [per cent].” Her CEO took the time to thank…

Last weekend I finally watched The Great British Baking Show. The inevitable happened: several days of non-stop biscuits, pies, pastries, cakes, eclairs, petit fours, and so on. I’m forcing myself to watch slowly now, so that a) I can actually get other things done and b) I don’t make my way through the whole series all at once. But it’s hard not to inhale it. Part of the reason I started watching the show wasn’t just its popularity or the fact that I…

This week, I came across Clive Thompson’s article in Smithsonian about the history of maps. Thompson does give history, but the article is more than a chronicle. It’s also a meditation on the meaning and importance of maps, the rise of GPS navigation, and the fact that “many of us have stopped paying attention to the world around us because we are too intent on following directions.” I used to get lost in New York all the time. Sure, Manhattan is a grid,…