January 2025

hey! welcome! I’m starting this lil blog as a way to categorize what I’ve been up to over the last month. A friendly person at the farmers market asked me, after complimenting my hat thank you SO much, how I find meaning / how to cultivate it. Apparently they’re taking a class and their assignment is interviewing various strangers about this. Had a bit of a crisis & thought I may start cataloguing how my time is spent to see if that lends any insight. If nobody else ever reads this, at least it’s a fun exercise for me.

Life Events

Took a ski trip to Mammoth Lakes (beautiful! highly recommend!) and spent almost a week playing around in the snow and spending time with friends. Gorgeous, gorgeous, would absolutely run it back even if it’s impossible to sleep at 8,000 feet.

Traveled to West Virginia for my granddad’s funeral. The service was beautiful, he was such a beloved member of the community and an inspiration for how to show up in the lives of others. As sad of a reason as it is to gather, it’s lovely to see everyone together and share a meal with family.

After traveling what felt like every other week for the past few months, I am ready to be home and not move much for the next bit. This month’s estimated flight carbon footprint was .783 metric tons. My self-imposed tax is $50 per ton (obviously this should not be on the individual to do!!! it is corporations and the government who need to take the initiative!!! but this is where we are at!), so a $20 donation each to Citizen’s Climate Education and Clear Air Task Force. Maybe I’ll think up a way to expand this practice to self-taxing our drives up to and down from New Hampshire for ski outings as well. Let me know if you have ideas!

Resumed French classes! Class meets twice a week for 10 weeks, so far we’ve reviewed the past tenses passé composé/l’imparfait, terms for describing duration and moments in time, and basic family structures and relationship vocab. Nothing new yet, this class is level B1-1 and I’ve taken the first half of this level previously. I’m enjoying the practice of speaking again even if it’s hard to tell myself to sit down for another hour and a half after the workday.

Training

January was a bit off in terms of programming. The altitude at the aforementioned ski trip really threw my body for a loop and it took a while to settle back. Sorry Garmin!!! (ps check me out on Strava)

Rowing

Since we returned, my erg focus has been on Wolverine Plan Level 4 type workouts, returning to the basics of 168 10’ blocks. My paces are set using a 1:57 2k, which is fully an estimate. The first couple workouts back from Mammoth put me up in tempo zones for heart rate, but the last few have dropped back into steady state ranges so I can resume increasing the stroke rate. Sticking with a base of 2x40’ or 2x45’ workouts.

Lifting

At the end of 2024, I wrapped my last (for now) cycle of 5/3/1 1000% Awesome. 5/3/1 was great for a while - I put 30 lbs on my deadlift (soooo close to 300lbs now!), 20 on my squat, and 15 each on my bench and overhead press. However - definitely felt burned out and looked forward for that last cycle to end. Flirted with the idea of trying some minimum dose training for a while to give the body a break, but settled on a middle ground with the Hepburn “A Program”, starting with a Power phase. I’ll be using over-warmups to get a bit of heavy single stimulus from minimum dose training without letting off the volume entirely. Numbers for this 4 week cycle:

Squat 175 / Deadlift 230 / Bench 105 / Overhead Press 60

Accessory work is mostly based off this article from Rowing Stronger: Off-Season Rowing Strength Training

running

I have not run in January! It’s cold and all the treadmills are broken!

Crafting

Completed my Friday Tee by PetiteKnit. So, so happy with how this turned out. The process was a real exercise in patience and using lifelines, but the end product is a joy to wear.

Reworked my Musselburgh hat to add a couple more inches to the length and my ears are very grateful.

My embroidery class at the local yarn store has resumed, January’s hoop was a basic sampler but we have this bad boy to look forward to: Kiriki Press Knit Sweater Sampler next which should be a challenge! Very excited!

Continuing to plug away slowly at Stitches by Tiff Witch’s Apothecary.

Media

books

On Revolution - Hannah Arendt. I find Arendt’s work to be very challenging and this is no exception. Unlike the Human Condition however, it feels unnecessarily so at times. Have yet to get into the meat of the argument, we’re still defining terms and laying out the context. Here’s hoping things get a bit more tangible from here!

The Life Impossible - Matt Haig. Loooved The Midnight Library so very happy to get my hands on another of Matt Haig’s books. So far this one isn’t quite up to the level of The Midnight Library for me, but the setting is beautiful and it’s an easy read in contrast to On Revolution. The intrigue is just starting to pick up and I’ll report back on if the resolution is satisfactory.

Ninth House - Leigh Bardugo. Only just started this one, I see it recommended often for folks who like A Deadly Education.

articles

Substack: "I followed the laws that allowed me to do this," said the Landlord, “But someone had died...". A first-hand account of how easy it is to take housing away and put someone’s life at risk. One way to make it easier to afford housing in Mass: let’s end broker fees!

podcasts

Katie Nolan’s Casuals. Katie Nolan is a big influence on my “voice” when speaking and presenting and it’s great to have her back in the podcast space! Great erging material along with the Sports Gossip Show.

Good on Paper, Why States Took a Gamble on Sports Betting. Famously, I hate sports betting. I don’t see an argument for it being illegal necessarily, but I would love to see more restrictions on advertising in particular.

The War on Cars, How Cars Change Us with Tara Goddard. The War on Cars hits every time.

games

Pentiment by Obsidian Entertainment. Very much a visual novel type game playing through a series of murder mysteries. I’m about 2/3rds though, the sense that there’s no right answer to the first mysteries can be frustrating but I find the mechanics of tracking down evidence so satisfying.

UFO 50 by Mossmouth. A collection of 50 retro-inspired games. The individual games can be hit or miss but enough of them are so good on their own that this is a must-own, imo. Party House got its hooks in me immediately.

Another Crab’s Treasure by Aggro Crab. A souls-like with actual accessibility. I’ve been playing with reduced damage and keeping currency on death, there are a lot of different levers to pull. Genuinely funny while reflecting on climate change and pollution. A bit laggy on switch, especially when playing on the TV instead of handheld.

Cooking

Gnocchi with Squash and Mushrooms from Rukmini Iyer’s Vegetarian Dinner’s in the Oven. Added halloumi for more protein. Shoutout to halloumi.

NYTime’s Adas Polo ba Khorma. Delicious and filling, I’d like to find a way to get more color in there.

Budget Byte’s cinnamon date baked oatmeal, to use leftover dates from above.