I finished reading Britt-Marie Was Here tonight. It was one of those books that I wanted to read nonstop but also wanted to savor, so I took my time and reread a good bit as I went. I didn’t read the synoposis going into it, and I’m so glad. It got to be exactly what it needed to be for me. I look forward to reading it again in the future.

I spend a lot of time in the car. As a freelance interpreter and former home health SLP (I run my own practice now), my car serves as my unofficial office. I spent a good deal more time in it pre-pandemic than I do currently, of course, but I still have to go out and about on a regular basis, and have throughout the past year.

I’ve been driving my car for 14 years now, and plan to keep driving it as long as it lets me. It came with the basic setup, a non-upgraded factory stereo which has served me well for many years. When I got it, radios were simply AM/FM receivers with a CD player (and tape decks before them). It also included an advanced setup in the form of an auxiliary port, which I made judicious use of once I had an iPod to plug in. This eventually lead to using my phone, and once I wore out a series of 3 or 4 3.5mm audio cables, I splurged and got a simple USB-powered Bluetooth dongle which plugged directly into the aux port.

A couple years ago, the CD player stopped working and had a harder and harder time recognizing discs, and even ejecting them. I rarely listened to CDs at that point, so I kept going with my Bluetooth dongle and it was no problem. A months ago, the aux port finally stopped working, and no amount of vacuuming, dusting, or trying to clean the area would let it start working again. The contacts had finally worn out. My only option left was radio.

Radio was fine, for a short. I thought I could ask some savvy friends who could help fix the stereo with cleaning. When that didn’t work, I thought about trying to replace the part directly. A new aux port in this specific model would cost almost as much as a new head unit, and I haven’t had good luck with local dealerships being clear about the process for repair.

While investigating, I’ve kept listening to radio, since it’s all I have for music in the car. The driving I do have to do, in the meantime, has become progressively more of a chore because I’m at the mercy of whatever the radio decides to play. Which, invariably, is the same things over and over and over again.

It’s been illuminating to discover just how much enjoyment I get from something as simple as being able to listen to what I want when I drive. No advertisements, whole albums at a time or else playlists I create myself, and podcasts, which I also choose for myself to listen to. Without those options, radio leaves me with multiple stations which often play a rotation of the same songs, plenty of commercials, and plenty of advertisements. I can also choose to listen to nothing, which I do as well, but for a music and long-time fan of podcasts, I’ve definitely felt a bit off when going about my day to day life.

Today, I’m changing that. I’ve found a decent head unit to replace the factory one. It’s delightfully analog: it has physical buttons and knobs, and a simple digital display. It doesn’t have a CD player, which is fine since that means no moving parts to worry about. It has an aux port and a USB port if I need, and it has Bluetooth built-in. It doesn’t have a giant screen, it does’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. It’s simple and functional, and I’ve spent the last two weeks excitedly looking forward to today, since I had to wait for an available appointment time to have it installed.

It’s a little thing, but I’m so excited to be able to back this little piece of enjoyment again.

As is my quest this year, I’m finding myself wanting to make sure I do get some time to enjoy myself. Sometimes that means reading, sometimes it’s watching an interesting movie or show. Sometimes it’s writing. And sometimes, like this weekend, it means fiddling with the design of my blog. The key metric is enjoying the time.

If I have a recent favorite sport, it’s tobogganing. I experienced this rush on a trip to Switzerland in 2018. I didn’t want to, but while hiking I heard the whoops and laughter of Swiss elders, and seeing their joy flying down the mountain felt like unlocking a secret of life.

While I don’t have any pets currently, I grew up with many, and turtles were among my favorites. We kept them outside in the rose garden, where they loved to eat bugs and some fruit, and they’d burrow every winter to hibernate and reemerge in the spring.

A prism is a great way to discover the layers of light we perceive. Time itself is layered, how we perceive its passage as both fast and slow, finite and infinite. Continuing my theme from yesterday, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, and Time, have inspired me today.

Music is something I have often taken comfort in, for the sounds, the words, and the visual art accompanying it. Tonight, I opened Procreate on my iPad and drew one of my favorites on all of these fronts, Pink Floyd’s Division Bell.

My favorite morning beverage, like many, is coffee. I am not a “morning” person, but I enjoy being able to get up, grind some fresh beans, and enjoy a nice warm cup to ease into my day.

Tonight, I reflected on this by building a little Lego coffee stand featuring my preferred brewing method of late, pour over coffee.

To close up shop and unwind each day, I’ve been spending time with a favorite hobby. Building with Lego, whether by following some instructions or using my imagination, is proving both meditative and therapeutic.

Received my second round of vaccine today. I’m incredibly grateful to my state for their efforts in organizing this all. No change in plan for precautions, and it’ll be about two weeks to greater immune response, but happy to do my part to help protect the community I serve.

Last weekend I spent some time going through a closet and taking stock of what was in it. This weekend, I’ve been doing a similar inventory of my main computer. Two different types of storage, both need a fair amount of tidying to be done.

I’m not one for resolutions, but I am always one for reflection. And since it’s my birthday, I’m thinking a lot about life and what I’ve learned over the last year. I have a lot to be thankful for, not the least of which is to be healthy, able to support myself, and that while I work in settings which increase my risk of exposure, I’ve been diligent about wearing protective equipment and have been lucky to remain healthy so far. I’m also incredibly lucky to have received my first round of vaccine.

What’s struck me this year, more than others, is how I often have good intentions, but struggle with following through. I always have a good reason for that, be it with from being too busy, or too tired, or both. Sometimes it’s easier to kick that can down the road than to actually take the time to face what it is you need to face. And what 2020 made me face, in new clarity, is how thinly I’m spread.

It’s one thing to have a busy calendar, and quite another to have full days followed by equally full evenings. I’d work all day, come home and cook, or come home and change and run to the gym, and then home and cook. I’ve become a fan of having intentional time to do things like work out and take care of oneself, but the sudden forced reset made me realize that, much like my closet, having no breathing room in my schedule meant no time to really even relax and feel like myself.

This has been a gradual realization and I’ve found myself wanting to simplify how I live. Pare down my possessions to include primarily those things I use and love. Reduce the number of services I use which fragment how I use the internet and keep track of things I want to keep track of. In the fall, I took a step by stopping using Goodreads to track what I’m reading and instead use a page on my own website for that exact purpose. I have a variety of interests and think about all sorts of things, and a personal blog is a great way to reflect that in the online space. And it has the benefit of being unique, and doesn’t hand any easily mined data to anyone if it’s just me writing some text or posting a photo.

As I enter this next year of life, I want to be more intentional with the time I have. Not to schedule it as much as possible as I was previously, but to actively say no to things so that I can say yes to unstructured time. More time to listen to music and let my mind wander. More time to write or doodle. Reduce the things in my life so I can have some space to stretch out when I want, both mentally and physically.

I want to spend more time sleeping, more time visiting with friends and family, with intentional messages, emails, or coffee visits (preferably offline, but online since that’s our current reality).

Last weekend, I spent the entire afternoon on Sunday taking out the contents of one closet with the goal of moving a second bookcase inside since I have some new furniture for the space. I was astounded at the sight before me, everything in stacks or boxes, much of which I only ever see when I do this sort of thing. Upon trying to put the second bookcase in with the first, I discovered that my measurements did not account for the baseboards, and I was just under ¾ of an inch shy of being able to combine the two like I’d hoped. I scrapped that plan and put everything back, and it’s now just a bit more organized than it was before.

My life for the past few years has been like this closet project, trying to fit just a half hour more in, every single day, for so long that I’d forgotten what it felt like when I had a bit of breathing room. I hope to continue on this path toward simpler living, and look forward to new lessons learned in the year ahead.

Officially received my first round of vaccine today. The rollout here in NM hasn’t been without its bumps, but they’ve done quite well overall and it was fairly smooth today. They kept everyone for at least 15-30 minutes after for observation to make sure we tolerated it well.

Cautiously optimistic about Georgia, but it’s wild that the status quo remains so remarkably persistent. Much work to do, but for now, take heart, and tomorrow let’s press on to do keep aiming to do better.

I’ve been slowly getting into the habit of writing more again. Finding myself a bit disjointed, as I like to write here but also have ‘blog’ elements for both of my biz websites. I’m curious how others handle writing in various places.