holidays, rest, and clearing the decks
Happy Holidays! (Here’s a picture of my dog dressed up for Christmas!)
This week, I’m all about trying to clear the decks — an idea I got from Kara Cutruzzula (who writes an excellent newsletter): using the last week of the year, when hopefully the office has cleared out and the pace has slowed down, to tackle all those little nagging to-dos that have been on your list forever but you never quite got around to. It’s “taking out last year’s trash.” It’s allowing yourself to really start the new year with a fresh, clean slate where you’re not still bogged down by lingering todos from months ago. I tried this last year and it’s the best feeling to cross off something you’ve been meaning to do for six months!
I’m also hoping to just chill out, honestly, and recharge. While I’m still working (remotely) this week other than Christmas Eve/Day, I’m also hoping to take it easy. It feels like last week was an insane one to me and a lot of people I know: everyone was trying to jam in tons of holiday parties, wrap up projects at work, hit deadlines, and do all those holiday tradition activities. Oh, and there was also an impeachment and a presidential debate, which for me at least, meant a lot of time at work. The week felt like a year. So this week, I’m hoping to get some rest and read a lot of books, and I hope you do too!
What I’m reading
Why don’t women self-promote as much as men?, Harvard Business Review.
Can monoculture survive the algorithm?, Vox. Set aside time for this one.
Human experience, ranked, The Atlantic. If you feel inundated with a nonstop parade of end of year ranking lists, you are not alone.
The 2019 hater’s guide to the Williams-Sonoma catalog, Vice. It’s not at Deadspin anymore, but Drew Magary’s annual tradition lives on at it’s new home, Vice!
The crisis in Kashmir has started a conversation I don’t know how to have, Buzzfeed.
The human toll of the 2019 media apocalypse, Medium.
Pete Buttigieg’s campaign says this Wikipedia user isn’t Pete. So who is it?, Slate. Another classic internet rabbithole from Ashley Feinberg. It sure looks like Pete Buttigieg loves editing his own Wikipedia page…
The complicated, problematic influence of TripAdvisor restaurant reviews, Eater. According to Trip Advisor reviews, the #1 restaurant in New York is some place called Olio e Piu. 🤔
What I’m cooking
If you have room in your life for one more holiday cooking, allow me to suggest these chai spiced snickerdoodles that I made yesterday. Did you think snickerdoodles were perfect and could not be any better? They can, if you had cardamom, allspice, and ginger to them!
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