Laundry lists
Below is a list of activities that helped me cope.
Read some books.
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. Read it more than a dozen times over the years. It still screams nostalgia. I found it odd that the main character didn’t make me cringe this time. Felt some empathy instead.
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. Strong main heroine. Beautiful yet complicated love stories. Don’t read any reviews before you finish, since it will ruin the story.
The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva. My dad has been raving about this series for a while. It’s a page-turner. Lots of clandestine stuff. There are 20+ books, so this will be a long term project.
Listened to music(ish).
Hogwarts Study Session: This filled up the void during the day.
No Rules by TOMORROW x TOGETHER: I am no K-pop connoisseur, but this song is on repeat when I write. Sometimes for hours. Full volume. Some dancing, too.
Watched documentaries.
Pompeii: Disaster Street. Do we truly know what happened to people in Pompeii when volcano erupted? No. Can we imagine what might have happened? Yes. You can also see some phenomenal restoration work.
Leonardo: The mystery of the lost portrait. Physicists, art restorer, art historians, and a well dressed art dealer, browsing the beautiful countryside of Italy. Spoiler: Leonardo wasn’t really good with deadlines.
Cooked some comfort food.
Tahini cauliflower steaks. I add a lot of cumin to this recipe. Ditch salsa - too much work.
Japanese sesame salad dressing. I can consume a ridiculous amount of raw cabbage with this dressing. Cut down sugar by half and compensate that with a quarter of raw onion.
Practiced yoga.
Slow flow with Ashlee: I was in Ashlee’s class a couple hours after Mallory passed. I ended up crying my eyes out (silently) during Savasana. I was so thankful that there was a safe space for me when I was most vulnerable. By the way, she does birth chart reading (so brilliant and fascinating). You can find her offerings here.
Glo class with Jason Crandell: Need I say more. When in doubt, take his class. Sanity will be restored.
Did an interview.
2 Room Magazine, August issue: Talked about yoga, writing, and Mallory.
UPS told me that Mallory will be coming home tomorrow from 8:15am to 11:15am. We are planning on scattering her ashes. She loved parks. She also loved barking at fellow canines.