I shared my #OneWord for 2019 with you on New Year’s Day, but I don’t want that to be the only words we exchange this week.
And now, a few more words…
about blogging
On the afternoon of December 31, I opened my feed reader (yes, I still use one) for the first time in weeks. I clicked the “mark all as read” checkmark. New year, new start.
On the morning of January 1, I opened the app again. I read through all the posts in it and even commented on a few. New year, new start!
I’ve been on blogging breaks before, but that’s usually meant I just didn’t post for a while. The last couple of months were my first extended break from reading blogs since I began writing my own, It was one less thing to keep up with, and it lessened the guilt over my lack of participation.
I think I had to miss both sides of the blogging coin before I could pick it back up.
about things I did instead of blogging
Bullet points!
- I wasn’t reading blogs, but I was reading plenty of email newsletters. I subscribe to daily briefing emals from the Times(es) (New York and Los Angeles), the Washington Post, and the Guardian. In addition, I get several topical weekly newsletters from each of these news outlets. I get newsletters on other topics–politics, entertainment, books, lifestyle–from other sources, (And I got a digital subscription to The New Yorker.) Most of the newsletters collect links to articles, which lead me to more reading. And this is literally not even the half of it–one day, I should do a post about all my newsletter subscriptions.
- I found more podcasts to listen to on my daily commute. This year, there have been days–sometimes stretching for weeks–when my attention span is just better suited to podcasts than to audiobooks. However, one of those podcasts is bookish, and it’s wreaked havoc on my library holds!
- Books aren’t the only format for storytelling, of course, and I had some good TV binges with Paul. Through the summer and into autumn, we caught up on a few shows that friends had been urging us to watch. We are caught up and ready for the next (last) seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Game of Thrones(!) (I know, but we didn’t have HBO until spring 2018), and are now working our way through Bob’s Burgers‘ prior seasons on Hulu. Oh, and there was the Thirteenth Doctor’s first series in the midst of all that. too.
- Also, I’ve subscribed to the New York Times Crossword app and have started doing those every day. I did not expect it would be so addictive and fun!
about books and reading
Those are words for next time!
