It’s going to take a little while to build up a regular blogging habit after such a long time away. The “weekly recap post” seems like a good way to wade back in, so I’m giving that a go. Welcome to Last Week This Week, Edition #1.
The best part of my week
A warm welcome back to this space!
One reason I rarely unsubscribe from a dormant blog is the pleasure of seeing a post pop up from it after a long absence. It’s gratifying to see that some of you feel the same way. I have honestly felt a bit adrift without this space—and the community I associate with it—and I’m happy to know that it’s still as welcoming and accepting as ever.
(Disclosure: the title of this section was stolen from the NPR podcast It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders)
The most important thing I did this week
I voted.
For the first time, California’s primary election is being held in Match—on “Super Tuesday”—instead of in June. That’s early enough to actually matter. But even with the new schedule, it’s remarkable how many of the candidates who qualified for the ballot aren’t actually candidates anymore.
I have voted by mail for over a decade, and this year more Californians than ever are expected to cast ballots that way. Voting by mail lets me take my time and research on the fly–it’s like a take-home open-book test. The biggest (little) drawback to it was not getting the coveted “I Voted” sticker. But this year–maybe because the state expects so many votes by mail?–they’ve corrected that little problem.
Books of the week
Some behind-the-scenes changes happened during my absence from the blog. Most of it still worked (whew!), some of it worked better (yay!) and some things were brand-new. The most exciting new thing was the Book Database plugin that Ashley at NoseGraze had installed. (Disclosure: NoseGrazes BookHost hosts this site. Additional disclosure: these are not affiliate links.)
One huge reason I switched to a self-hosted WordPress blog in the first place was NoseGraze’s Ultimate Book Blogger plugin. The Book Database does some of the same things but has some unique new features. I’m especially excited about the Reading Logs. These don’t display on the blog, but they feed to a “Currently Reading” widget in the admin dashboard. It’s easy enough to share what I’m reading at any time with a screenshot.
Coming up this week
We are escaping to Margaritaville on Leap Day. I’m expecting this musical to be Mamma Mia! for Parrotheads, basically, so it should be a pretty good time.
I’m glad that you’re dipping back into blogging. And I’m pleased to see that CA is voting earlier and that they are providing a “voted” sticker for those who mail in. Wonderful.
I cannot even tell you how happy I am about that sticker–I almost jumped up and down when I opened the envelope and saw it :-D!
I’ve had Wild Game on my list since before it was released. Story of my life: too many books, not enough time! I may dub this summer as my official backlist season.
Boy, do I know THAT story! A backlist summer sounds like a good plan. I was just thinking how I’d like to take a couple of weeks off and just spend it reading. #goals
Our primary is Saturday and I’m still not sure who I’m going to vote for. I do have it narrowed down to a couple of the candidates,
Like, Candice, I’ve had Wild Game in my stacks for a while. I’m not sure why I haven’t picked it up because it sounds like my kind of book.
Well, you’ve still got a few days to figure it out…but all eyes are on S.C. this week!
I read Wild Game on audio and flew through it–finished this morning on the way to work. It just might be my first book review in forever. There’s a LOT to say about it! I hope you get to it soon.
Margaritaville! So much fun. That’s funny that you were happy about the I Voted sticker, because I noticed it, too, and was so pleased that I get a sticker this year.
See, you GET it! I was ridiculously pleased by that thing :-).
I have only been to Margaritaville in Vegas but it was super fun! I’ve been watching a few videos from Brene Brown over the last few months.
We’ve been incorporating activities from Brene Brown into some of our trainings and meetings at work, so I wanted to get better acquainted with the source.