A Few Things | April 15
Personal updates, links, and recommendations.
Personal Update
Over the weekend, we went to a concert where Betty was performing on clarinet. I loved it so much. The venue was beautiful, Betty was beautiful, and she played beautifully too. Betty is a senior in high school and I don’t know how often or how much she’ll play clarinet as she heads off to college — and even if she plays frequently, I don’t know where she’ll live and how often we’ll get to see her concerts. Betty’s our fifth child, so this isn’t a particularly new sensation, but it will never not feel strange (and a bit heart-breaking) to realize we may only get to see her perform a few more times.
On a very different personal note, I’ve been trying to spend less time on Twitter, and more time on Threads. Admittedly, I’ve been resistant to leaving Twitter. It was one of my most happy places online, and I’ve held out hope that Elon would tire of his new toy, and hand it off to someone who actually understands what Twitter is, and who could undo all the policies Elon has instituted that make the platform less and less usable. But at this point, it looks like he may just run it into the ground.
There are a few Twitter-alternatives out there, but Threads seems to be the closest to what I need, so I’m concentrating on that. Threads still feels like it’s in beta, which is not great — it’s still way too slow on breaking news, and I’m having a hard time training the algorithm to show me what I want, but I’m going to give it a chance.
Ultimately, I wish Meta wouldn’t try and reinvent the wheel, and just deliver a product that is Twitter-pre-Elon. We’ll see what happens. Have you tried Threads yet? Find me here.
In The News
-From the New York Times (Gift Link) — The Troubling Trend in Teenage Sex.
-In Evergreen — “You won’t ever know the worst that happened to Nicole Brown Simpson in her marriage, because she is dead and cannot tell you. And if she were alive, remember, you wouldn’t believe her.”
-From The Washington Post (Gift Link) — Why dentists say you shouldn’t rinse after brushing.
-From The Meteor — Among the mountains of mail Christine Blasey Ford got after she testified were letters from survivors in their 80s who’d never told anyone about their assault before.
-From Ms. Magazine — Results of a 2023 study reveal that feminist women show no more hostility toward men than both non-feminists and other men.It turns out that just about everyone, including men, has a fair amount of hostility toward men.
-In London Daily — British Writer Pens The Best Description Of Trump I’ve Read.
What I’m Reading
I just finished Think Remarkable, Guy Kawasaki’s new book. Guy is amazing. His ability to get ahead of the curve — and stay there for 3 decades — is remarkable. I’ve known Guy since I first started blogging, back in 2006. He was the first tech celebrity who understood that the mom-blogging movement wasn’t something to laugh at or mock, and that it was in fact, creating an entirely new industry. He was incredibly supportive of the community, and would say yes to interview requests from any mom blogger, no matter how tiny her reach was. He sincerely wanted to help us all succeed.
His new book, Think Remarkable, offers more of Guy’s sincere efforts to help others. The book is aimed at Gen Z, and dedicated to them too. This made me happy because my kids span Gen Z (Ralph, my oldest is 26 which is the top age range of Gen Z, and my youngest, Flora June is 13, which is the lowest age range of Gen Z). Guy is the creator of the Remarkable People podcast (you might remember he interviewed me about Ejaculate Responsibly), and in the book, Guy references the amazing conversations he’s had via the podcast to offer insights from over 200 extraordinary people.
Graduation season is almost upon us, Think Remarkable would make a perfect grad gift. The book is all about why it’s possible to make a difference, become a better person, and lead a fulfilling life. It’s ideal for anyone who wants to make the world—and themselves—a little (or a lot) better.
Shopping
Updating your kitchen this spring? Pre-order a new Samsung appliance and get up to $1,200 off — plus free installation and free haul away! (Free haul away is such a big deal for big appliances.)
Based on comments, the most popular fridge option in the Design Mom Community is the Bespoke 4-Door French Door Refrigerator. And you can customize it with lots of different color combos (try all the different color options on all the different fridge models in the Design Studio).
Everyone loves the AutoFill Water Pitcher, the Beverage Center with two types of ice. And Bespoke fridge models come in a counter-depth or full-depth option.
I also want to tell you about the sale at the Gap — 50% off your purchase, including sale items. I’m in love with several of their warm-weather dresses, but my very favorite is the Lace Midi Dress — it comes in 3 colors. It was $118.00, now $59.00.
Lately On Design Mom
Baked Ham & Egg Cups with Dressed Greens
A breakfast meal that works just as well for dinner.
Recycle Old Jars into Succulent Planting Pots with Color-Block Twine
You know I love a good recycling project, and this one is super easy.
Marinated Flank Steak Salad
An ideal meal as the weather warms and you crave something lighter.
That’s all for now. I hope you have a lovely week. Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned above, or whatever’s on your mind.
kisses,
Gabrielle
Guy! Remember that party at his house so many years ago? ❤️❤️❤️
I don’t know how to square that NYT article with what I see as a parent of teens and all the recent study’s saying kids are having less contact/less sex. I brought this article up with my teen and her response …”it’s hard to get boys to even speak to you in person!…no one seems to be having normal sex!…no one is even getting a driver’s license!”