We kicked off the summer with a trip to Kauai, our first vacation with just the three of us. Vacationing with a 2-and-a-half-year-old isn't always the easiest (especially when the rental car place has a 90-minute line). But introducing Juni to her first sea turtle made it all worthwhile.
Professionally, I'm so glad that Dexter: Resurrection is finally out! My writing partner Alex Franklin and I had such a blast working on this show, and we got to go to set in New York back in March. It's so cool to see it all come together.
I've also been trying to squeeze in a lot more reading time. Since my last update, I’ve enjoyed:
The Princess Bride – The book the movie is based on.
The House in the Cerulean Sea – A cozy genre love story.
The Mindf*ck Series – A very not cozy serial killer romance story.
1587: A Year of No Significance – A nonfiction account of Ming Dynasty China.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong's first novel.
A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker – I'm reading one or two a night.
If you wanna talk about any of these or have any book recs, please let me know!
Here are the links that have really stuck with me the past few months:
1. How Our Brains Actually See
This fascinating and easy- to-follow video explains how our brains construct our reality. I've been painfully aware of this for years—as a visually impaired person, my brain is doing a lot more assembling and gap-filling than most. But now I know why I can still catch things that I drop almost as well as a sighted person.
2. Why Pineapples Used to Cost $16,000 Each
This brief history of the pineapple is a great reminder of how much of our modern world we take for granted.
3. And This Ancient Roman Graffiti
... is a good reminder that some things never changed.
4. How the CIA Trains Agents to Make Decisions Under Pressure
Even though I’m not getting shot at by counterintelligence operatives, the general concept of “task saturation” – and how to get out of it – has been really helpful.
5. An Analysis of AI Creative Writing
I'm trying to keep an eye on this kind of thing.
6. Why Achieving Our Goals Doesn’t Make Us Happy (and what actually does)
This podcast was a much more thoughtful look at something I’ve been thinking a lot about all year.
Let me know what you’ve been watching, reading, obsessing over.