The first week of April Reads, Bants and Eats
Welcome welcome to the official first edition of my weekly reads, bants and eats. My little way of coalescing my thoughts from the week into a snackable and packable bite-sized reading section for your perusal. I realise it is not Sunday morning and look hey around these here parts we don’t promise to be perfect or good we simply hope to show up and be and that’s what I am doing. Considering most (ALL) of my readers are my immediate family members (lol I am lame) who all live in Ireland ye will likely read this Monday morning so I welcome you beloved ones to a new week of life and I hope it’s off to a sweet start.
Reads
I have honestly had a really hard time in this past month focusing on reading my beloved books. I have been dealing with some physical exhaustion and mental burnout and it has just led me down a path of distraction. For my reads this week I will share two really interesting articles I read this morning that give me my readers fix without asking for hours of focus.
1.) ‘I once admired Russell Brand. But his grim trajectory shows us where politics is heading by George Monbiot (The Guardian)- You may not agree with the author’s perspective on this one and that’s ok because disagreement in dialogue can be beneficial. I have been a fan of Brand in the past and still enjoy a lot of his (older) ideas but recently his social media presence and enjoyment of controversy and nonsensical trigger pulling have not sat right with me. Divisiveness and inflammatory power has been leaking through in his language that is purposefully convoluted so it’s hard to discern his meaning. Finally someone is writing about it in an articulate and fair way.
2.) ‘It’s a control thing’: why are we so fascinated by super-organised homes? by Amelia Tait (The Guardian). My second article is also from The Guardian. What can I say they employ good writers who cover a wonderful range of topics. Also their articles are usually not behind paywalls (*cough cough The New York Times). I thought this article was super interesting, I personally struggle with control issues and concepts like decluttering and home edit organising bring up all sorts of anxiety and feelings of failure in me. I am not organised and my house is not clean and the guilt stops me from enjoying my home.
Bants
Today I saw a bumper sticker on a car that read ‘I am so far behind I thought I was first’ and I have never felt so seen. I thought it was a good laugh and perspective shift. Sometimes we have to look at the race we think we are in and re-frame how we measure success against others. Life is long and short and it’s ours and nobody can make it less.
1.) Now for your listening pleasure. I have Spotify which I am notoriously not great at using to it’s full capacity. I tend to listen to the same like 5 things on repeat until I die. This week I decided to give the Spotify playlist ‘Discover Weekly’ a listen to see what they suggest and on that list was the oh so fabulous Sammy Rae and the Friends. Fronted by Sammy Rae the band is a self described collective of dreamers and artists who consider themselves a family first. Enjoy a little ear tickle of this delicious music that infuses folk, jazz, rock and soul. What fun it is to discover new music.
Sammy Rae & The Friends-Living Room Floor (Live at Roadrunner Boston, 10/15/22)
2.) Lastly in the banter section of this week, let me share this incredible video I watched this morning online from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). This species has only been seen less than a hundred times since it’s discovery in 1899 and only nine times ever by MBARI.
An extraordinary deep-sea sighting: The giant phantom jelly.
Ok who knew that jellyfish turn into gelatinous goop in trawl nets to avoid them?!?!?!? WHAT? I cannot these creatures are so beyond our realm of living I feel blessed to occupy a world in which miraculous creatures that defy comprehension not only exist but technology has advanced to a point that we can see them and learn of them. 10 metres or 33 foot plus tentacles….imagine that wrapping itself around you…ayyyyyy.
Eats
1.) Hairy husband companion has been having so much fun making food stuff for us in our refurbished Vitamix that we finally after years allowed ourselves to invest. We have really been enjoying homemade hummus and pita chips this past month. Here is his go to recipe if you have a strong enough blender to chop up garbanzo beans/chickpeas.
2.) One of my favourite sites for recipes that are easily modifiable, delicious and can accommodate a wide variety of food preferences is Pinch of Yum. I love how she understands that dinner can be excellent and not over complicated. Not everyone has time to cook gourmet meals that invoke ancient cooking techniques used by generations of women who built hearth and home from the warmth of their rough womanly breasts and hardworking hands. (I don’t know what that image is but you get what I am saying). Here is a recipe I have made a few times that my vegetarian sister and meat-eating husband both said was scrumdiddlyumptious.
Pearl Couscous Skillet with Tomatoes, Chickpeas, and Feta
I didn’t make the salad part and we had naan bread on the side. This dish would go great with some oven baked chicken breasts with seasoning of your choice.
ALRIGHTY then over and out dear ones. Happy Easter to you all.
