4/20/15

Miserable, Magical Monday || 4/20/15

I have some old news:

My once beautiful, flourishing IKEA succulent is gone. I killed it.

I killed a succulent. A SUCCULENT. My seasonal poinsettia lasted longer than my succulent.

Isn't this thing supposed to be low maintenance?

Maybe that's what I get for buying a plant at IKEA.

I couldn't tell you if I neglected or smothered it to death.

All I know is he's gone.

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Melodrama aside, I need a botanist to explain some things to me...like how is it I can keep dying flowers alive longer than a living plant? My cut flowers last for weeks and my plants...well, they hold on as long as they can.

In the Villa and I'm Muggin Myself for Being Irresponsible

I've been feeling guilty lately over my repeated use of disposable coffee cups at work. When I was in college and even throughout my first year in the workforce, I was diligent about bringing my tumbler (which I actually just spelled as tumblr -- SAVE ME) to work. But in hindsight, I was more motivated by my need for drinkable coffee than by sustainability. The fact is, the coffee at my current office is delicious (because it's also sold to the public) and I've become a spoiled blob of free coffee and free lunch...and it's having an adverse effect on my noticing how much I throw away.

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All of that to say I'm on the lookout for a reusable mug. But I have some conditions. If I'm gonna drop $15 or whatever these things cost nowadays, I want it to be fun-looking, spill proof and durable. Believe it or not, that's been hard to come by.

Podcasts

I have a few new podcasts I've been listening to. Have you heard of the Smart Women Smart Power podcast? It's a podcast where women talk about pressing international and political issues. It's done in an interview format but not always one on one. The host isn't the most dynamic out there, but the conversation is generally stimulating, interesting, and awesome for political science nerds. I listened to the episode with Anne Marie Slaughter a while ago and I was giddy to hear her thoughts vs. reading them.

My friend Barbara tuned me into the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast a few weeks ago and I'm loving it. It's pretty light material since the topic is always pop culture related, but the conversation is some of the most insightful, intelligent discussion I've heard in a while. Usually, pop culture podcasts stay pretty shallow, but the panelists are all so damn smart on this podcast that the discussion quickly deepens and in turn becomes interesting to listen to without being pretentious. I mean, unless you think that talking about and comparing the color palette of a show is pretentious, this might not be for you. 

Have you seen there's a podcast related to Aanan Sayed case? It's totes inspired by Serial's story, but supposedly it covers the story from a more journalistic approach than a narrative one. I haven't listened to it yet but I'm intrigued. I mean, I would regularly think about how weird it must have been to be someone who lived through that whole experience as a teenager, only for it to become the trendy story of the year 15 or 20 years later while the Serial saga was airing. So now I almost feel like I should listen to this new podcast since I made this real horror into a source of entertainment for myself. Like, I might have some minute obligation to keep up with the case since I helped make it such a huge deal by downloading the episodes every week. But I digress (a lot).

I've been digging This American Life lately, but they pretty much always do a good job, so that's no surprise.

Are there any new/new to you podcasts I should start listening to? I like ones that are about an hour long since that's how long my commute is to and from work. Let me know!

Until next week,
♥ A

2 comments:

  1. I think not being able to keep plants alive can be kind of endearing. No? Maybe? Ok.
    Oh my goodness get yourself a reusable mug, you horrible person, you.
    I started listening to Undisclosed. And of course TAL. And sermons, coz I'm a saint, duh.

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  2. I sure hope it's endearing and not cliche. I'm working on the reusable mug thing, I really am! What do you think about Undisclosed? I read that Adnan's lawyer friend is somewhat involved, so I'm questioning how objective it actually is...You are a saint! I still haven't subscribed to any sermons. Hashtag heathen.

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