Made a detour on my way to work today.

Met some guys who planned a morning of ice fishing. It was 16° out, so I wished them luck.

Took a few photos of the sunrise and the mountains, got back into my Jeep, and drove to work. It was a very lovely morning.

I stopped taking photos, especially macro photos, and that has made me sad. I asked a friend the other day where all the bugs have gone, and she said there are no bugs during winter. So I looked it up on the internet: Where do insects go during winter? Thought this was cool.

Normal People on Hulu was just as good as the book, in its own way. I’m both in awe and in tears. It hits a melancholy note that reverberates throughout my current life’s circumstances. I love art like this so much.

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson should be required reading for everyone on the planet. The book is endlessly quotable, but this one jives with my current life philosophy:

Even the longest lived of our species spends but a blink of time in the span of human history. How dare anyone cause harm to another soul, curtail their life or life’s potential, when our lives are so short to begin with?

Highly highly recommended.

I’ve slept an average of just a few hours every night for the past week because of my noisy neighbors. After talking to them and my landlord on Thursday, things have settled down enough that I slept for almost 9 hours last night. I needed it, and my heart needed it, too:

James Kochalka, via Austin Kleon:

It’s been my experience that if you’re a creative person, and you’re good at one thing, you’re probably good at another thing. If you’re good at drawing, you might be good at writing, too. If you’re good at writing, you might be good at playing music, too. If you’re good at playing music, you might be good at pottery. If you’re good at playing guitar, you might be a good dancer! In order to create, there’s some little thing you have to let happen inside yourself, of just letting yourself be free. If you can turn that little switch on inside yourself in one medium, you can probably do it in another medium.

I agree with this, but I want to add that it doesn’t just happen. You do have to work for it, but I firmly believe that if you’re not having fun during the journey, then you won’t enjoy the destination.

I wish I was there in person to watch Joe Biden get sworn in as our 46th president of the United States and Kamala Harris as our first woman vice president, but I am so grateful nonetheless. Let’s go, America!

A photo of the big dipper I took with my iPhone. My iPhone. This was my first attempt at astrophotography, and I’m really happy with how it came out. It was freezing out, though, so I didn’t take more. It made the whole world sparkle like diamonds this morning, though.

Another recommendation today. The final season of Attack on Titan is incredible. From the opening and ending songs to the relentless pace and darkness I so love from the series, I’m in awe. Episode 6 aired today and holy sh—.

Finished Normal People by Sally Rooney, and I’m really not one for reviews, but my god, what a well-written and unbelievably beautiful book. It’s one of those rare books that filled me with so much inspiration with each page I read. Highly recommended.