Personal
Here’s what I got up to last week. (Note: This post contains affiliate links to items that you can purchase from Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you.)
I volunteered for a radiothon at Ronald McDonald House on Friday and got to take a tour of the facility. Before this, I had never really known what RMH really was or did. For those who were also not in the know, they temporarily house families of children who need life-saving medical care. It’s a beautiful place where families have their own comfortable private rooms, but they also have group spaces where children can feel free and comfortable to play with other children who are like them, and parents can make lifelong friends with other parents sharing similar experiences. There’s a 24-hour kitchen where they can cook their own food, but at this location there’s also a chef. And volunteers come in to teach classes and provide entertainment. They are always looking for people to come in and offer whatever skill they have and want to share. The RMH here in Jacksonville is the largest one in Florida, and sadly, there are more children needing care than ever, so they are now trying to figure out how to expand.
The program at our DAR meeting this weekend was about “weird Florida”–lots of fun, weird facts and history about the state. My favorite story was about William Augustus Bowles, who really understood the assignment of Florida Man all the way back in the 18th century. There needs to be a movie about this guy.
After recently learning that you’re supposed to get tetanus shots every 10 years and not one-and-done as a child, I am relieved to report that 28 years since my last shot, I am now able to step on all the rusty nails I want, worry-free. As the nurse put it, “I always tell people, no, tetanus is not treatable, but the good news is that it is preventable.” Whew!
Fashion
After hours of research towards my continuing quest to replace cheap crap I’ve bought in the past with high-quality and long-lasting staple items, I am seriously considering purchasing these Thursday Captain boots. Or possibly these (or both. Oh, but I also really like the Walnut and the Mocha!). Although since I already replaced my cheap old Oxford shoes with these new ones this year, I’ll probably wait until next year on these.
I was also asking ChatGPT for help finding a new (or, more likely, old) Buffy-ish, ’90s-style leather jacket, when a shocking thing occurred. ChatGPT came back with pictures of Buffy–and one of me! Apparently people searching for Buffy-style leather jackets get my old post from when I did a Buffy-themed photo shoot.
It dawned on me recently that there is this one specific shape of glasses frames that looks best on me and that I buy every single time I’m due for a new pair, even after shopping around and trying on all kinds of different things. My most recent choices at Eyeglass World were the Heartland H M1009 in Matte Black (yes, I’m aware it’s a men’s frame–I often gravitate towards them) and the Women’s Collection (their in-house brand, I believe) WC 2019-9 in Rose Gold (the first metal frame I have had in nearly 25 years–I typically prefer the plastic/acetate, but thought it could be fun to switch it up sometimes). (Leaving the SKUs here for myself as a reference for two years from now when it’s time to get new frames again–they are 301931 and 286411 respectively.)
Entertainment
For Jacksonville residents, I discovered an old reality show called Four Weddings, wherein four brides attend each other’s weddings and vote on each aspect to compete for the chance to win a honeymoon. Sweet idea, but the reason I found it is because of someone we met through our wine guy, who appeared in a Jacksonville-themed episode (season 10, episode 7, “And Brides on a Vine”) around six years ago. It was fun seeing some familiar sights on the episode, including his appearance around the 10:30 mark.
Paramount renewed their contract with Jon Stewart so he can keep appearing on The Daily Show once a week!
There’s a cookbook called Tasting History with historical recipes–some of them ancient! They are well researched and recreated as accurately as possible. We tried a 4,000-year-old lamb stew recipe from Babylon. It was fantastic! I’m excited to try all the other recipes in the book.
In the News
I knew exactly which Florida town this would be about the moment I saw the headline. It was exactly what I thought about it when I visited, too.
There’s an eerie ghost town in Missouri full of mansions that have never been lived in.
Premature greying may be due to these vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
In mental wellness news, have you heard of Broken Heart Syndrome? Are you familiar with the effects of emotional abuse and what that looks like? Is it time to update the clinical definition of a psychopath? And what happens to a person who grows up in a family where apologizing is viewed as a weakness?
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