Category: Random
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Fires, coffee, books (the usual)
I woke this morning to a red “Unhealthy” warning on my AirNow phone app. Instead of waking up, rolling over to grab my phone, and checking my work email, my mornings now consist of waking up, rolling over to grab my phone, and checking the air quality maps. What an inspiring way to start the…
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It’s 6am and I’m Bored!
Last week I accidentally unmuted myself during a work call while funneling the remains of a family-size bag of popcorn into my mouth. A few seconds later: “Hey, Maddy, could you mute yourself?” F*ck. Such is my life these days. This week, however, my work laptop decided to stop functioning entirely so I’ve been trying…
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A Year of Gratitude
One year ago today I got in an awful bike accident. I remember lying contorted on the ground in the most pain I’d felt in my life, being lifted onto a stretcher and into the back of an ambulance, then opening my eyes in an emergency room bed thinking that if I wasn’t dead I…
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Fires in the Time of Coronavirus
Some things that happened today, Monday, August 24: — I walked to the grocery store in full incognito mode. I hate wearing shades because they make me feel like an asshole but the smoky air left me no choice. Also, am I the only one who feels like shades create a barrier between them and…
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Having My Cake…and Being Stressed Out, Too?
I feel sad, angry, and helpless about so much: fires blazing across Northern California, coronavirus raging on, friends who are going through tough times, ongoing fights for black lives… I sit at my kitchen table each day and try to focus on work but it feels increasingly trivial. I take meetings in between reading articles…
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Poor Planning & Pedialyte
The weather this past week has been crazy and scary (commence fire season; I woke up this morning to the smell of smoke) but also incredible. I’ve gone to sleep every night sweating on top of my bed sheets (why have I never purchased a fan?!) and got pummeled by hail at Mt. Tam on…
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Accidental Ode to San Francisco
I love the elm trees on Folsom Street, and the way their leaves turn a fluorescent green as they capture the early morning light. The other day I hiked up Bernal Heights with a friend and, until she pointed them out, I had never thought to look at those trees from above: One of my…
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Book Review-ish: So Many Olympic Exertions
Last weekend I finished Anelise Chen’s So Many Olympics Exertions. I picked it up after discovering it on Goodreads (which, to be honest, I am finding more of time-suck than Twitter these days, though the content is certainly more wholesome). I’m too lazy to summarize a book that is better summarized by someone else anyway,…
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Fashion Friday
Hello, loyal readers, and happy Friday. Hopefully it’s the start of a long weekend for most of you. My meetings are winding down and I’m wrapping up some loose ends at work before heading straight for the unopened bottle of rosé in my fridge (related: some recommended reading from the SF Chronicle). I’ve done a…
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Racing in the Street
Leslie and I were talking the other day about how we only have so many “energetic” hours in our day; namely, the first few after we wake up. My hours of peak focus and energy are probably 6am-11am, after which I become increasingly unfocused and useless. The problem with having this limited 5 hour window…
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Good Morning(s)
I love mornings because they feel like a clean slate. I don’t know if that’s always a helpful thought to have, because “clean slates” aren’t really how the world works. But sometimes it helps me to know that if I go to bed feeling depressed or anxious or angry that tomorrow is a new day,…
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Shenandoah Sunsets (for My Sister)
It’s 5:04 pm on a Saturday but if I hadn’t consulted my phone I’d have no idea what time of day it was. The sky has been the same translucent grey since I woke up, making it impossible to distinguish between morning and evening. I’m typing this on my phone as I walk laps around…