Third Thursday Third Things - February Edition
What put the extra in my ordinary this month
For the newbies — welcome to The Third Thing! Every third Thursday of the month, I send out a “ Third Thursday Third Things” email full of things I’m reading, thinking about, listening to, watching, and sometimes buying. Enjoy!
Colorado Skijoring
The most spectacular part of this month, by far, was watching skijoring in Silverton, Colorado: the horses, the snow, the mountains—what an incredible part of Western life. I felt as though I was in a dream or a story. As if this life couldn’t possibly be my own. I stood in the snow in my cowboy boots and imagined being one of the women galloping down the town block.
Cantering Horses
I am learning to canter—a gait that feels like flying when done right and like being knocked around a washing machine when done wrong. I mostly feel like a brick inside a washing machine but get the briefest glimmers of flying. I am in love. I never want to NOT be riding horses.
Volunteering as a Dive Aid
With a meager 10 dives under my belt, I am working as a dive aid for the open water certification at the local college. Despite some of my previous sentiments, these kids are sweet and eager and NOT throwing up on the pool deck. For two hours on Thursday nights, I hover at the bottom of the pool watching the students watch the instructor and hoping they feel the pure joy I felt the first time (just months ago) I breathed underwater.
Setting Gym Goals
In 2024, I set a goal to gracefully kick up into a handstand and be able to do a pull-up. By December, I could do both (6 pull-ups in a minute, in fact).
By the end of 2025, I want to be able to hold my handstand for at least five seconds, do at least one pistol squat on each leg, and make the women’s time cutoff for the Alpine 50.
I have dropped any concern over my weight, so long as I can do the movements I want to do.
For the longest time, I thought gym goals would stress me out and make me feel worse about my body, but instead, I’ve found such grounding comfort in consistent workouts each week. I see muscles in my shoulders and the faintest hint of abs around my belly. I feel confident in my mobility. I am excited to see what else I can do in another year.
—Are we still just saving for retirement like it’s going to work? [This article sums up EXACTLY how I feel about retirement, and why I’m trying to do more living right now.]
—Andy Hurd’s Gay Dreaming Open Edition Prints
—The Problem with Wanting Less
—Gina Trapani’s Life in Weeks
—I finally started Severance and OMG, this show is amazing. 5 out of 5 stars. Please watch. It reminds me a little bit of Dark, which is an all time favorite show of mine. I also (finally) got around to Ted Lasso which to no one’s surprise is also the greatest show ever.
—This interview with Chappel Roan
—I finally finished The Anthropology of Turqoise and had mixed feelings. I liked so many of the essays, even loved a few. But some of the book felt a little…cliché? Like, we get it, you just got off the river on a solo trip and now you’re barefoot at dinner, dressed like a desert rat amongst all these nicely dressed dinner folk and somehow that makes you better than them. Reminding myself this was written in 2001 helped some. But I still find my hackles raising more and more around work that supposes one person’s experience of the outdoors is more holy than someone else’s.