Vol. 44 Thursday Third Things ☕

Deadlifts, Pierogis, and Travel Plans: A New Year Kickoff

For the newbies — welcome to The Third Thing! Every (most) Thursdays I send out a “Thursday Third Things” email full of things I’m reading, thinking about, listening to, watching, and sometimes buying. Enjoy!

This was taken mere moments before I said, “Watch out! Your gloves are going to fall out of your pocket!” which caused J to swerve into a concrete wall and promptly wreck 😗

The Weekly Update

I’m down to my last few days off before heading back to work and just as I suspected, the time FLEW by. That being said, the break felt truly substantial (even though Jimmy Carter died, which required a little unexpected Sunday afternoon work on my part—but I see you Jimmy, not wanting to stick around for this inauguration).

As we tip into the new year, my number one goal for this first month is just to get ahead of travel planning. I don’t enjoy an overly structured schedule. Still, I’ve learned the hard way (far too many times) that if I don’t book those campsites and permits early, buy the tickets, and tell friends to hold holiday weekends, I inevitably end up twiddling my thumbs across long, beautiful weekends, wishing I’d thought ahead to actually do something.

Besides travel planning, it’s been nice to do nothing but chill at home. And for me, “nothing” has looked like:

• Milky cups of hot tea

• Bike rides through strangely foggy mornings

• Getting strong at the gym (I deadlifted 225lbs today! A new PR!)

• Watching movies

• Cooking yummy food

• Doing puzzles

• Reading books

• Uphill skiing at the local resort

• Riding horses

• Working on personal projects (a book proposal!)

I can feel the energy of the season picking back up but want to revel in these last couple of days with nothing much to do.

Happy 2025, y’all. Make it a good one!

—A Professor Claimed to Be Native American. Did She Know She Wasn’t?
—It’s Time to Treat Reading Like Working Out
—Which Parts of These Images Are A.I.-Generated? (I’m embarrassed how poorly I did on this)
—'I embroider my life - it's not for the faint-hearted'

—Pierogi Ruskie (Potato and Cheese Pierogi)
—Zucca in Agrodolce (Sweet and Sour Butternut Squash)

—Perfect Days (This is currently in the running for best movie I’ve ever seen)
—Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story
—Recreating Frida Kahlo's Oaxacan Black Mole From Taste

—Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture (This one is really making me think about my personal taste and style—and just how much of that has been affected by algorithms and not my own personality)