1. I’m happy to report my toe is back to about 95%. Hooray for ibuprofen, rest, and sneakers.

2. Via Kottke, this is lovely and heartbreaking: “Closeness Lines Over Time,” by Olivia de Recat (buy it here).

3. And finally, you know I am here for writers being snarky and bossy and correct, so here’s Benjamin Dyer, Random House copy chief, telling you about  ‘Close’ Proximity, ‘End’ Result, and More Redundant Words to Delete From Your Writing.

1. Today marks eight years since I closed on my house. Honestly, I’m still a little amazed I was able to get one and take care of one. Is this how people feel about babies?

2. I know I’m getting older, but nothing reinforces that more than wanting to eat early, a development that only happened this year. Eater agrees that dining early is better, especially in restaurants.

3. Your longer read for the weekend: The Gym Isn’t Usually A Safe Space For Fat Women, But It’s Become My Sanctuary. I came to the gym as a weak and thin woman, but so much of this resonated with me:

Here’s to trying and eating early this weekend, my friends.

1. It is February first today, Imbolc if you’re a Celt, and that means we’re at the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. January won the award for Worst Month Of All Time, so I’m happy to see some forward motion.

2. I’m still reading about other people’s experiences of grief, because that’s what you do when you don’t know about something–you read up on it. This description of the “grief ball” hitting the “pain button” seems accurate and, ultimately, hopeful.

3. My mom would have been all over this: A brief history of American designer Claire McCardell. (She included pockets in everything!)

1. Goodbye, Mary–Mary Oliver died yesterday at the age of 83. She was a favorite here and she will be missed by a lot of the world.

2. Need something to read? Austin Kleon’s newsletter pointed me to Roxane Gay’s 2018 reading list, which has everything from scifi to memoir to poems.

1. I love bad movies deeply and unironically, so I was delighted to have a friend point me to someone who shares my feelings about Roadhouse and is writing an essay a day about that movie, (gloriously) filed under the category “Pain Don’t Hurt.”

2. Another appreciation of something I like: Watching ‘Daria’ Made Me Feel Seen And Known

I wrote a lot of words this week, so let’s wrap things up with some pictures.

1. This is a good theme for your 2019, if you’re looking for one:

(from a sticker that’s out of stock now at Ban.do)

2. This is accurate:

(From here)

1. Bros! Have you ever wondered what animal you could even lift? Find out at What Animal Do You Lift. (I can deadlift a young male puma! My PR is a baby giraffe!)

2. This is the current theme of my life, it seems, but it feels good. Probably related, I cleaned out some actual drawers over the Christmas break. I have those New Year Vibes.

Via Carissa Carlson/People I’ve Loved 

1. These are just hilarious: Love Poems For Married People

You look up, and perhaps because of the expression on my face
you say, “What?”
It would be impossible for me to explain
if you don’t already understand.

2. It’s Bob Ross season again at our house: Doc is working more later shifts, everyone is stressed out, and sometimes you just need to watch something soothing by the glow of the twinkle lights–and receive life advice at the same time. 

(Not my capture–via Respectful Memes on Twitter, which I love unironically.)

I’ve got that December feeling where the days seem so long (and you’re ready to go to bed at 8:30 because it’s been dark for hours) but then you realize that Christmas is in two weeks and some change and you’re turning 39 in under a month and there’s still so much left TO DO, both for the holiday and your life!

So let’s distract ourselves from the unstoppable march of time with the internet:

1. There’s an Anni Albers exhibit at the Tate Modern in London, which would be amazing to see.

2. Also in “weaving” and “escapism,” this BBC feature on the last velvet merchant of Venice is worth the click.

“The company still uses the same ancient looms that Luigi Bevilacqua salvaged from the city’s abandoned silk guild decades after Napoleon conquered Venice and closed its mills in 1806.”

1. Everything is mental health now! Even Peanuts! But seriously, this was a nice Twitter thread appreciating how open the comic was about poor Charlie Brown’s depression.

2. Kimberly Harrington has a magnificent satire up on McSweeney’s (in response to Jerry Seinfeld’s interview about Louis C.K. and “tense times in comedy,” linked in her piece). It’s written as a Seinfeld episode and not only is the voicing spot on, there are some sick burns in there, too. Seinfeld Ep 181: “The Grovel”

ELAINE
By the way, what was he even doing at the club
last night? I heard he spends all his time riding
around in his friend’s fancy car, drinking coffee.

JERRY
He dropped in for a surprise set.

ELAINE
So he’s still taking himself out in front of people,
even when no one asked him to.

KRAMER
Good one.