Well, obviously I should have looked for input on labeling the back of a collage print BEFORE getting the prints made, because BY FAR my favorite idea was to add the names to each photo in the collage. I have spent the last few days wondering if I should just get them done over. It’s not so much about the money (it’s a matter of $11); it’s more, can I make myself start over on this collage print, or is it just too wonderful to have already submitted it and picked up the prints? But it would ALSO be wonderful not to be looking at a pile of prints that need labeling.
Are you already feeling a little overwhelmed by holiday stuff? I am already feeling a little overwhelmed. This year, though, it is nice to have that distraction. If I am thinking about the million things that need to be done between now and the shipping deadlines, or now and the work holiday party, then I am NOT thinking about what is happening shortly after the holidays.
Speaking of which, I wish I could remember where I saw someone saying that there was a difference between “media” (the endless flow of information meant to keep viewers engaged) and “news” (actual information), but it has already changed the way I think of taking in news. Which is bad for my line-a-day journal, but good for my mental state.
For example: awhile back, I spent quite a bit of time agitating over the idea of M@tt G@etz as attorney general, and listening to NPR talking to experts about what an alarming choice he was—and then he ended up withdrawing. I am not going to be able to handle these next years if I am agitating over the things that end up NOT HAPPENING, as well as the ones that DO HAPPEN. I am not quite sure what specifically this means for my news/media intake, but it was helpful to realize that what I’d been taking in was MEDIA: hours of NPR discussing what might happen with the various nominees. Rather than NEWS, which I guess would be the confirmation of nominees? I still feel a little unclear, and yet for now I’ve stopped listening to hours of NPR asking experts to guess at all the stressful things in our future, things I can’t do anything about, at least at this point when they haven’t started happening yet. When we get to the part where I can at least be writing to my senators/representatives to ask them to do things, I can tune in a little more.
To end on a non-political note, I would like to recommend these Old Navy utility pants:
(image from OldNavy.Gap.com)
I am between two pants sizes, and I ordered the larger of those two sizes, and that was the right choice to accommodate the perimenopausal tum and be comfy; the high waist makes the tum feel supported and snuggled rather than condemned and criticized. And my dears, the POCKETS. The POCKETS. My entire phone not only fits into the pocket but fits LOW in the pocket. I would buy these pants FOR THE POCKETS ALONE. Yes, the color options are all kind of weird, and yet I wish I’d bought more of the weird colors before they ran out of my size. I chose the odd green, and I wish I had also bought the odd blue they now seem to be completely out of; I can still get the odd rust ones in my size, and I might do it even though I might need to buy shirts that would look right with it. (The cream color would not work on me: I would immediately be/look grubby.)
Also: they do not DRAG ON THE GROUND like so many pants do on me! They are the RIGHT INSEAM for me! This may mean that they will be short on you, if you normally buy pants that don’t drag on the ground; you may need the Tall.
P.S. I also recommend this boyfriend flannel shirt, if you would like some cozy clothes for panicking in. I sized up one size, and if I were ordering another one (as I might) I’d order my usual size instead (it is already oversized as part of the “boyfriend” styling)—but a size up is not wrong. I have been wearing it almost constantly, alternating with one of Paul’s flannel shirts. It is the thinner, softer flannel, not the bulkier, rougher kind. I ordered the grey plaid, if you want to be twins. I think it looks very cute with the weird green pants.
Alas, it seems as though the only Tall size available is a size 2, which I imagine is a very specific body type that there are few of in the world. However, at 59% off, I’m more than willing to take a chance on the Regular!
Following Sharon Says So on Instagram is a very good dose of “news” and not “media.” She also posts cute animal videos, so win-win.
I am so stressed over the MANY things I have to do between now and Christmas…and I’ve JUST started shopping (I’ve been putting it off because of the no job situation…which, why? I still have to do it!(
As for the *other* situation, I have decided that I will worry about it when it happens. I just don’t have the time, energy or focus to worry about it now.
As for the collage…there’s always next year to add the names to the photos. Go with what you have and call it a win for now.
Do I want to be twins DUH. I don’t know if I can do a flannel shirt anymore, unfortunately. I had a hot pink one that I wore over an undershirt when I was a teenager that felt SO comfy and cute, but I think at this point I am too boxy. Plus long sleeves. Sigh.
SOLID POINT on media vs news. So hard to know whether I’m being judicious with my attention or just being in denial.
November has been unusually busy, so I haven’t even had time to feel overwhelmed with Christmas stuff, but I have done a few tasks early and done some shopping, so maybe I won’t actually feel overwhelmed in December hahahahahahahahaha. That was a good one.
I’m trying to titrate my correct dosage of news too. One thing I’ve noticed is that time of day matters a lot for me. If I look at news sites in the evening or at night, I’m going to crawl right into an anxiety spiral and stay there for a good long bit. I could never do NPR before, and I definitely can’t now. I need a quick scan of headlines, a deeper dive where it seems necessary, and then I’m out. The linearity of radio stresses me out; it’s just too much info.
I have been complaining (albeit only in my head, to myself, but about others!) for YEARS about the extent to which it is difficult or impossible to get the news nowadays. There is so much forecasting and so little actual news. So, yes. I am trying to focus on learning about things that have happened (or occasionally things that are definitely or almost definitely going to happen) and nothing else.
Also, I am entirely clear that e.g. for the duration of the next administration there is not going to be a single nominee who I consider qualified or competent, so the appointment (or anticipated appointment) of unqualified, incompetent members of the administration even when they occur are not (for my purposes) really “news” — they are expected and just part of the way things are. That’s not to say I don’t care about them (collectively), and it doesn’t mean I won’t try to find ways to reduce the next administration’s impact, but I’m fairly confident the incoming president will try to spend the next 4 years capturing the media’s and public’s attention, and I want to focus mine only on staying aware enough to try to protect the things and policies I value, help those I can, and reduce the risks faced by my friends and loved ones.
Cute pants!
I think it was January 2022 – a very very low point for me – that I decided I would not take in any more news. Or “news.” I, like you, was worrying about so many things that had not yet happened. I decided to take it day by day and deal with the things that did actually happen, and it was so much better for my mental state.
In terms of shipping, etc., with the mail strike I’ve reached a weird acceptance. Like, my cards will get mailed…sometime? People will get them…sometime? I will receive mail…sometime? It’s a bizarre feeling for someone like me who has cards in the mail by now. I don’t even know how I’m going to ship the package for my parents.
I am here for two things: 1) I 100% recommend the switch from media to news. It’s a game changer, mentally. And 2) Can I plug Stitch Fix for a minute? A friend told me she gets most of her clothes there so I tried it. Swistle, it is so fun! You go through in the beginning and give a thumbs up or thumbs down to a bunch of items. Then they ask about your sizing: Do pants usually fit you, or are they too short/too long? Do you want to stay within your style, or be pushed a little out of your comfort zone? It’s pretty extensive. Do you want a new “fix” weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly? Then you tell them your price range, things you don’t want (for me it’s handbags, scarfs, jewelry) and then they send you a package of clothes to try on. You keep the ones you like and send back the rest. If you keep it all they give you a 20% discount. I’ve been updating my wardrobe because I am wholeheartedly sick of everything I own. Every so often when I’m bored I’ll get on the app and rate clothes. It’s been very fun!
I am having trouble getting into the holiday spirit and have been wondering how little I can get away with doing. But I know I may feel differently later, so we are forging ahead with a holiday card photo shoot today. Think how far ahead of me you are even if you re-do the cards. (Thanksgiving week is actually when we usually take it because we are often at the beach, though we aren’t this year.)
I suspect the amount of work to redo the collages with the names on them is less than the amount of work to label all the backs, if that pushes you over into getting them reprinted.
I have completely stopped my intake of media and if there’s news, I always hear about it via social media and people talking and it’s greatly improved my mental health.
I just happened to have a cart full of clothes for the children open at Old Navy when I read this.
What? You don’t keep carts open for hours/days before you buy things?
I was dithering on whether or not I needed to even buy anything. It’s been a spending binge over here. Whenever I think, “well, I don’t need to buy anything!” I remember that, actually, the boy child needs clothes and the girl child needs clothes and oh, hey, bedding is on sale and we will have it for a long time and all of it is only getting more expensive. A lot of money later there shall be tons of necessities under the tree. Because if I buy it now, you’re getting it wrapped. And I kind of hate Christmas. I hate it. I hate the mental load, I hate that no one puts in nearly the effort that I put in, I hate the idea BEHIND Christmas. I am a grinch. But somehow I also have to do it and in that case, you’re getting bedding, towels, and clothes.
All that to say that you and I and the girl child will all have the same pants. Go us. I was stoked they were cotton.
You are so right – there’s a huge difference between media and news. I’m trying my best to avoid media. I would love to find a source for impartial news reporting. You’re also right that we can waste a lot of energy worrying about things that may not even happen. I’m a pro at it! I’m working on that too.
Isn’t it awsome to find good pants? Yay for good pants with good pockets!
I have those pants in the odd mustard/marigold(?) color and LOVE them! Like, I find myself rationing them so as not to over-wash and wear them out.
I tapped out on media in the months following the 2016 election and now only use the Reuters news app because it’s global (perspective!), reliable, and doesn’t have an infinite scroll so after 15 or to articles, you’re cut off! I recommend it constantly.
Just chiming in to say I have purchased these pants at your recommendation and I am in love. I took your tip to size up (I’m also between sizes). We must be close to the same height as I also find them, astonishingly, the exact right length. The colour sure is weird but I’m liking it with pastel tops (pink, purple, yellow), cream sweaters, and navy-based plaid shirts.
I might never take them off.
OH I’M SO GLAD!!
I haven’t read a major national newspaper since the day after the election in self protection. I was just not able to deal with the blast of news and find I’m still really not. I’ve worked my way up to being able to read my local newspaper and some bluesky posts but really have to limit my intake. I’m so incredibly thankful that my former coworker who was incapable of not talking politics at me no matter how many times I asked her not to and refused to engage retired in 2021. It makes it so much easier for me to control the flow of information (conjecture/ranting/anxiety).
I found all my doom scrolling for “news” was being done on Twitter, and I was getting updates of things as they happened! But I was also absorbing everyone’s strong feelings as well (not ideal!). I have the CNN app now set to give me breaking news headlines, and turned off Twitter notifications. So I still hear when Trump nominates someone, but at least it’s in a relatively objective headline and I don’t have to read anything more than that to feel like I have some basic knowledge of what’s happening in the world but not TOO much information ;)