Plant Mom: The New Kids

Today was my day off and since it promised to be a glorious and warm day, I made plans with a coworker to go hiking. We figured it's an activity we could do while still social distancing and plus, we work together so we're already contaminated with each other's cooties.

Sadly, she couldn't rein in her allergies enough to be able to drag her poor sinuses through an excess of nature so those plans got cancelled. I wasn't too upset though because I traded in a 3.6 mile hike in 80 degree weather for a trip to the plant store.

Sadly, my purple wandering jew was looking extremely sad and sickly so I decided to salvage what cuttings I could and put something else in it's pot. Below is a picture of the cuttings:

See how depressingly sad they are? If you click on the link above, you can see how much more vibrant the purple is supposed to be. I think I overwatered these a shit ton and didn't give them the light they needed and when I realized my mistake it was already too late. Hopefully, I can resurrect it from these cuttings but in the meantime, it's pot is now occupied by a Goldfish Plant, which I was super psyched to find at my local garden center.

Those little orange flowers, when fully bloomed, look exactly like leaping goldfish. Also, as it grows and the stems get longer, they'll hang down nicely over the pot. I've been wanting to get some more vining type plants, especially for that particular bookshelf. I've read that these guys can be kind of finicky to grow so we'll see how well I manage. It's probably not the best idea to replace a plant that I accidentally murdered with one that's harder to grow but I couldn't resist. 

I recently discovered that my Rattlesnake Plant likes the light level in the kitchen a lot better so naturally I needed something else to take it's place on the table in our office. Since I get a ton of light in there I decided to get a Croton, which loves light. I'm not sure which variety this is specifically but all Crotons are super colorful. I liked the longer, thinner leaves on this one. I've only seen the oval leaved variety so I decided to get something a little different.

Last but not least of the new guys, check out this weirdo. It's a Sansevieria Cylindrica or, as it's called in more badass circles, an African Spear. They can get a lot bigger but I wanted to give a shot at something not as far along as my other plants. This is supposed to be pretty easy to grow- you mostly just leave it alone. Since I'm a chronic overwaterer though, I made sure to get a terra-cotta pot (it's not glazed on the inside) since the terra-cotta absorbs excess water. 

I couldn't help but sneak in a picture of my baby, my pride and joy, Rubbert Plant the Rubber Plant. When I got him, he was a foot high and not nearly so full. He is thriving, spitting out new leaves constantly, and by next year I may have to get him a bigger pot. I've had a lot of trials and tribulations with all my other plants but Rubbert has never disappointed.

I also have an oyster plant that's going to be repotted in a super special terra-cotta pot I ordered from Etsy a while ago and should get here soon. It's current pot will house another exciting new plant I also ordered from Etsy. When those come in, I'll have to share them too.

All that plant business took up a lot of my day but I enjoyed hanging on on the porch keeping busy. Later I relaxed with my new favorite warm weather beer, Long Trail's Blackberry Wheat. I'm a little iffy on super fruit-forward beers because they often just present as a sad hint of fruit which I don't like as a combo with beer. This beer though, there's no mistaking that its blackberry and its super refreshing. Perfect for warm weather relaxing on the porch.

Cheers!

Made it: The Bead Hoard Returns

I've provided documentation of my cross stitch and doodling craftiness here before (just search under the "made it" tag) and may have mentioned that I dabble in crochet (...right? Well anyway, I just did) but my OG craft that I've been doing the longest and most consistently is jewelry making. Sure it's taken a backseat to other ventures lately but a couple days ago I dragged out the Bead Hoard (pics below) and the first thing to come out of that is....

...This necklace!

I'm realizing now that since I avoided having my face in the picture, it looks like I have a never-ending neck. Just imagine I'm part giraffe if you'd like because I've lost too much of my good light to take another picture.

There's the close up, dramatically draped on my- matching- current read (finally/sadly on my last Lord of the Rings book!). I used brownish taupe/iridescent round top-drilled Czech glass beads accented by olive green Swarovski bicones (that's the bead shape, like 2 cones stuck together on the round end). I put 3 of the round beads per jump ring (an unsoldered circle of wire essentially), strung the bicones on some wire, and attached it all with even more jump rings, a shit-ton of jump rings. I then attached that to a bit of gunmetal grey leather cording, the clasp attaching at the junction between the 2 materials (you can see it on the left up there).

Got that? Good.

Aside from not having enough of those Czech glass beads to make it all the way around, I like to make sure my necklaces are comfortable to wear- having a bunch of those beads resting on your neck all day isn't the best, and replacing half of it with leather cord brings the weight down quite a bit. And plus, it's cost effective and I like the contrast. It's a win-win. I have a bit of a slouch (my spine is special) so necklaces tend to hang directly off my neck as opposed to resting on the base of my neck like most people so it's an important consideration for me.

It's been a while since I broke out the ol' pliers and it felt good. I must've let my subconscious* desire to leave the house for any other reason than the grocery store drive my creative juices because I definitely made something I won't be able to wear to work- what a mess that would get all tangled up in my work lanyard/what a disaster if it got yanked off (ahhh the joys of working in a psych hospital). Bracelets are much easier/acceptable/safer for me to wear so I hope to make some of those this weekend. They're more of a challenge since you don't have as much physical space to make something interesting so you've got to be more creative with shapes and colors and how you bring it all together... not a bad thing for sure, it's thinking about things like that that keep me coming back to jewelry making.

That and the fact that it's a craft that produces jewelry. That you can wear.

I recklessly stood on my wheely chair to take that picture so you're lucky I made it out alive to make this post.

The above picture is what I lovingly call my Bead Hoard. Jewelry making is not the cheapest hobby in the world by any means and it's all too easy to amass a whole bunch of stuff. That's about 94% of my stash- I've got more stuff I don't use much but can't bear to get rid of for whatever reason squirreled away on the shelves under the long part of my desk on the right. Below are a couple close ups- I didn't take any of the stuff on the right because that's pretty much just tiny bags of findings and tools. 

Most of my stash is natural stone beads because that's what I like to work with the best, but I don't limit myself, especially because I also love bright, fun colors that you don't always see naturally occurring. I love doing some slightly off-beat pearl necklaces too, ones strung traditional style on knotted silk cord but with the addition of some non-tradition beads/findings, so I have quite a bit of freshwater pearls. If you dig around enough though, you'll find wood, glass, bits of found objects, you name it. 

Aside from making necklaces I can't wear much, I've been working on clearing out my all-too-large collection of incomplete projects, broken items, or things I stashed away because I decided I didn't like them anymore, which is why you see piles of stuff hanging around on my bins in the picture above. It's a good lockdown project because I see this taking me AGES since I've also been meaning to clear out the jewelry I have in my jewelry boxes/hangers. I'll have to share a picture of that because I have a whole packed jewelry nook and it makes me happy.

I'm feeling pretty good about coming into this weekend- I have so many projects that I'm excited about getting into, a feeling I don't get as often as I'd like, definitely not as often as I used to.  That's ultimately the feeling I'm always chasing- not happiness as I wouldn't say I was sad really, even when I'm feeling my most listless, but that invigorating feeling of getting excited about getting stuck into something.

Have a great weekend!

*Just joking, it's most definitely not subconscious whatsoever.

Etsy Window Shopping and Down With The Man

Unless you've been living under a rock (it's ok if you have actually, I've been trying my best to do so), you may have heard about the May Day mass strike of Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart and other workers protesting the companies failure to provide enough basic protection and compensation for putting their lives on the line. I'm not someone who gets particularly political normally, but considering my current employer is in the process of battling with our union to stop additional hazard compensation and take back our most recent raise, threatening to lay off workers if we don't allow it, I've been paying a little more attention. [note: I will more than likely be safe if the layoffs occur, don't worry. Still sucks though.]

I have to admit, I'm one of many who, if they need something, will automatically find my way to Amazon. It's easy one-stop-shopping. Also, as someone with a more limited budget, I know how hard it is to make the decision to switch to solely small-business buying when it often means shelling out more of my hard earned cash. Environmentally sustainable, small business shopping is often a privilege of the more well-off- there's a reason Walmart, Amazon, etc are so massive- so I wouldn't fault someone for shopping at those stores. For me, personally, I've just been making more of an effort to look for other ways to get what I need at the prices I can afford before heading to those places, easier now that I have more free time.

One area where it's super easy to avoid large companies is definitely gift-giving and for that, I often head on over to the well-loved Etsy. As a fellow Maker myself, I like the idea of supporting fellow creative people and I feel like sending your loved ones something handmade just makes it that much more special. There are a ton of ways to support creative individuals trying to make it through this tough time and I encourage you to seek them out if that's something you're able to do but since I've been enjoying a leisurely window-shop on Etsy as I sit on my porch on this gorgeous spring day, I thought I'd mention Etsy specifically and share some cool stuff I've had my eye on recently.

Without further ado/depressing news:

found HERE

Guys, I love a weird stud earring. I find it better to wear studs to work and I just like them in general. The shop Obsessories has a TON of crazy options but I've been thinking extra hard about the ones pictured above (though these moon ones are a close second). *

found HERE

More earrings. I wear some everyday so it's totally reasonable to have a ton, right? This Enterprise pair is too cute and the shop Geek Me A Break has a ton of other super nice nerd jewelry- Star Trek, Star Wars, Zelda, Doctor Who... all classily rendered in precious metals. *

found HERE

I bought these yesterday in "light aqua" but the shop OnceAgainSam has a lot of other fantastic items, from wood laser cut things, to fiber art. They already shipped too, which is impressive. 

found HERE

Alright, last pair of earrings. I couldn't help add these obviously because BOWIE CATS. The shop Danielle V Designs, has these adorable Bowie cats in dangly earring and pin form, but also an adorable assortment of prints and other accessories. *

found HERE

Since we're on cats, LOOK AT THIS CAT EGG BROOCH. I have a deep love of breakfast foods and cats and pins so this really speaks to me. The shop, I Like Cats, has a ton of different items with, you guessed it, cat-related themes. I love the art style behind all the pieces. *

found HERE

This shop sweetandlovely has a ton of super cute and feminist-leaning bits and bobs but I am definitely in love with this pale blue dot/Carl Sagan pin (though this pin with my boy Goldblum is a close second). Definitely a worthy addition to my ever-growing pin collection.* 

found HERE

On a completely different note, here's a cross stitch pattern! If I don't draw them up myself, I get a lot of my patterns from Etsy and this one from the shop KentimaByKonna has been on list for a long time (if only I could finish the million other projects I currently have going...). She has a lot of other geeky and book related patterns but I think this one would look perfect on that blank piece of wall near our door...*

found HERE

Another cross stitch pattern! The shop Stem Stitch only has this solar system bundle and individual planets/sun/moon prints in their shop but I've had this pattern in my favorites for a long time. I think it'd be a really cool art installation to have them all in individual frames arranged on the wall.

found HERE

Do you like brains and also uteruses? Well have I got an Etsy shop for you! BirdBearStudio offers a wide range of ceramic brain items like bowls, trinket dishes and planters like the one above. And just to mix it up they also have the odd uterus knick knack as well. I don't have a logical explanation as to why I really want at brain planter but we all know the mind is not always logical.*

found HERE

Last but not least, this teardrop abstract landscape stained glass piece from CedarAndSpruceStudio. I had a hard time choosing one thing to showcase, all of their designs are unique and beautiful. How pretty would this be hanging in front of a window on a sunny day?!*

*** *** ***

I guess we can leave this at a top 10, otherwise I'll be here all day. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

*I've never bought from these shops but they all have a lot of sales and great ratings!

Shifting Walls and M.C. Escher

In these trying times of isolation we're all hard-pressed to find ways to occupy our startlingly more abundant free time to maintain some semblance of mental health. Some of us are creating more art or getting into a new hobby, some of us creating a new work out routine, some of us are mastering our cooking skills.... and some of us spent too much time staring at our walls and decided it was time to move some pictures around. Guess which one I did today?

A picture of my recently displayed print of "Reptiles" circa 1943, moodily enhanced with a greyscale filter. 

Yes, in a classic "I'm bored but don't know what to do with myself" move, I decided to rejig the art/pictures/ephemera-filled cork board that occupy the corner of wall that my desk is wedged into. I had a good rummage in the basement for spare frames and prints and came up with the above addition (more reason to rationalize my "never throw anything away, you never know when you'll need it" motto that occasionally, by certain significant others, is called into question...).

I was going to take a picture of my little nook but it's crammed with a whole bunch of super personal things that I didn't particularly feel like sharing. Plus, it's a dreary rainy day today, making it the worst day to take pictures- our walls are kind of a strange pinkish color (a unique choice of the previous landlord) and it's best to wait for good light before trying to take pictures. I will say though that this corner also features THIS Gauguin painting as well as a framed card featuring cats with laser beams coming out of their eyes.

My decor style is what they call "eclectic."

Anyhoo, as I noted, the print I chose is an M.C. Escher print which reminded me of a trip I took to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA two years ago. They had an amazing Escher exhibition that, sadly, is no longer running. It was- I gotta say it again- AMAZING.

How was this the only picture I took of this exhibit?!

I feel like M. C. Escher is an artist we all take for granted. We've all seen his painting "Relativity" (1953)

source

or "Hand with Reflecting Sphere" (1935):

source

and I think everyone is suitably impressed but for me personally, I only fully absorbed how intricate and broad his range of work was until I saw it in person at the MFA exhibit. It featured a lot of sketches so you got a sense of his intense and painstaking process and I left with a new appreciation of his work. 

One of the primary works featured was "Metamorphosis II" (1940).

source

This bad boy is 13 FEET LONG (about 4 meters) and it is BANANAS. And it's a WOODCUT. You know what that means?! This dude drew this then carved 20 BLOCKS of it BACKWARD to print on 3 large sheets seamlessly so as not to disrupt the gradual metamorphosis between each segment. WHAT?! I had to take a break from the work of just putting together then putting up that one print! And it only took him like 4 months. While you absorb that, watch the below video of a pan across it's full length set to some Pink Floyd.

That one act of putting up new art in my space sent me on a whole new spiral of time wasting internet browsing but I think admiring art- something I always want to do more of but don't take enough time to do- is a perfectly acceptable way to spend an afternoon. Its another way to transport you to somewhere else which we all need a little these days, as our walls start getting a little monotonous. 

Luckily, we don't need to go to the actual museum to appreciate art. Lots of places are highlighting virtual tours- the MFA included- and Google Arts & Culture has 2,000 collections from 80 different countries on display. You can take virtual tours of empty museums and read interesting little tidbits from your favorite artist. 

So hey, if you get a little tired of staring at your walls, don't be afraid to move stuff around then go wander around a museum...


*UPDATE*
After writing this post, I discovered a Stuff You Should Know podcast about M.C. Escher from December 2019 that I missed. Give it a listen if you want to be even more impressed. It gives more detail on the woodcut and lithograph processes (he basically chose the hardest methods to make his super intricate art) and more insight into his super mathematical mind. 

Don't Panic

As the stay-at-home orders continue and futures remain uncertain, many of us are getting more and more stir-crazy and impatient. A normal human reaction I suppose- we don't like change and we hate being told what to do even more, right? There are also many of those dealing with being out of work and having their small businesses closed which can obviously pose more issues than extreme boredom. However, throwing a potentially dangerous temper tantrum is only going to make matters worse (and by matters worse I mean even more people sick/dead) so maybe it's time we accept the fact that we've packed so many people onto this big wet rock that pandemics are a Big Freaking Deal.

Source

...I'm sorry, I went past my mental-health allotted 10 minute max of news time today. 

To be honest, I've been finding the stay-at-home orders easier and easier as time goes by. I've been working hard to figure out what really bothers me about the new guidelines and I realized I'm more upset that my routines have been altered than temporarily not being able to do the activities themselves (for the most part anyway).

That being said, while most of us love our routines, humans are pretty resilient and can get used to just about anything if they let themselves. I mean, Stockholm Syndrome exists as an extreme example of the lengths the brain will go to be cool with any given situation and while it's probably not great to join your kidnappers on a crime spree Patty Hearst style, I think you can get used to chilling at your house for a while for the good of the entire planet.

I know I'm being flippant here. People have lost jobs. Parents are at home trying to work and also teach their kids. Healthcare workers are literally putting their lives on the line to deal with this. Not everyone has a safe home to be in right now. Not everyone's mind is a safe space right now. I know I'm one of the lucky ones, that though my job has drastically increased my changes of getting sick, I do get to spend a lot of my time out of my house, then come home to someone I love surrounded by things to keep me busy. I'm mostly focusing my ire on people who are blatantly ignoring cautions from doctors and health professionals for the simple reason that they are bored, or that they don't care, or that they don't think covid-19 is a big deal.

Oh don't worry, this is the last I plan to rant. I had to get it out of my system but going forward, I want to- and need to- continue this blog as it was intended- a sort of record of ways I'm improving my mental health, a repository of things that have been making me happy lately. 

What has been making me happier is that I've set about making new routines. Like I said earlier, it's those upset routines that threw me off at first but I'm gradually getting used to and even appreciating my new normal. Walks outside are even more looked forward to/enjoyed. My creativity in cooking is increasing now that I don't rely as heavily on recipes because I don't swing by a store after work to pick up ingredients at-will. I'm realizing how lucky I am to already enjoy a number of stay at home activities.

Going forward, I think it'd be fun to make starter posts for the activities/crafts I like to do that keep me sane in both "normal" times and in a pandemic. This is a great time to start something new and I like the idea of potentially helping someone start a new hobby. I've also got in mind a growing list of serotonin-boosting books and movies... 

I'll end this rambling rant or whatever this was and see you soon with more anger/stress free content. Stay smart and stay safe my dudes.

source

Happy Easter!

Slightly late for an Easter post, sure, but hey, I got sick.

No, not that sick.

Yes, in a time of global pandemic and heightened contamination precautions, I managed to get a minor head cold. I'm feeling much better today though, and even made it out onto my porch with my laptop for some much needed fresh air after spending all of yesterday camped out under a quilt on my couch watching James Bond movies and eating half a box of white cheddar Cheez-Its (the king of all Cheez-Its in my opinion). I'm trying to shake off a little of my grogginess in time to take a nice afternoon walk.

I can't possibly believe this terry cloth romper was ever cool (source)

Anyway, Easter. Right.

I don't generally make a big fuss over Easter at the best, non-pandemic, of times. For some reason, my work doesn't classify it as an official holiday and it always seems to land on my weekend to work. I would normally head over to my aunt's house after work but of course I couldn't do it this year so I missed out on seeing my family and, tragically, having a good excuse to dress up (just joking, I don't need an excuse. I do like showing off a little though).
Despite these (very necessary) set-backs, I determined to make it a special day all the same. Unfortunately though, Easter crept up on me this year and I wasn't prepared to make our traditional ham-feast. I didn't think to pick any up on our last shopping expedition and I didn't want to be irresponsible and make a trip when it wasn't strictly necessary. No worries though- I had a good scrounge around my quarantine stash and came up with a pretty decent alternative.

Yes, that is a Kurt Vonnegut altar candle.

A little hard to see with all that ambiance maybe, but I made garlic butter baked chicken thighs adapted from this recipe with rosemary roasted potatoes and dill carrots, pared with the porter I talked about here. It was good, though I suppose I'm biased. We ate on the small table in our "office" because it was a little more romantic and also our kitchen table looked like this:

Eldritch Horror, not a game to be taken lightly... or with minimal table space. It takes so long to just set up that once you do, there's no clearing it off for dinner. We totally lost that game by the way.

For dessert, I made aquafaba meringues which are made from the juice leftover in a can of chickpeas (read about that weirdness here). It whips up exactly like egg whites and is a great waste-not-want-not tip. Also, you can give the meringues to unsuspecting family and friends and once they've finished, you can inform them that they just ate bean juice cookies, it's fun.

I topped the cookies with Lemon Krimi Skyr and crumbled graham crackers to make a sort of Frankenstein version of a lemon meringue pie. Again, I really nailed it here and had to stop myself from eating the whole batch.

As a last piece of Easter goodness, I had ordered something from Amazon a while back and in these days of more uncertain shipping times, I thought I'd be receiving it later in the week. The Amazon Easter Bunny pulled through though and I got home from work with the package waiting for me on my desk.

Just a little something I slipped into my cart along with the more necessary things. Its the OG nerd watch, the Casio CA53W-1 Databank. Coming in at a whopping $18 on Amazon, this dream come true was a no-brainer purchase. I love watches and appreciate the more complicated movements of traditional analog ones but there's something about Casio's vintage range of digital watches that I absolutely love. One day I'll ramble on more about my ever increasing and slightly weird watch collection but I'll leave it there for now.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter weekend and is holding up well in isolation! 

Top 5(ish) Podcasts

I've been in a bit of a depressive funk this weekend, one of those joyous periods where I just can't force myself to do anything other than sit around and be grumpy about not doing anything. I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling this way given the current world situation so I'll tell you what I am now telling myself:

GO. FOR. A. FREAKING. WALK.

When I'm feeling this down, that's about the only thing that can snap me out of it and if I don't feel better after a walk, I'll just give up and cocoon myself in a quilt on the couch and watch some Star Trek: TNG (aside from just being a good show in general, it's like a warm balm of nostalgia for me). Sometimes you just gotta let the feels happen, but don't go down without at least a little bit of a fight.

Anyway, one of the things that motivates me on the walk itself is listening to a podcast. It sets a specific time for my walk- I can't stop early, I gotta finish the show!- and fully takes my mind off whatever it is that's getting me down (assuming I actually know what that is). Sometimes music just feeds my feelings; either that or it leaves room for my mind to wander.
If you're interested in trying out some podcasts for the first time, I've made a list of my top 5 most listened to podcasts, with an extra bonus at the end.

And without further ado:

website HERE

Stuff You Missed in History Class is probably heaviest in my rotation at the moment. I love hearing random fun historical stories because I am endlessly curious (nosey?) about other people's lives and this is a good, more respectable and less brain melting way to get my fix than watching the Kardashians or something. Seriously though, I always find their topics interesting and the delivery is pretty concise and to the point but friendly, if you know what I mean.

website HERE

Stuff You Should Know is a pretty popular choice. If you haven't heard about it, it is probably exactly what you think it is- a podcast where each episode is about a random thing you, you know, should know. The topics are all over the place (the last two I listened to were about sloths and barefoot running) and I find myself cherry picking which ones I listen to (as opposed to just listening to them all as they come out) but they're all pretty good, I just only have so much time. There's more banter between the two hosts in this one than Stuff You Missed in History Class but I like it and you can tell the dudes get along well.

website: HERE

Sawbones features a medical doctor and her husband who talk about medical history and some... misguided, shall we say, current and past medical practices. It's super interesting and the banter between the doctor and her husband is pretty funny and entertaining. If you're into interesting medical info but don't want to listen to a boring, dry podcast, give this a listen.

website HERE

Another popular choice (they have a whole fan cult!), this one is good if you're a fan of true crime and also laughing. An odd combo maybe but I feel like it totally works, mostly because they do so while still being respectful to the victims. They put out two episodes a week; one is about 1.5 hours long and in it, each host (there are two) talk about a different murder/crime. The second one is about a half hour long and features the hosts reading "hometown murders" as sent in by their listeners. 

There's a lot of banter and side bars and whatnot in this podcast-which, to be honest, I found off-putting at first- but I've come to enjoy it. That being said, it may not be for everyone.

website HERE

I tried to find a good way to say what this one was about but couldn't do any better than the website (link below picture) itself so here goes: "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships." I can only listen to this one when I'm feeling more serious and able to focus but every episode I've listened to has been super interesting. I also really like the hosts voice which is weird to say now that I type it out but an important consideration when choosing podcasts. 

website HERE

Flash Forward is an incredibly interesting podcast and I highly recommend it for anyone that likes science fiction.  In this podcast, the hosts examines a potential future scenario. For instance, the last couple I listened to was about pregnancy in space and teleportation. Its a good mix of interesting science mixed with educated speculation, all supported by knowledgable guest experts.

Bonus:

website HERE

Ok so this is a bonus podcast I like that I didn't want to put in my top 5 because 1. then it'd be a top 6 which isn't the same now is it? and 2. it's only a 10-part series.

Finding Fred is about, you guessed it, Fred Rogers who is a personal hero of mine. The host examines the impact of Mr. Rogers work and discusses it, and relates it to current day issues, with various guest experts. Very good, very well done, and I may or may not have cried a little bit at some points.

All podcasts, with the exception of Finding Fred of course, have a ton of backlogged episodes and continue to regularly put out new episodes (at least one a week) so you've got a pretty big pool to dive into. I didn't think I'd be able to pay attention to someone talking without seeing them but that hasn't proved to be the case so don't let that stop you from trying it out.

Well, I'm off to listen to a Stuff You Missed in History episode about poison control. If that doesn't get me out of this funk, I don't know what will.