Things I Love

A place for collecting all the various products, services, movies, foods, and other random good things which I have enjoyed and want you to know about.

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Trigger! is a crazy fun little game made by the Spot It! folks. Questions on cards are true/false, you answer with your right hand for true, left hand for false. The first person to hit the trigger with the correct hand gets the card. This relies on reflexes and quick thinking, and it’s surprisingly hard! Endless laughter and silliness over the slapping (which somehow never turns violent, at least so far in our family). Recommend x10000. 

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It took me a bit to get going with this book, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down. The author has worked in comics and as a showrunner; as a result, the story has a bombastic visual feel that I thought was great creepy fun. It’s modern in a way I haven’t really read before -- there’s a lot of Right Now in there, but it’s seedy and uncomfortable. Journalism replaced by listsicles, cyber rape culture and Reddit-whodunnitting, urban decay in all its forms. The setting -- a decrepit, yet revived-in-certain-areas, ivy-choked Detroit -- is pitch-perfect for the killer’s horrific art installations (think child corpse fused to a fawn) and Beukes manages to make you feel sorry for the bastard even as the madness unfolds. It’s got some of the spooky, otherworldly vibe of the first season of True Detective, and a compelling cast of characters to move the sometimes-hallucinogenic plot along. I didn’t love the ending, but that didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of this book -- it’s unique, upsetting, and wonderfully strange.

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I want, very specifically, to recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with addiction AND AA, but I also want to recommend it to anyone who likes memoirs or good writing or thoughtful discourse or comparing opinions or, you know, books that don’t suck. This is a really wonderful book presenting the different perspectives of author Martha Grimes and her son Ken Grimes, both alcoholics. Ken fully embraces the 12 step ideology, Martha battles it to the end. They’re both sober, both wonderful writers, both full of head-cracking insights for addicts and non-addicts alike. You can probably guess that I am much more drawn to Martha in this book. I love what she writes about two subjects near and dear to my own heart -- addiction and the fear of committing to writing: “There will always be an excuse for not writing, just as there will always be an excuse for drinking. I can’t write until I can get away to that cabin in the woods, that shack by the sea, that retreat, that sanctuary, that escape from distraction...

Here comes Max in his monster suit. Remember Max? He got put to bed early for misbehaving. [...] He wants control over everything, like a king. Max takes himself off to the land of Wild Things. Max, who has his monster suit on, becomes one of them and controls them. They have a great time together, Max and the monsters. They want him to stay forever, but Max thinks it’s time for him to be heading home.

Max conjures all of this up within a few minutes; you know it’s only minutes, because when he returns home and to bed, his soup is still hot.

Max did all that in minutes.

You can’t seem to get down a sentence? Yes, things lurk, like: I don’t have enough talent for this...who am I kidding, thinking I can write a book? I need a drink, boy, do I ever need a drink! There go the lawn mowers again...

There will always be monsters.

You be Max.”

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I have some serious catching up to do, recommendation-wise, but I believe I’ll start small with these here pens. Best pens in the damn world, you guys. I am a pen nerd and was previously devoted to the Uni-Ball vision, but these are far more pleasurable to use. Smooth ink, nice grip, somehow changes my handwriting for the better and makes list-making and note-taking a joy.

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Rolltape is a free iOS app I heard about on the Happier podcast several weeks ago (it was mentioned along with another app called Artkive, which I am loving and will review soon). Rolltape is essentially a way to record and personalize voice messages that you can send to other people (here’s their FAQ).

It’s intended for mobile users, and works best if you are creating Rolltapes for other Rolltape users, but you don’t have to have a smartphone or Rolltape to listen to the messages. I’ve been sending Rolltapes to my mom quite a bit, and she’s able to access them via a link that arrives in her email. (You choose a contact to send to, and it gets texted or emailed, depending on the contact info you have set up.)

You can talk FOREVER in a Rolltape — it never cuts you off. Once you’re done, you can customize the Rolltape with a photo, background colors, and music, if you so choose. I don’t take advantage of these features, personally. I just use it like a really great voicemail service.

The audio is crystal clear, the UI is nice, and the Rolltape team is super friendly and proactive to fix issues. I emailed them about an irritating bug, and Jessica Taylor, the founder and CEO, wrote me back within minutes. She also updated me via email once a fix had been released. Sweet.

There is a big new thing called Rolltape Radio, which lets you share public Rolltapes. I haven’t tried this (and in fact felt a little yikes about seeing it in their marketing, hopefully it’s VERY clear when you choose to publish publicly and there’s no chance of doing that accidentally), I’ve just been using it for personal communications with friends and family, and for that I can say it’s really great. If you have become phone-phobic, like me, this is a nice way to get back in the habit of talking as opposed to writing or texting.

It is oddly cathartic to be able to talk freely, without the back and forth of a conversation. You don’t have to wait for someone else to speak, and for me, that allows me to dive into what I want to share in a deep, meaningful way. The people who have been sending me Rolltapes say they feel the same.

Conversations are amazing, by the way. I’m not saying let’s ditch them in favor of monologues. But phone calls can be hard to set up — we’re busy, we get interrupted all the time, we often have to have conversations when they aren’t ideal for us — and connection qualities can impact our ability to connect in a negative way.

Rolltape shouldn’t replace conversations, but it is a fantastic addition to our communications toolbox. Just like texting and email lets us get closer with people, this ability to send and receive audio is another powerful option.

It’s honestly changed my life, in that it’s allowed me to build stronger connections since I started using it. If you have an iPhone, I say give it a try, and see what you think.

Link to download Rolltape for iOS on iTunes

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A counselor recently suggested that I watch this documentary, and having done so, I cannot recommend it strongly enough. As someone in long term recovery from addiction, this is probably the most profound, healing piece of media I have ever encountered on the subject. It should be offered in every school and every treatment center across the globe. If your life has been impacted by addiction in any way, or you are simply a human sharing the planet with other humans affected by addiction, it is well worth the 88 minute run time.

Here’s the film synopsis:

THE ANONYMOUS PEOPLE is a feature documentary film about the 23.5 million Americans living in long-term recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. Deeply entrenched social stigma and discrimination have kept recovery voices silent and faces hidden for decades. The vacuum created by this silence has been filled by sensational mass media depictions of people in active addiction that continue to perpetuate a lurid public fascination with the dysfunctional side of what is a preventable and treatable health condition. Just like women with breast cancer, or people with HIV/AIDS, courageous addiction recovery advocates are starting to come out of the shadows to tell their true stories. The moving story of The Anonymous People is told through the faces and voices of the leaders, volunteers, corporate executives, and celebrities who are laying it all on the line to save the lives of others just like them. This passionate new public recovery movement is fueling a changing conversation that aims to transform public opinion, and finally shift problematic policy toward lasting recovery solutions.

My friends: please watch, discuss, and share this incredibly important movie. You can stream it from Netflix, or access it from a number of other platforms listed here.

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Oh my goodness, this book. I have not yet finished reading this to Riley but I think it’s safe to say it is one of my strongest kid-book recommendations to date. The story starts from August’s perspective, a boy (just starting fifth grade) with a facial difference. He’s been homeschooled all his life and now he’s got to navigate public school. From Amazon’s description: “(Wonder) begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.” Riley sometimes has to curl in a ball while I read it, because as he puts it, “It’s like I am feeling his feelings, and I just need to get all curled up so I can handle it.” It’s powerful stuff, guys. So, so, so amazingly, tenderly, (wonderfully) (sorry) (I had to!) (ugh I just ruined the moment what is wrong with me I am the worst) written.

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I’m using the app Rolltape right now and I love it. It’s a way to send audio messages to friends and loved ones, like voicemail that never cuts you off. Really great if you’re in a place where talking is a bit easier than writing (what? This is not my norm, believe me) or you’re just looking for an alternative to text and email. Check it out, it’s a very easy app and even lets you add music and images. Hat tip to the amazing podcast Happier for the recommendation!

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I’ve recommended this book before but that was when I read it -- now I’ve read it out loud (through many creaky-voiced nights) to my 10-year-old and I have a whole new level of recommendation-ing. It’s beautiful, haunting, wondrous, magical, a fairy tale like no other. Riley loved it so much and I was so incredibly proud of him for loving it. He also enjoyed the Coraline graphic novel, but reading this was a special experience I hope he never forgets. Gaiman’s also-marvelous The Graveyard Book is on my list to read to him soon.

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megan

I’m always delighted when Not Martha shares her links.

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This was a recent Netflix binge for us, and I really enjoyed tuning in each night. I wouldn’t put it on par with some of my all-time favorite shows, like Breaking Bad or The Fall or Happy Valley, but it was always interesting. Jessica’s character got a teeny bit tiresome, but I was pulling for her, and the pacing kept me hooked. (Nice to see Carrie Anne Moss still looking phenomenal, too.)

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Can we talk about this movie? Actually I really want to tell you to see this movie without finding out too much about the plot first, so let’s start there. Then come back so we can chat about it. Okay? So if you haven’t seen it but you sort of want to, just know that it’s great and John Goodman is a national treasure and holy cow what a crazy ride. Shoo. No spoilers.

Now if you have seen it, I’m still not going to get into spoiler territory, because I’m not a shit-heel, but can you EVEN. I mean WTFBBQ, am I right? How hilarious was it when the main character battled her way through hell and high water and then finally was presented with an entirely new awful scenario and was all, “Come on“? What a perfect mix of funny and weird and utterly shocking and totally balls-out craziness by the end. And I could not have loved the final scene more. Yay for heroine ingenuity, perseverance, and kick-assery.

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Yoga With Adriene

WELCOME to the YWA channel! Welcome all levels, all bodies, all genders, all souls! Find a practice that suits your mood or start a journey toward healing. W...

I don’t know if this is a NO DUH I HEARD ABOUT THIS 39482304705043285 YEARS AGO suggestion or not (if so, too bad, I am ALWAYS behind the times. Now let me be so I can adjust this onion on my belt), but I really love this channel for quick at-home yoga routines. I find her very soothing (her “whoosh” noise as she dips down is all ASMR-y) and the videos are simple and pleasant and easy. Thumbs up!

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I’m always on the lookout for kids’ books that are actually fun to read, and The Day the Crayons Quit really fit the bill. It’s a bunch of letters from various crayons to a kid, and you can read each one in a different silly voice. (I like getting dramatic with the fed-up crayons.) Perfect for my 8yo, but I’m sure kids older and younger would like it as well.

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Super cheap and super handy. I bought this protective cover before a trip to Hawaii and it was perfect for keeping sand, water, and dirt off my iPhone. You can take photos through the clear plastic.

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Q: Does this feel like actual for-real snail slime? A: Yes. Yes it does. If you can deal with the unpleasant slippery-sliminess, this bizarre Korean skincare product is seriously great. My face feels softer, tighter, smoother. I use it in the morning under moisturizer.

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OH such a creepy and fun read, I could not put this down. She’s like Bret Easton Ellis, but more likeable. Come for the unique stalker angle, stay for the hilarious satire, and fall in like with Joe, most unlikely likeable guy ever. I really liked her sequel, Hidden Bodies, as well (You is spookier, Hidden Bodies is more of a snarky sendup of Hollywood douchery).