Raederle

  For many years I tracked how I spent every minute of my time – and I learned fun facts about myself – over the course of three years of data my average time spent reading fictional novels per day was forty-four minutes. But eventually I stopped logging my time; I’d learned it added roughly twenty minutes to my shower to wash my hair, and that I didn’t feel happy with my relationship when we spent under two hours of quality time together per day. The experiment was a success, but the returns were diminishing. Then, seven years after the original time-logging project began, I had a new inspiration: vibe logging. The premise was that each day had a “vibe” to it – wistful, industrious, melancholy, frustrated, introspective – and that by keeping track of these vibes I’d learn something about how my mood shifted over the course of days, weeks, months, and – maybe, if I was ambitious enough – years. I’ve been “vibe logging” for four years now, and I can say this project has been an asto...

When people offer to cook for me, I usually politely decline. I know they mean well, and I love when people cook for me – but the reality is that “wanting to cook for someone” usually means you want to cook from your specialty repertoire, which won’t include anything I can eat. “You can just bring me some organic berries if you like,” I tell people. This is usually pretty fool-proof – unless they aren’t attentive and buy moldy ones. What can be even harder is turning down healthy, home-cooked meals in someone’s home – something they’ve already made and are sure will meet anyone’s criteria. “It’s vegan,” they’ll tell me. I smile and nod and say, “No thank you, it smells lovely but I really can’t.” “Are you already full?” “No, I just have a very sensitive body,” I’ll say. “This is gluten-free and free of refined sweeteners too,” they’ll add. My smile will deepen, because I’m glad people are cooking healthier and making more accommodations for others; I’m glad that they want to feed me...