The Weekly Wrap: April 26, 2026

I hosted a blackout poetry workshop for my library this week. It was not as well attended as I hoped it would be. (Thank you to the professor who brought her class by in the last hour!)

While I waited for people to drop by, I made a few blackout poems for myself. It was a meditative experience. It forces you to focus on the words - just the words - before you find a greater meaning in the text. Then, you have to carefully black out what you don't want. More than once, I had to change course when my sharpie went a bit too far in the text.

One of the poems turned out so well I decided to paste it into my bullet journal. Not only did the text speak to me, but I was able to decorate the page with the perfect image clipped from a magazine. 

Despite the low attendance, I plan to bring the workshop back. It's a great way to engage with a literary form that can be intimidating. 

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• This information could save a life. [Your Local Epidemiologist]
• Charge for the outcome not the work. [Inc.]
• The architecture of good behavior. [The Atlantic - gift link]
• An important reminder for those of us who teach. [ACRLog]

• It's called nutrition science for a reason... [StarTalk Radio]
• How the Supreme Court's shadow docket came to be. [The Daily]
• The moon has a history. [Short Wave]
• The wonder of whole wheat. [Gastropod]
• Clips are the information landscape now. [Galaxy Brain]

• Thrash was two different movies. The first half was set up as a serious disaster flick. There were attempts at science, social commentary, and dramatic tension (with sharks thrown in). The back half, however, was better because it stopped taking itself seriously. It went straight to disaster comedy. This flick was barely one step up from an awful SyFy made-for-TV movie. [Netflix]
• Untold: Chess Mates was one of those "who knew?" stories for me. It looked at some recent cheating controversies in professional chess that bordered on outlandish. The story hinted at classism but ended up falling prey to the tabloid drama aspects of the characters. [Netflix]
• We started our watch of Better Call Saul this week. I find it to be far more methodical in its storytelling and style. Bob Odenkirk is magnetic in this role. He's bringing so many layers in his acting of this complex character. I still think Jonathan Banks might steal the show as Mike Ehrmantraut. His character arc and portrayal are fascinating. [Netflix]

• I know that apple and cheddar being paired together is a thing. But I was a bit wary as I made apple-cheddar quesadillas. It worked though! I should have added more honey mustard (or used it as a dipping sauce) because that flavor disappeared. We paired this with the spinach salad in the recipe. [Real Simple]
• Orange chicken stir fry with rice took longer to make than I thought it would. Despite that, the end result was really tasty. I loved the way the sauce coated everything and the cornstarch step for the chicken helps the flavor. I added some zucchini we had chilling in our freezer to use them up. You could probably customize this with just about any vegetable. [Ambitious Kitchen]