The Weekly Wrap: August 9, 2026

This past week, one colleague and myself held down the fort at our library while all of our other colleagues were on vacation or using leave for life maintenance.

While we do have summer sessions the first two weeks of August, there aren't many classes. We tend to pile a lot of our vacation leave into this time period because it's the least disruptive. 

The most exciting thing that happened this week was our building's fire alarm going off. Renovations are happening on another floor so this happens more often than we'd like. Weirdly, it turned out to be one of the library's smoke detectors that set it off. I was literally in the room with that smoke detector and didn't smell or see anything. Since the library was quiet, I walked around with public safety to puzzle that one over. We still don't know what happened, but I learned a lot about how our fire detection system works.

We've got one more week of reduced staffing, but I'll be someone using leave this time. Cause we're fair like that.

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• I've only ever taken hotel toiletries. [Simon Mills Male on Sunday]
• We have too many ticks. [The Atlantic - gift link]
• The objects that make America. [NYT - gift link]
• It's about caring and AI can't do that for you. [Men Yell at Me]
• We should teach what patriarchy is and what is has done. [Raising Her Voice]

• What leads to a toy craze. [Planet Money]
• Life has a side quest for you. [Life Kit]
• Fighting a parasite with fish. [Short Wave]

• I don't know what I was expecting from The Devil wears Prada 2 but it was definitely more fan service than I thought it would. It's not a bad movie but it follows the exact same plot layout of the first film. Beat for beat, any fan could have written this story. I will say, it firmly understands how journalism has changed, and I'm glad it gives a negative assessment of the change. [Hulu]
• I forgot how easy it was was to binge watch entire seasons of a show when the episodes are only 42 minutes long. We are plowing through The Last Ship. We've finished three and a half seasons in less than two weeks. This one does fall into the overly convoluted plot line trap, but the writing holds up. Also, I have found it to be  prescient about many things both pandemic and political. [Netflix]

• I thought I was pushing my luck when I asked the kiddo to eat salmon. So, I picked the recipe that paired it with with a creamy orzo with spinach and mushrooms. Was the fish her favorite? Of course not. But she did eat it. I should have added more mushrooms. The pasta was good but I wanted more fungi. [Eating Well]
• We ate three meals that involved spinach this week. The last of them was chicken sausage white bean skillet. I didn't want leftovers so I only used one can of beans. This was an easy one pan meal. Don't skip the smoked paprika - it's a necessary flavor element. [Budget Bytes]
• There was a half bag of lentils in my pantry I felt the need to use up. French lentil salad kept landing in my inbox so I took the hint and made it. I love how veggie forward this was. My main regret was choosing tarragon instead of parsley as the herb. I liked the tarragon but parsley would have been better. [Eating Well]