The Weekly Wrap: January 30, 2022

Parenting makes you think about the oddest things.

The other day, our kiddo was walking around the kitchen with a wooden magnet stuck to the bottom of her foot. This is not the first time she's done this. She will deliberately step on a magnet and go tap-tap-tapping around the house. We think she likes the sound.

This got me thinking about all the random sounds I enjoy - the crunch of a gravel pathway under my shoes, the last gurgle of water as it goes down the bathtub drain, the satisfying clickety-click-chunk of the vacuum when it sucks up something bigger, the gentle rustle of thick paper pages being flipped, the soft smushy crunch of walking in new fallen snow.

So often I think of hearing being related to bigger things - music, conversation, sirens - but it's the little, everyday things I enjoy most. They're like aural details that round out the sensory experience. I'm beginning to think the details are why I love watching/listening to ASMR videos. It's satisfying and soothing.

What sounds do you enjoy?

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• If you really want to get out of jury duty... [Lifehacker]
• Modern law and legal theory is based on cases supporting slavery. [WaPo - gift link]
• I'm shooketh. Forsooth! [The Atlantic]
• Tips for talking to someone who is vaccine hesitant. [NPR]
• The power of collective screaming. [Is My Kid the Asshole?]
• So many ways to use a recipe. [Stained Pages News]
• I would like these everywhere please. [Curbed]
• Sleep contains multitudes. [The Atlantic]
• The glory of the midwestern gas station. [Men Yell at Me]

• The meaning and impact of Andre Leon Talley. [Code Switch]
• The evolutionary benefits and social implications of disgust. [The Daily]
• A sheer perfection of a soundscape that was so good I listened to it three times. [Throughline]
• There's always money in the overdraft fees. [The Indicator]

• We restarted our watch of the final season of Narcos: Mexico. The show is just so darn good - perfectly cast, beautifully shot, and well written. I'm bummed that this is the last season, but I hear there may be a spin-off. [Netflix]
• A few years ago, the husband and I got into Forged in Fire. It's a competitive blade smithing show and it is excellent. We stopped watching for awhile but recently caught some new episodes. It's amazing to see the craftsmanship that goes into creating knives and historical weapons.  #TeamFishSlice [History Channel]

• Our Sitka Salmon Share included some ground salmon in the last package. We decided to turn it into salmon burgers served as a BLT. So darn good. (I made the burgers a bit too big so the ratio of salmon to bacon was off.  Will do 6 patties instead of 4 next time.) We topped our sandwiches with spicy chipotle mayo and it gave the dish a nice zing. Served them with roasted carrots for a touch of sweetness. [Sitka Salmon Shares]
• The husband put chicken meatballs in pumpkin coconut curry sauce on our short list a few weeks back. He made the dish last Sunday to allow for proper simmering time. The meal was  flavorful without being spicy. We served the initial portion over cauliflower rice. That was good. The leftovers went over rice noodles which was better. [Ambitious Kitchen]

• Someone put up a playable Wordle archive. Same game play as the original; you just get to enjoy all the past puzzles in the order they appeared. I am pacing myself with five to ten games a day so that I don't binge through everything in one or two nights. [Wordle Archive]