I am full of rage and frustration. My jaw hurts from how hard I've been clenching my teeth this week. I told my husband that I couldn't even vent to him because it's not like it matters. Nothing matters because nothing is going to happen.

Nothing.

Anne Helen Peterson eloquently explains why this feels so bad. It's designed to. We no longer live in a true representative democracy.

Nothing is going to change.

That is why the hurt goes so deep.

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I’m past the halfway point of Simplicity Parenting. There were a great few pages about how to deal with kids coming to you saying they’re bored. Essentially, if you don’t engage and are boring they’ll find something to do. Gonna try when my kid is older.

I also read The Tortilla Cookbook: 60 Quick & Easy, Delicious Wrap-Based Recipes Inspired by the World-Famous Challenge by Sarah Cook. Our kiddo loves quesadillas and I needed new recipes. This cookbook has a lot of British diaspora flavor to it and I saved several ideas to try. Turns out my kiddo also loves reading this book. She’s been running to the basket I plopped it in and saying, “Read quesadilla book, mama!”

• There's a lot of science (and probably a movie) in this sunken forest found in China. [WaPo - gift link]

• Doing mom things slowly is not self-care. [In Pursuit of Clean Countertops]

• Would you retire on a cruise ship? [WaPo - gift link]

• Mending sidewalks into art. [Colossal]

• We need more pay transparency laws. [TIME - may be paywalled]

• Climate change is leading to poorer sleep. [NPR]

• Plagiarism on the internet is everywhere (and mostly on purpose). [Vox]

• VR therapy may help alleviate chronic pain. [The Daily]

• Reflecting on your personal story to help you get a new job. [Life Kit]

• I love Old Bay! Or... do I? [Dish City]

• Writing Chinese language and the growth of a superpower. [Throughline]

• What happens when you take Ser Davos Seaworth, The Good Doctor, and soccer fans and throw them in a movie called The Vault? A rather interesting take on a heist film involving underwater salvage techniques, actually. This was a wonderful popcorn flick but it does fall for the typical narrative plot holes that are common in this genre. That said, would actually watch again.  [Netflix]

• I wanted to watch Operation Mincement simply for the remarkable cast and World War II setting.  Aside from the bad Winston casting, this was a fantastic film. There were so many layers of storytelling (including hints of James Bond's origins) that I kept thinking "Oooh! I need to Google that!" In some of my post-watch research, I found that the story didn't seem to fudge or make up much of the main plotline. That made it even more fascinating. [Netflix]

• I like seafood but I'm a bit scared of cooking fish that is not salmon. I always fear that I'm going to ruin it somehow. This week, I tried my hand at sheet pan fish and chips. It turned out deliciously. I will make this again. Although, the husband wasn't the biggest fan of my version of homemade tartar sauce (just mixing mayonnaise and relish) so I may need to tweak something there. [Real Simple]

• Around three (four?) years ago, during our annual ski trip, a friend made a Mexican corn salad as a side dish. It was delicious. I've made that recipe for myself, but it's not quite enough for a meal on it's own. For my lunch prep this week, I tried a new Mexican street corn pasta salad. It was hearty enough for lunch but was still missing something. I may have actually underdone it on the corn. [Chelsea's Messy Apron]

I often dive into my personal photo archives to help me find images to use for work. This week I needed something summery and found an image from our trip to North Carolina. The sky was just so blue that day. I want to go back!

A reader (thanks, Heather!) alerted me to a website called List Challenges. First time I’ve heard of it, and I think it may become a favorite thing. This website basically gamifies crossing things off lists. Find (or make) a list for something (and there are tons of somethings here), then start checking things off! You can see stats, list leaders, and vote list items up and down.

I finished the first pass of qualitative transcript coding last week. This week, I need to assess and rejigger my codebook. I need to see if my codes are doing what I want them to do which probably means starting over.