Now that our kiddo is in public school, I'm working on becoming a volunteer. I'm interested in helping in the school library (obviously) and tagging along on a field trip or two. Before I can do any of that, however, I need to be approved. The approval process involved lots of online paperwork, a background check, and, in a surprise to me, fingerprinting.

The fingerprinting proved to be the most onerous part of the process. I had to use an approved vendor and they only had a few stations in DC... none of which were near the metro. So, I picked the least worst option and headed their way for my appointment - which of course could not be scheduled before 11am - on Friday.

Thankfully, the physical fingerprinting itself was a breeze. I wasn't sure what to expect because the rest of the approval process was so involved. For this bit, my two IDs were check then I did placed four fingers, two thumbs, and four more fingers on a scanner. I signed and was out the door. I was in and out in less than four minutes.

What was the last surprisingly easy task you had?

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Mid-week, I started reading Biblio-Style: How We Live at Home with Books by Nina Freudenberger. This is meant to be a coffee table book, but I’m loving the stories. The author interviews her subjects to not just learn about what’s in their library but also how it makes them feel. This is quite a cozy read.

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

• The story behind a lovely photograph. [WaPo - gift link]

• Small ways to make your home feel more luxurious. [WaPo - gift link]

• What happens when shipping containers fall into the sea? [AP News]

• How to hang pictures without a nail. [Lifehacker]

• The surprising upside to having an EV during a blackout. [The Atlantic - gift link]

• Making Last Week Tonight. [The Daily]

• A riveting story about a Russian deserter. [The Deserter]

• Living without plastic for a week. [Life Kit]

• Outsmarting fungi. [Short Wave]

• How uncertainty influences conspiracy theories. [Hidden Brain]

• We're gonna need a lot more power. [Booming]

• Keep your food out of the trash. [Gastropod]

• The Hurricane Heist is a solidly B-list movie. It's just above made for TV quality but not a true blockbuster. Most of the CGI and action holds up EXCEPT for the final scenes. In those bits, it's laughably bad. The acting is decent which keeps things from going off the rails. [Amazon Prime]

• Our new weekday watch is the final season of Succession. This show is so good but I forgot just how dysfunctional the family is. Kudos to all the actors for getting me to love people who are not decent human beings. The drama is delicious. [Max]

• For my lunch meal prep, I made spicy street corn salad. Our store finally had cotija which really helped bring this dish together. The jalapeno I grabbed had a nice kick. Between the salty cheese, spice, bitter arugula, and sweet pop of the corn, there were a lot of flavors happening in this one. [Real Simple]

• I tried a new meal on our meatless Monday: chickpea gyros. It was delicious! There are a lot of components to this one but they come together quickly. Instead of small dicing the cucumber in the tzatziki, I used a grater. It was faster and didn't change the flavor much. We served this with a size of roasted zucchini. [40 Aprons]

• We try to let our kiddo have a say in dinner when we can. Last week, she asked if we could do a dinner with the "small" ravioli. Done! While kiddo had her pasta in red sauce, I made pesto ravioli with spinach and tomatoes for the husband and I. Instead of breaking out a sauté pan to cook the veggies, I just drained the ravioli and let the heat of the pasta wilt the spinach. I also mixed in some reserved pasta water to help things come together. [Eating Well]

This stunning image was the grand-prize winner of the creative photo awards. Just stunning. I want to put it on the cover of a children’s bedtime book. [PetaPixel]

I learned about Too Good to Go from a podcast. With this app, you can order excess food from local restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores to keep it from going into the trash. You pay less, the businesses make a little extra money, and there’s less going to a landfill. Everyone wins! We tried it out with a cookie shop down the street. We paid $6 for 9 cookies that are normally $2.50 each. A bakery we like is also on the app. I have a feeling our freezer is going to fill up with tasty morsels.

I’ve been getting at least a dozen political fundraising text messages a day. Make it stop!