My Posey sock heel continues to be problematic, but this time because I picked up wraps on one side incorrectly, so they’re sitting on the wrong side of my knitting. I have put the project into timeout. First, so it can think about what it’s done (Posey would just look at me and purr an “Aren’t I cute? Doesn’t that make up for what I did?” She was. It didn’t … usually.) Second, so I can look at it in the clear light of day and see if it’s really that big of a deal or if I was just overreacting to one of several things that didn’t go as smoothly as I’d have liked.

On the reading front, to tackle two of my resolutions, I pulled out The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moer (translated from German by Translated by John Brownjohn) off my shelf. So far it’s very cute and whimsical.

I’m also reading Jill Orr’s The Good Byline, but the main character keeps pissing me off. However, since I nearly quit the book within the first 10 pages because of the two grammatical errors I found, I guess it’s all good.

I abandoned Lincoln in the Bardo on audio and have requested it on paper. I kept falling asleep while listening to it. I’ve started Tom Hanks’ collection of short stories, Uncommon Type, instead. So far, so good, but I’m only in the first story.

Stop by Kat’s blog if you want to learn what other people are reading or knitting.

I’m still feeling under the weather and, thus, am a little cranky and not really feeling like having to think about tonight’s writing. So I thought I’d share with you some of my non-literary media superlatives from last year:

Best movie I saw in a theater: Wonder Woman (which we liked so much we saw twice!). It was nice to see a superhero movie where the main character is so driven by kindness and goodwill, rather than revenge. Runner-up: Coco, about a boy who accidentally ends up in the Afterlife on the Day of the Dead and who must receive a family blessing in order to return to the living. (It just received an Oscar nod and should still be in theaters if you haven’t yet seen it.)

Best movie I saw on video: The Beautiful Fantastic, about a young British woman afraid of the outdoors who is told she may only remain in her flat if she fixes up her garden. Runner-up: The Big Sick, by comedian Kumail Nanjiani and his wife, Emily Gordon, about the early stages of their relationship, which included a period of time when she was in a coma (when they were also technically broken up). (All the best lines are not included in the previews, which was my big fear.)

Best new over-the-air tv comedy that hasn’t been canceled yet: Superior Doughnuts, in which a cranky White doughnut shop owner (Judd Hirsch) hires a Black graffiti artist to work in his shop. Explores issues of gentrification and race relations.

Best new over-the-air tv show that has already been canceled: The Mayor, about a young Black rapper who runs for mayor of his California city as a p.r. move to promote his album and then, to his dismay and to his mother’s pride, wins the race.

Best new over-the-air tv dramedy: Kevin (Probably) Saves the World, about a down-on-his luck sad sack who moves home to his sister’s and then encounters a celestial being who informs him that he has to help her locate 35 other people whose job it is to protect humanity. It’s really much better than that description lets on, and it’s kooky enough that I don’t know what’s going to happen next (except that there will, of course, be a happy ending).

Best new streaming comedy: One Day at a Time, a remake of the 1970s show in which the family is Cuban, the mom is a nurse and veteran, Schneider is a hipster, and the grandmother, who lives with them, is the incomparable Rita Moreno. Season two begins this week.

Best “new” streaming drama: Father Brown, in which Mr. Weasley stars as a Catholic priest in a post-WWII English village who solves murders while tending to his flock. (This is cheating a little bit, because I did see an episode with Gramma several years ago on PBS, but this is my list and I can bend any rules I make.)

Favorite new album: The late Sharon Jones’ Soul of a Woman, which just breaks your heart one more time over her death. Runners-up (holiday albums): Hanson’s Finally, It’s Christmas and Sia’s Everyday Is Christmas (which I did not like the first time I listened to it).

I’d never heard of Halsey before my dad emailed this morning and suggested that I should check out this video from Saturday’s Women’s March in New York City. “A Story like Mine” is a really powerful poem that I thought worth sharing here, but I also offer a trigger warning for sexual assault for those who need it.

Well, that was a disappointing end to the weekend. As I was going to bed on Friday night, I had a bit of a cough and a headache, which had intensified by the time I awoke yesterday. I chalked it up to a change in the weather, took some ibuprofen, and eventually felt well enough to head out to the protest and to do some errands.

While out, I made the most of the day by trying a grilled cheese restaurant I’ve been wanting to visit for years (Tasty!) and having some tea at the fancy coffee place next to the library that just opened yesterday. Disappointingly, it turns out they’re a cashless establishment, which means I will try to avoid frequenting them. Or maybe not (appointingly?), since then I won’t spend $4 on a pot of tea every time I go to the library.

But once I was home, I realized that I was back to feeling unwell and had added hot eyeballs and that icky feeling at the back of your throat to the list of symptoms that promise you are about to find yourself sick.

So today, I laid low. I did make it out to the farmers market because I was out of milk for tea and to the store to buy food and litter for the cats, and Rudi had been away all weekend coaching. And I forced myself to do laundry because I had no clean jeans, leggings (Autocorrect wanted to make that leg gins; I have no idea — maybe wench-style flasks?), or sports clothes for volleyball later this week. But I scratched everything else and mostly laid about on the sofa listlessly watching Leverage episodes and downing cup after cup of tea. I didn’t want to knit. I didn’t want to read. I didn’t want to put away the Christmas ornaments. (Okay, that one may be unrelated.)

I am lucky in that my workplace offers a generous number of sick days, so I will be availing myself of one of those in the morning, pending a surprise return to the land of the healthy. I did, after all, just spend an hour reading, so I must be feeling somewhat better.

I hope you had a healthier few days and that you’re gearing up for a great week!

After a long weekend, two days just doesn’t feel like enough time, y’know? But I’m hoping to fill it up, so it doesn’t feel too short. Here’s some of what I’d like it to include:

• Spend some time outside, possibly attending a protest rally on the Mall.
• Go to the library. (Because it doesn’t del like a weekend, if I don’t get to at least one.)
• Send some mail.
• Try out my new cookbook.
• Stop by a frame shop. I got a new piece of art this Christmas that needs a frame.
• Put the Christmas ornaments in their boxes so Rudi and I can put the boxes away.
• Do laundry. There’s lots to do because it was harder when the Christmas tree was up.
• Head to some stores. I have a couple returns to make and the cats are out of litter and down to their last can of wet food.
• Turn the heel on my Posey sock. I did it once, but didn’t like how the stripes lined up afterwards, so need to try again or find a solid color for it.
• Paint my nails. The Christmas polish is down to a small dot on most of my fingers and I’m ready for a new color.

How about you? What are you hoping to do this weekend?