I get that this was (1) a joke that turned into a TikTok thing, and (2) is likely over by this point, and (3) led to many pineapples being damaged, but it’s kind of a brilliant way to get people into the store AND help them find one another in a no-pressure way.

If I ran the store, I would have a ribbon you could pick up as you entered the store, and you could tie it to your cart. And different colours would symbolize different things. Like blue would mean you’re looking for friendship, and it would let people know to strike up a conversation with you. Or red could mean you’re looking for a date, so if they see it on your cart, you’re available to be asked out. At the very least, you get your shopping accomplished. And at most, you walk away with someone’s number or a fun conversation.

So who is going to start this for real without damaging pineapples?

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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The Wolvog introduced me to the game Balatro. It’s a roguelike card game, played on the surface like poker. But the various additional cards — jokers, planet cards, etc — increase the impact of the played hand. So you’re taking chances in multiple ways: the hand you play, the booster packs you purchase, the blinds you skip. Even the order of the jokers makes a difference. It became enormous fun once he taught me how to play and explained all of the cards. (I still need to text him when the game unlocks a new one to understand what it means.)

But the thing I love most of all is that when I play, it turns off all notifications and alerts. I don’t see news alerts come in. For thirty minutes or so, I can lose myself in the game and not think about the election or the state of the world. It’s hard to convince myself not to check the news when I can access other apps, but I love that this one gently tells me to shut it all out and turn off my brain for thirty minutes.

Thanks, Balatro.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

Remember how I had an entry for an upcoming Janice Hallett book called The Killer Question in my TBR spreadsheet, but I couldn’t find a mention for it anywhere on the internet?

Well…

I’ve been checking weekly, and last week, it popped up again on Goodreads. It now states it will be published August 1, 2025 by Viper Books. I can’t find it on Viper’s site or any book site (e.g. Blackwell’s) yet, but I feel vindicated that I obviously didn’t dream it up.

And I can’t wait to read it next summer.

A final update (I hope) of our scaredy pig situation: Beorn is pretty much back to normal and walking into all areas of his cage. It started when he was playing with his treat ball, and he accidentally pushed it with his nose across the invisible line in his cage that he wouldn’t cross. He followed it to get the treat, realized nothing was scary about the other half of his cage, and started going in there to get food or hang out.

He went back to sleeping in his house. And eating food from his green food bowl, no matter where it was placed. And not trembling in fear. The only thing he still won’t do is drink from his water bottle. He’s not scared of it — he’ll walk over to it but won’t take a drink. I’ve tried rubbing cucumber slices on it, which he thinks is a game, and he tries to snatch the slices from our fingers (giving a proud little wiggle jump when he succeeds). But he won’t drink from it, no matter how much I try to cajole him to take a sip. He’s getting water from vegetables, so it’s technically fine. I’d just like him to also drink water from the bottle.

Happy that he’s in a better emotional space.

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Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Road Less Travelled writes about an opportunity in Ontario for bereaved parents. They can finally apply for and receive a free certificate of stillbirth for this child. She explains: “I have a little certificate that the nurses gave us at the hospital, with Katie’s tiny hand & footprints on it — but something from the government seems so much more ‘official,’ if you know what I mean, even if it’s only ceremonial.” It’s a small thing for government to do that has a big emotional impact for families.

Lastly, Finding a Different Path has an amusing exchange with a parent — well, amusing in retrospect. But it’s kind of an awesome general follow-up question for all questions in life: Do you have cats?

The roundup to the Roundup: Pig is back to normal. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between October 18 – 25) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.

When I taught, I always knew when I was done for the day. When I left campus, I usually left work back on campus with few exceptions. Therefore, when I left campus, I was done for the day. The work was there for me to restart again in the morning.

But I’ve been working remotely now for 19 years. 19 years! And it’s much harder to know when I am done for the day. If I’ve ticked everything off the to-do list, and it’s beyond a certain hour, am I done for the day? If I have to stop so I can make dinner, am I done? I’ve been trying to move to a different room to work on personal projects and delineate between work and home.

But if I had nothing to do after work, there is a chance I would just keep working. So I make myself things I need to do.

Oliver Burkeman recently wrote about the concept of being done for the day. He explains: “When you end the day feeling like there’s vastly more you ought to have done, you’re telling your nervous system it can’t take a break; and you’re reinforcing an idea of your work as an oppressive and insatiable force.” So he encourages you to set a point in the morning when you will know you are done for the day and stick to that endpoint. It’s more about “feeling done” than actually “being done.”

It’s an interesting read if you also struggle with this.