Most of my reading this week was “How To Get Soot Off Of Everything,” but I did reread some Chase, Novik, and Bowen.

What did you read this week?

Happy Cinco de Mayo.
Today, I am putting a white board together. Very exciting. Also cleaning up more soot. Not as exciting.

What did you do this week?

Our own Cate M has a new book out, The Last Big Fake, writing as Kate Kerns:

From forger to fake fiancée, Darcy’s life hasn’t been exactly authentic. But her growing feelings for the man she has no intention of marrying might scuttle her plans to play “let’s pretend” one last time. Continue reading →

The good thing about bad things is that they make you appreciate the good things.
My kitchen caught fire, but everybody here is happy and healthy and I’m slowly getting a clean house out of it, and, oh, yeah, I didn’t die. That’s a lot to be happy about.

What made you happy this week?

I read the new Murderbot (see spoiler post for opinions, lots of opinions) and then I set fire to my kitchen, so you guys are going to have to carry Good Book Thursday this week. Wait, you always carry Good Book Thursday.

What did you read this week?

I ordered a whiteboard.

I’m so excited, I can’t stand it. I had several plans for how to mount one in my living-room-turned-office, but I finally just ordered a rolling one. Now I just have to keep working on the office so I can roll it in. (Well, I’ll have to put it together first, but you know what I mean.). And I’ll have a place to plot on again.

I have to go take another load of not-office-stuff out off the living room now BECAUSE I HAVE TO MAKE ROOM FOR A WHITEBOARD. Sorry. Very excited.

What did you work on this week?

The Atlantic reports that a study done in 2010 found that while money can buy happiness if it’s lifting you out of worrying about bills into not worrying (which they defined as $75,000 or about $92,000 in today’s money) after that, it doesn’t make much difference to general contentment; another more recent study showed that more money after $100,000 doesn’t do much for your happiness. I’ve found this to be generally true depending on where I live; years ago as a single mother with lousy child support, every damn bill was a stress and I routinely priced out my grocery list before I went to the store and several times took a second job. And then my books began to make money and suddenly, paying bills wasn’t agony, I just wrote the checks. I went to the grocery with a list, but I could impulse things. I had a savings account for sudden disasters. I stopped doing a running calculus of how to manage money (although some things still stick: Every time the power goes off, I think, “Did I pay that bill?”). I wasn’t rich, but I was secure, and according to that study, secure was better than rich.

So how do you get happy after you hit security? According to that study, people. Connecting with people, having experiences with people, doing things for people. Share a meal or a vacation with people you love, pay people to do work you don’t want to do (thus freeing yourself and helping them achieve security), give to a charity you trust so you know you’re helping people. It’s people, not money; money just makes it easier to be with people.

Or, you know, start a blog so you can talk with smart, funny, kind people every week. Argh makes me happy; thank you all for showing up.

What made you happy this week?