January 2026 Bright Spots

When you’re looking for distractions and/or good things to make it through the loooooong winter season

I consider myself an optimist and a problem solver – my many sarcastic asides aside, I like to believe that things are fixable and that most people are operating with good intent. At the same time, I love efficiency and hate wasted effort. Those two sentences may seem unrelated but it’s really hard to know what to do when you have a high level of concern and a low level of confidence in the people responsible for fixing the problems at hand.

Truthfully, I don’t know how anyone is supposed to have a balanced/healthy nervous system when we are in a constant state of volatility and chaos societally. As a result, I’m pretty quick to redirect my time away from the crazy and into other worlds where I can see/experience higher levels of function… although when you start saying you’re seeing less chaos in “Celebrity Traitors” than the news, something is deeply wrong.

Here are some of the ways I’ve been distracting myself/staying cozy in January 2026:

Watching

As an elder millennial woman, I’m supposed to tell you “Heated Rivalry” and I actually did watch and really enjoy the first episode but haven’t finished it yet. Jeff’s traveling this week so I guess now’s the time. Instead, I’ve gone back to the one thing you can count on for quality and order: British crime dramas. Loving “Grantchester” which I, for reasons that are lost on me, never watched years ago when I should have. But also “Unforgotten” which is just a permanent reminder that Nicola Walker is a gift to us all. Her partner on the show, Sanjeev Bhaskar, was just on the last season of “Taskmaster” which is in my Hall of Fame for recommendations.

Only three episodes are out so far but “Bookish” from the BBC is a fabulous new period mystery written by (and starring) Mycroft Holmes from “Sherlock.” Also, “Celebrity Traitors UK” on Peacock blends fabulous personalities and national treasures from the UK (I mean… Celia Imrie and Stephen Fry?!) with Claudia Winkleman’s wardrobe and some of the worst performances from Faithfuls in the (short) history of the show (only the lightest of spoilers, I promise).

Reading

“Gourmet Magazine” is back and never have I been more grateful that Conde Nast dropped the ball on renewing its trademarks. There’s a sharper tone to this “Gourmet” that I’m very grateful for and while I heartily recommend reading their manifesto to get the vibe, I can’t stress enough that their first article on Gavin Newsom’s vineyards/restaurants is some of the best non-fiction writing (period) that I’ve read in the 2000s.

“The Gales of November” about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald was a page turner and an amazing read. I have a long history of loving books about maritime history (I’m talking to you “The Wager” and “The Heart of the Sea”) but this was a decidedly different take: the dramatic part of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s voyage wasn’t multiple days/weeks/months as it had been in others so this was more a story about the people on the boat and the challenges of Great Lakes voyages: for example, I learned in the first chapter that the waves on the Great Lakes are more dangerous/chaotic than those in the ocean because there’s no salt weighing them down and that was the first of so many misconceptions to be addressed. Fabulous read that will break your heart and make you grateful for any safety you have in your life right now.

Making

It’s been a lot of NYT Cooking time but the most bang for the buck of late came from the Oven-Roasted Chicken Shawarma (buy real toum if you don’t know how to make it yourself instead of following their faux toum suggestions in the notes that involve just mixing garlic cloves into mayonnaise). This did make us miss Detroit area Middle Eastern food but was such a good/easy meal. Also while there were many cookies made for the holidays, these White Chocolate Macadamia Nut ones were the sleeper hit – not even normally my favorite kind of cookie but browning the butter with milk powder was genius and made a huge difference. They are higher maintenance than you’d expect but it’s all worth it.

Doing

In an attempt to increase my step count especially in the cold winter, I started what I’m calling “Walk & Talk & Walks” which is where I walk slowly while rewatching “The West Wing” and doing some light admin work on the computer. It makes me feel less insane for rewatching a series for the twelfth time.

Also yesterday, for the first time in my life, I began calling my elected officials (5 Calls makes it very easy for you) to share my thoughts on what’s happening right now and how little they’re doing to restore sanity. You can learn more about why calling is one of the better ways to have your voice heard here.

I’m planning on sharing some of my so-called bright spots a few times a year when I have enough good things to share to warrant a post.

As another preview, next week will be my once-every-four-years ramble on what you need to know about figure skating before the Winter Olympics. If you subscribed for my stories about navigating stepkids and in-laws and workplace drama, I promise we’ll be right back to regularly scheduled programming on February 9. Then again, if you like workplace drama, buckle up for the world of ice dancing…