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Another week of a firehose-like onslaught of news and of me choosing to focus my energy and time elsewhere. I’ve been reading more. I met a friend (thanks to Substack!) for ramen this week (thanks again for meeting up with me, Andrew!). We got Purple Patch takeout (IYKYK) with another friend who was in DC.

And as trite as it may sound, I’ve been trying to focus on finding joy in small things and practicing gratitude daily. Some highlights include:

• DC’s cherry blossoms at peak bloom really are something special.

• Singing loudly while riding my bike.

• Whistling. Because, why not?!

• After weeks of the word “no,” the boy has finally started saying “yes.”

• Making paper airplanes and flying them in the living room.

• Babe the Bluejay is back.

• And a fun memory, thanks to an email from an old friend (thanks Christine!):

Have I told you that everytime I hear the song Stand by REM I think of you? When I was in 4th grade (so 6th for you), we visited you and your mom. For some reason, we all (us + our moms) went to Kmart together, and you convinced me that I would be cool if I bought the Green REM album. So I totally did because you were cool and therefore… maybe there was hope for me if I owned the album. Ha! Silly little memories, but it still makes me smile when the song plays on my playlist.

I was definitely never that cool, but I’m tickled that someone thinks I was! It also reminded me of the joys of putting a tape in my Walkman and discovering new bands that helped change me by expanding my mind and, thus, my world. Maybe I’ll make a playlist of what 6th-grade Melissa was listening to ***though I’d love for everyone reading this to do the same¹*** and we could all swap links like they were some mix tape we recorded in our jamboxes.

As always, here are 5 things I was looking at and loving this week:

Wow. I saw LA Times reporter Rosanna Xia’s documentary Out of Plain Sight this past weekend at the DC Environmental Film Festival, where it took home the Shared Earth Foundation Award for Advocacy. To my friends in Miami (4/6), Missoula (4/21 & 4/23), and San Diego (4/25) — it’s coming to a theater near you. In short, it shines a light on an environmental catastrophe lurking just off the coast of Southern California. But more importantly, it’ll remind you of the importance of great journalism and dogged reporters to tell stories that really freaking matter.

Sigh. The Gen X Career Meltdown hit home. If you haven’t read it by now, you should [gift article at the link]. And sadly, as if to drive home their point, the story uses “videos by Getty Images.”

If you haven’t read How Fascism Works, you need to. I’ve recommended it to many and even sent a copy to my dad. Then I learned this week that the author, Yale professor Jason Stanley is moving to Canada. Because, well, he knows.

Something that made me smile this week was this granny… absolutely crushing it. Oh, and also, Mars trying to escape Earth.

This photo from May 1941 of people relaxing after the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. by photographer Martha McMillan Roberts is delightful. I went down a rabbit hole, looking at every image of hers in the Library of Congress archives. I’d never heard of her before, and sadly, there’s not much else out there.

1. No really, let’s make this happen. What was junior high YOU listening to? Share a song or a playlist link in the comments. I’d love to hear it! And I’ll start working on mine now, for next week’s Substack.