because doing them on a phone or computer is so unsatisfying. give me a pen and a 2-year old partially completed xword and a clipboard - it's the best way to do it! so immensely fulfilling to finish the whole thing on pen and paper. PEN AND PAPER!!! not as good as the OG newsprint but it's the next best thing.
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They have grown from a way to pass time on my commute to a tether of sanity and order I cling to in this increasingly unstable and unreasonable reality.
do it in your phone if you want but itβs better with a good old fashioned pencil
Nov 7, 2024
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My sibling brought copies of their student newspaper home for the holidays, and itβs been so fun to complete the crosswords by hand! It taps a part of the brain that I so rarely use and gets me to think creatively. One of my goals this year is to have more tactile hobbies, ones based in physical media, and between this, reading, and completing puzzles, Iβm spending significantly less time on my phone than usual.
Dec 28, 2024
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I love my little NYTimes games ritual (start with easy Sudoku, then medium Sudoku, Connections, Crossword, hard Sudoku, Tiles, and finally Spelling Bee if I feel really locked in). Still, the brain health benefits and fun of these puzzles feel diminished when I realize this is HOURS of unnecessary screen time.
I switched my daily puzzle ritual from online to a paperback, and I have never been happier. I feel so zen doing my sudoku outside like a fucking monk.
Mar 3, 2024
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because no one ever said you have to put your fruits and veg in plastic bags. you wash them anyway, right?
Apr 11, 2025
when the day didn't exactly go your way and you crack an egg for dinner and you get a double yolk, it's like someone's looking out for you ππ
6d ago
I can legitimately say I would not be the same person I am now if I had never seen Amelie. there's this episode of This American Life called "Spark Bird" - the bird that first sparks someone's interest in/obsession with birding - well I like to refer to "spark movies" and Amelie was it for me. it showed me what cinema could do. I had never seen a movie that encapsulated my worldview but also how I wanted the world to be and look. seeing it as a teenager probably had a lot to do with it - the longing, the quirkiness - but the visual/artist part of me realized movies could do and express things I never thought possible and never had words or images for. it was like a floodgate opened, it was my gateway drug to more movies, art, music, and the way I experienced myself in the world. it was so formative for me it's like my brain soaked it up and I can't help that it's always there permeating everything with more whimsy, flair, and color β¨
Mar 13, 2025