Weekly Report

Weeknotes: December 15th - December 21st 2025

Good Morning Magpie

Good Morning Magpie

— 4 min read

Disclaimer: It should be mentioned that Weeknotes are always a snapshot of the week itself and lack the fullness of life - as is the case with any personal blogging.

✨ Happenings

  • The week had a drastic fluctuation in temperatures with a winter storm brutalizing the city (and the Canadian Prairies more widely) on Wednesday. Blizzard-like conditions with low visibility and 60 km/h wind gusts brought chaos for much of the day.
  • The last few work days of the year I finished teaching the remaining classes and helped work on organizing supplies in our learning centre's storage. On Thursday evening, there was a staff holiday party. There was a lot of pizza and wonderful sweets, but the highlight was playing Science Trivia with my team: Bilan, Blair, and Nyx. That being said, we lost and no one received any lava lamps.
  • The first couple days of the winter break has Taylor and I organizing the condo, cleaning, baking cookies, and prepping for our annual Christmas Dinner Party on Saturday evening.
  • For our Christmas Dinner Party, we had our usual suspects with a few more gems added to the bunch - we had a lot of fun! Taylor and I prepared a cabbage and chimichurri main with roasted vegetables and sausages, mashed potatoes, and fudgy mint oreo "truffles". Taylor (with Mikayla's help!) additionally concocted two mocktails for everyone to try. Folks brought a bounty of beautiful dishes, drinks, and desserts to add to the meal, filling out a veritable smorgasbord of delights! Love you all!
  • On Sunday, we celebrated James' birthday by playing board games throughout the day (Clash of Cultures being a favourite) and having Chinese food for dinner.

📗 Reading

  • Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen - Continued Reading

I continued working my way through this book. Chapters included discussions regarding the concept of "compulsory sexuality", masculinity and sexual desire, and the intersection of whiteness and asexuality.

  • The Penguin History of Modern Spain: 1898 to the Present by Nigel Townson - Started Reading

Inspired by the new Victoria 3 DLC, I read the introduction and most of the first chapter of this book, with much of the focus being on the Disaster of 1898.

🎮 Playing

  • Victoria 3

With Iberian Twilight being released last week, I started a couple runs. I began as Spain and I defeated the Carlists twice (though after some meddling in Latin America, the French took it upon themselves to backstab me and ruined it all). I also started a run as Cuba and achieved independence from Spain by the mid-1850s (take that Carlists). Still playing it.

🎵 Listening

  • "Nausea" by Jeff Rosenstock (Song)

I have been listening to a lot of Jeff Rosenstock throughout the latter half of the week and thought I'd share this song that was irritatingly stuck in my head one night.

Certainly a well-documented trend, but this video is a reminder that reusable water bottles, like many consumer products, acts as a status indicator. With Christmas next week, it is important to consider how our consumer behavior, whether intentional or not, has come to be viewed as a marker of identity. As an owner of an Owala water bottle, I do wonder how I was convinced to purchase this brand over others and what it says about me.

📷 Photos

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