Happy Year of the Dog! Illustration by Lindsey Frances

Things that happened recently:

It's hard not to be consumed by the news of the Florida school shooting, and I'm continually tearing up reading about the victims. But I'm equally moved by the survivors and their activism—especially Emma Gonzáles, who I am fully endorsing for President. If you want to get involved but are overwhelmed with the options, everytown.org seems like a good place to start. Speaking of those badass teens, RIP Marco Rubio.

I loved Jennifer Wright's book on plagues, but she also consistently writes articles that have me doing the Meryl clap to my computer screen, like this one about the culture of toxic masculinity and how it (coupled with easy access to guns and assault weapons) should not be overlooked as a cause of the mass shooting crisis in the US.

Some happier news: this week I booked a night in my third and final Wigwam Motel for June. Kaylah and Jeff graciously invited me to their wedding in the desert, and lucky for me it's close to the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, AZ so I can complete the holy trinity of 'wams. Arizona has Wigwam Village No. 6, which is one of only three remaining Wigwam Villages—No. 2 is in Kentucky and No. 7 is in California.

Things to do this weekend:

The Brooklyn Flea is hosting a mini record fair Saturday and Sunday from 10am - 5pm in Industry City. I'm always on the lookout for new (to me) records, but right now this one is at the top of my list.

Sunday is the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown. I just bought a brand new camera, and I hope the rain holds out so I can try it out on the colorful floats and confetti-filled streets. I haven't been to the parade since 2014, but it's one of my favorite parades here in the city.

You only have a few more weeks to go see all of the Oscar-nominated movies. David and I just saw The Phantom Thread last week and it was ... weird? The Shape of Water and Get Out are still my personal favorites, but I'm most looking forward to seeing Call Me By Your Name, which I've already decided I'm going to love (and I plan to read the book too).

Things I've discovered recently:

My friend Jen tagged me in an Instagram photo of this incredibly gross and amazing chocolate heart from the Edible Museum and I immediately went to the website and wanted to buy everything they sell.

I recently bought this old-school alarm clock because I'm trying not to sleep with my phone close to my bed. If you're starting to feel like you're attached to your phone in an unhealthy way (like me and ... probably everyone else I know) here are a few ways you can start to (slowly) break up with your phone.

I had seen these cremated remains labels from the Post Office, but it never crossed my mind that you could just order them and have them shipped completely free until I saw this tweet. I immediately ordered a two-pack (the limit) and will be putting them on every package I send from now on.

My uncle is in town for some operas this weekend, so we're going to meet him for breakfast tomorrow at Cafe Luxembourg. He introduced me to their baked eggs and they're so good. I live only a few subway stops away, but it doesn't feel right to eat there without him, so every time he's in town is a double treat. As of right now, the weather looks dreary for the next few days, but last week I also predicted that we were done with snow for the year and the next day ... it snowed.

I'm really hoping the rain shifts away from Sunday so we can see the Lunar New Year Parade (here's a map of the route), but maybe I'll get lucky and just the threat of rain will keep away some of the crowds. We may not agree on much, but I think we can all agree that the Year of the Dog will be a cute one—I'm hoping this is my year to finally run into my favorite Instagram dog, Noodle (he lives in Harlem!). Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday!