Media Lately + Discipline

MUSIC

I already raved about Ella Langley, but I’m going to do it again for good measure. Her album Dandelion is just so so good, and her voice is gorgeous. I was listening to it on repeat and, AND THEN:

. . . my a capella friend directed me to Lily Allen’s wild West End Girl, which chronicles in vivid detail the dissolution of her marriage to actor David Harbour. If you haven’t listened to Lily Allen since the 2010s (I loved her then, but admittedly kind of forgot about her) — well, prepare to be amazed. It’s raw and it’s storytelling and it’s catchy and also brutally sad.

BOOKS

After kind of a meh reading month in March, April has been quite strong! Initially recommended by Caroline, Sky Daddy was absolutely a hit for me. It was also one of those books I enjoyed while reading, but liked EVEN MORE in the aftermath.

(Annie Bot, possibly my favorite read of 2025, was like this for me too!)

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Unusual sex stuff galore! Plus echoes of childhood trauma + mental health struggles. But I actually did not find it to be triggering with respect to flying — I actually finished it on the plane (!).

ALSO, I’m only 8 pages into Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, which I immediately ordered because Sarah texted me and told me to “stop everything and read it right now”. YES MA’AM, I’m going to listen to a directive like that. And so far it seems like it will be my jam, though of course will let you know later.

MOVIES

Who are we kidding? I haven’t seen any. But maybe when I fly to SF in a couple of weeks I will watch one on the plane. (I tried to watch The Housemaid on my trip back from Albany but I didn’t have headphones and really didn’t want to just read the closed captioning — I feel like music/sound is so important in movies!).

PODCAST EPS:

(I’ve started starring them the episodes I want to recommend in my planner!)

Girl Next Door did a great ep on marriage tending

Happier Ladies did a Festival of Analog!!

NPR Music’s Songs for a Reset

EmPowered Radio’s Backstory

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DISCIPLINE

On another note, I was reflecting on the topic of discipline after listening to Cal’s latest ep with Brad Stolberg (I haven’t read any of this guest’s books, but they do sound interesting).

Brad shares his story of switching from running to weight training but the common thread being that having a hobby where he is in pursuit of excellence has been key to unlocking discipline in the rest of his life. (Or maybe it’s more Cal that took things in this direction).

I obviously related to his “I USED TO RUN KIND OF OBSESSIVELY AND THEN I STOPPED” journey, though his transition was a bit less dramatic than mine. But unlike Brad I do not have a current pursuit of excellence, really. But I’m less convinced than he is that I need one! I feel like I have a ton of different areas of life where I am doing stuff, and maybe that’s . . . fine!?

Then again, I do understand how it is fun to feel like you are improving at something. Maybe things like Pilates and weight training and piano do scratch that itch without reaching the fever pitch of marathon training (or the way I approached marathon training, anyway)?

I think I am — overall — a very disciplined person in most respects. There are definitely some projects/habits I still find challenging, but on a day-to-day level I generally do the things I care about and set out to do. I’m not sure I would have answered this similarly in other years, but I feel like . . . I have enough discipline these days. Would having more of a “pursuit of excellence” hobby help me unlock the next level of focus or just take up more hours in the week? I’m not so sure, but it’s an interesting thing to think about!