<![CDATA[The Weekly Wrap]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sTlL!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faf103d15-ab87-4df4-98c3-5c8ecfcf9951_800x800.pngThe Weekly Wraphttps://meghankowalski.substack.comSubstackWed, 02 Sep 2026 20:45:33 GMT<![CDATA[The Weekly Wrap #279 ]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-279https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-279Sun, 30 Aug 2026 15:02:55 GMTThe news alerts were not kind this week.

When the notices about the passings of Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Yayoi Kusama landed in my inbox, I was genuinely sad.

I was not alone in my feelings.

People have shared widely about how each of these artists impacted their lives and communities. And those stories have been of uplift, recognition, and joy. In our grief, we shared the widespread influence of these amazing people. It's heartening to see nothing put positivity shared in those stories.

I think our grief is more profound because Parton, Curie, and Kusama were all creators. Not in the "content creators" trend of today, but in the true meaning of the word. They took their medium, whatever it was, and made something. They made us feel. They made us think. They made art where there was none before.

They were human. They made human things. And they shared their gifts with the world.

They will each be missed.

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When do you meet Odysseus in The Odyssey? I’ve been spending lots of time with Telemachus and none with Odysseus.

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

  • We finished The Last Ship. The final season was not the best, but I mean that more for production and plotting. The story was good, the writing punched above its weight, but the CGI was a dumpster fire. Missiles would explode and engulf things in flames, and then there would be no damage to the item hit. Also, the final scene is hokey fan service. I was okay with that. [Netflix]

  • Nashville leaves Netflix in a few weeks. Luckily, the husband didn’t complain when I asked if I could binge the last two seasons as fast as possible. This show is purely a telenovella at this point. Once you use that framing it feels less over the top. The music continues to be the best part. [Netflix]

  • When I need a quick, weeknight dinner, it’s hard to go wrong with shrimp and white beans with spinach and feta. The hardest (and most time consuming) part of this dish is peeling the shrimp. I would use a little less broth next time. It took a bit for that the cook down. [skinnytaste]

  • When I bought a bag of farro, I didn’t think it would last forever. It seems to never end! To help use up more of the bag, I made chickpea, beet, and cucumber salad as my lunch meal prep. Aside from worrying about getting beet juice everywhere, this one is easy and tasty. But my cutting board does end up looking like a crime scene. [Eating Well]

  • Whenever I see one of those lifehacks online, I presume they are too good to be true. Because, often, they are. So I was amazed when the hack of microwaving corn on the cob was as easy as the internet claimed. I will never cook corn another way. This was so easy and you don’t end up with silks stuck to everything. You do need to cut off the bottom row of corn though. I didn’t do that with the first ear and it was a bit hard to shake off the husk. [inthekitchenwithmatt]

A picture from my archives where our kiddo is sitting in a pile of books she wanted to us to read. Half of them are from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. [Private Collection]

Have I Been Flocked is an easy tool that let’s you see if your car has been searched through the Flock database.

It’s the week where I pop in to say hello to all the classes where I am an embedded librarian.

The Weekly Wrap is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[3x3: August 27, 2026]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-august-27-2026https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-august-27-2026Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:25 GMT3x3 is a weekly paid subscriber exclusive. Where The Weekly Wrap shares what I’ve done, 3x3 shares what I want to get to.

We are less than a week into the academic semester and our printers have already crashed out a half dozen times. Our machines are high volume. Printing is free so students go nuts trying to print textbooks, syllabi, campaign posters, and whatever else floats their boat. This causes a lot of stress on the machines and they, inevitably, give up. At this point, people expect that at least one machine will be down at any given moment. I want to redesign our out of order signs to be more whimsical. It would at least make taping them to the machines less aggravating.

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  • A Million to One bills itself as Ocean’s 8 meets Titanic… cause it’s a heist plot on the Titanic. You don’t need to tell me anything else about this book. Putting a high-stakes story idea in a high-stacks plot setting is bound to make for good reading. This is a YA book so I expect to fly through the text once I get my hands on it.

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]]><![CDATA[The Weekly Wrap #278 ]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-278https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-278Sun, 23 Aug 2026 15:02:49 GMTDuring my solo week at home, I ended up watching a few movies that were pure nostalgic picks.

​I can't say they all held up after a few decades, but one thing hit unexpectedly: the end credit songs. When the screen turned to the scroll and the song kicked in, my brain was back to when I first watched these films. It was a wonderful feeling!

I was shocked by how I still knew the lyrics. Since no one was around, I ended up singing along. It's amazing what musical memories can do to you. I think I might need to make a playlist of these songs for when I need some good vibes.

​Which end credit song do you remember most?

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I’m back to reading Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey. It’s a good thing I wasn’t expecting it to be like the movie, cause it’s not. Not at all.

*Books shared here are affiliate links for Bookshop.org

  • When movie theaters found air conditioning. [PetaPixel]

  • The value of keeping the score. [WaPo - gift link]

  • The knotty story of knitting, crochet, and lace. [Articles of Interest]

  • The climate change fighting power of beavers. [Up First]

  • AI is making scamming easier, but there are signs to help you avoid being a victim. [Booming]

  • Everything you probably didn’t want to know about ticks. [Wellness, Actually]

  • One of my nostalgic movie watches was Ever After. This film holds up! More two decades later, I can still quote half the script. Drew Barrymore isn’t your typical princess pick, but this movie isn’t your typical Cinderella. It’s way more feminist and creative. I love it. I can’t wait to show this one to my kiddo. [Disney+]

  • I’ve been meaning to watch The Last Duel for some time. I kept putting it off because I couldn’t get over Ben Affleck’s bad blonde dye job. But the Ridley Scott direction and medieval historical setting won out. The story structure was interesting. The film is split into three parts and told from each of the main characters point of view. I liked how they showed different interpretations of the same scenes. Jodie Comer is phenomenal in her role as Marguerite. [Amazon]

  • I managed to squeeze in one documentary this week, What’s the Story, Wishbone. Growing up, this was one of my favorites. I never realized just how much effort was put into the creation of this children’s show. That care is why it was so good. It was bittersweet to hear that the show ended because it was a victim of its own success. Wishbone​ was too good, and too highly produced to survive an every day format. It needs a revival. [Amazon]

  • Before my solo week at home, I swung by Trader Joe’s to pick up some things. While I was there, I remembered to grab an item I wanted to try: strawberry brioche style Liège waffles. I expected them to be crunchy. They’re much softer but still firm. I liked the flavor, but getting these once was enough. They’re a bit sweet. [Trader Joe’s]

  • For some reason, I’ve been craving a cold shrimp salad. I had a pre-made one on a vacation years ago. It was so good and I’ve wanted to recreate it. I didn’t recall the exact flavor but this Italian shrimp salad seemed like it would come close. I made sure to cook and chill the shrimp before mixing all the ingredients. This one got better the longer it sat in the fridge. I think the shrimp marinated more deeply in the dressing. [Skinny Taste]

  • Apparently I wanted seafood and cold things this week. I also made crab and corn salad. Our store did not have the chili pepper the recipe called for and nothing available looked like a good substitute. After tasting the mixture, it needed the heat for the flavor kick. I mixed in some red pepper. It worked but the actual pepper would have been better. [SkinnyMs]

  • Continuing my seafood selections, I rolled into smoked salmon flatbread at the end of the week. This is basically a bagel and lox. There’s a bit more to it than that, but not much. It goes really well with a nice champagne. [Real Simple]

It me! Not gonna lie, this is the main reason I miss being in school as a student. [Hedger Humor]

Want to break out of your audio bubble, Random Podcasts can help. It drops a new, random podcast episode onto the page once a day.

No matter how much I age, I’m always excited for back to school season.

The Weekly Wrap is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[3x3: August 20, 2026]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-august-20-2026https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-august-20-2026Fri, 21 Aug 2026 00:01:07 GMT3x3 is a weekly paid subscriber exclusive. Where The Weekly Wrap shares what I’ve done, 3x3 shares what I want to get to.

Last night, I finished reading a book I was not ready to be done with. About 100 pages from the end, I realized this would be the start of a series. I want more of the world and characters, but I’m not looking forward to the year long wait for book two. This is why I prefer reading finished series! I am not patient enough for this. I’ve got way to many still open series in my life right now.

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  • Recently, I was scrolling through all the books on my Pinterest TBR list. I deleted some books I’ve read and others I’m not longer interested in. When I came across The Last One I had no memory of what it was about. It took two sentences of summary for me to remember why it was on my list. It’s basically another Hunger Games like story but more survival in the woods.

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]]><![CDATA[The Weekly Wrap #277 ]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-277https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-277Sun, 16 Aug 2026 15:02:51 GMTIntro is going to be short this week. Normally, I take this week of the year off. (Everyone deserves a vacation.) But, I forgot to block it out in my calendar, and this post was already half written.…

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]]><![CDATA[3x3: August 13, 2026]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-august-13-2026https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-august-13-2026Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:00:28 GMT3x3 is a weekly paid subscriber exclusive. Where The Weekly Wrap shares what I’ve done, 3x3 shares what I want to get to.

My University’s faculty report back on Monday. Our students start classes next Friday. My kiddo starts school the Monday after that. Back-to-school season is in full swing, but my brain is still in that end of summer lull. Hopefully, the energy I usually feel about a new academic year kicks into high gear next week. I’ve got so many things I need to do and share! (At least I managed to bank a bunch of video content this summer.)

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  • While my reading of The Odyssey is paused, my brain is ready for more ancient world content. Searching for the Amazons: The Real Warrior Women of the Ancient World has been sitting at the bottom of my TBR list for years. As soon as I finish the current stack of books on my nightstand, I think I’ll see if this work of non-fiction is available at a library. I am ready to read more about badass women.

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]]><![CDATA[The Weekly Wrap #276 ]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-276https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-276Sun, 09 Aug 2026 15:01:21 GMTThis past week, one colleague and myself held down the fort at our library while all of our other colleagues were on vacation or using leave for life maintenance.

While we do have summer sessions the …

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]]><![CDATA[3x3: August 6, 2026]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-august-6-2026https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-august-6-2026Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:01:11 GMT3x3 is a weekly paid subscriber exclusive. Where The Weekly Wrap shares what I’ve done, 3x3 shares what I want to get to.

Monday starts our kiddo’s last week of summer camp. What felt endless at the start of the summer has flown by. Her backpack will be limping to the finish line. (You don’t want to know how many times I’ve had to repair her attached lunch box.) I can’t believe we are now in back-to-school rush. Thankfully, our school lets you purchase class supply packs which are delivered directly to the classroom. At least that’s one thing crossed off our to-do list.

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  • I am a Type-A Planner. (Yes, it warrants the capital letters.) I like to know what is going to happen, when it’s going to happen, and where I need to be. I feel anxious when I’m running late. My checklists are my crutch. If something goes awry, I literally feel shaky. “The Benefits of Getting Comfortable With Uncertainty” is not something I want to read but, rather, something I need to read. You can’t plan for everything in life.

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]]><![CDATA[The Weekly Wrap #275 ]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-275https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-275Sun, 02 Aug 2026 15:01:39 GMTFor most of the summer, I've been working on some accessibility issues discovered on my library's website. (All universities are going through the process of ensuring their web presence is fully acce…

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]]><![CDATA[3x3: July 30, 2026]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-july-30-2026https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-july-30-2026Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:57 GMT3x3 is a weekly paid subscriber exclusive. Where The Weekly Wrap shares what I’ve done, 3x3 shares what I want to get to.

I was working at the reference desk on Tuesday when my colleague walked over with three new puzzles for our stash. One was a wonderful version of a New Yorker cover. It’s an illustration of an NYPL library lion looking down at a reader. I want to do this puzzle! But, first, I need to finish the puzzle of a bookstore I started at home. The watercolor bricks are defeating me!

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  • I think the last time I thought about continental drift was back in high school. (Perhaps my environmental science class?) Continental drift is a fundamental concept of geology, but it wasn’t always. “On the Origin of Continents” looks at why this essential fact of our world took so long to discover. I look forward to learning a lot of information that could be useful in some future pub trivia nights.

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]]><![CDATA[The Weekly Wrap #274]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-274https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-274Sun, 26 Jul 2026 15:03:05 GMTOne of the productive things I did with my week off was clean out our storage cabinets, bookcases, and dressers. I try do this once a year because it gives me a chance to see stuff that is hidden and…

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]]><![CDATA[3x3: July 23, 2026]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-july-23-2026https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-july-23-2026Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:48 GMT3x3 is a weekly paid subscriber exclusive. Where The Weekly Wrap shares what I’ve done, 3x3 shares what I want to get to.

I consider it the mark of a good adaptation when the movie makes me want to read the book. For example, we saw The Odyssey. It was good. It was so good that I went out and bought a copy of the translation that looked best for me. Now I’m reading the book. First, however, I have to get through the 81 page introduction (because, academics). But the movie energized me so much that I don’t mind reading the scholarly density before I hit the story itself.

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  • I get a lot of my book recommendations from Culture Study. Recently, Anne Helen Petersen interviewed the author of My Parents Are Dead: What Now? - A Panic-Free Guide to the Practicalities of Death for her podcast. I think I was one question into the episode when I went ahead and added this to my TBR list. No one likes to think about death, but I’d rather be prepared than surprised. Plus, anything I can do to make future me’s life easier would be a sound life choice.

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]]><![CDATA[The Weekly Wrap #273 ]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-273https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-273Sun, 19 Jul 2026 15:01:18 GMTIn honor of my summer birthday, I took the coming week off from work. The library is already slow, so it's the perfect time to use some annual leave.

With my week off, I've decided I'm going to do one…

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]]><![CDATA[3x3: July 16, 2026]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-july-16-2026https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-july-16-2026Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:29 GMT3x3 is a weekly paid subscriber exclusive. Where The Weekly Wrap shares what I’ve done, 3x3 shares what I want to get to.

I’ve got one more day of work left before I roll into my summer staycation week. I decided I want to do one big productive thing each day. The rest of the day will be spent toodling about however I feel like in the moment. My goal is to finish the productive task by Noon so I can enjoy my lunch and afternoon. (Here’s hoping washing our walls doesn’t take that long!) Most of my get-it-done energy is in the morning anyway.

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  • Joan of Arc is one of those historical figures I find myself drawn to. She was a woman - girl, really - beyond her era. We know a surprising amount about her life, but I’m fascinated by what fiction authors choose to do with the facts. Joan: A Novel by Katherine J. Chen is one of the more recent takes on her story. I can’t wait to read it. Chen’s take seems to lean more into the warrior ethos.

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]]><![CDATA[The Weekly Wrap #272 ]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-272https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-272Sun, 12 Jul 2026 15:01:49 GMTOver the past few years, I’ve discovered how much I love helping people dig into their personal archives. Every person is the archivist of their own life. I’ve greatly enjoyed helping people learn ho…

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]]><![CDATA[3x3: July 9, 2026]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-july-9-2026https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-july-9-2026Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:40 GMT3x3 is a weekly paid subscriber exclusive. Where The Weekly Wrap shares what I’ve done, 3x3 shares what I want to get to.

I wore a new dress to work on Tuesday. It was the first item I’ve acquired in the slow process to revamp my wardrobe. The first person to see me in it was the kiddo. She said, “Is that new? It’s pretty!” The design and style are not that much different from my usual wardrobe. But, I so very rarely get myself new things. Tuesday was a good reminder that it’s okay to spend money on yourself. I’ve since purchased a few more new items to try. I expect several will be returned (I’m only keeping what I love), but I’m looking forward to seeing what I end up liking enough to add to my closet.

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  • Our kiddo is on a quest to befriend all animals. Ever since I told her that you could, actually, make friends with crows, she’s loved the idea of trying to be buddies with this avian. So, when “Are Crows Really Our Friends?” showed up in a recent curated link round up, I had to add it to my reading list. I hope everything I’ve heard isn’t wrong!

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]]><![CDATA[The Weekly Wrap #271 ]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-271https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-271Sun, 05 Jul 2026 15:00:24 GMTI tried to start this intro a dozen separate times. I went through numerous topics and first sentences. None of my attempts stuck.

Was it the heat dome? Maybe.

​Was it my to-do list running through my …

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]]><![CDATA[3x3: July 2, 2026]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-july-2-2026https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-july-2-2026Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:10 GMT3x3 is a weekly paid subscriber exclusive. Where The Weekly Wrap shares what I’ve done, 3x3 shares what I want to get to.

This week, I got to co-teach a few classes of high schoolers who were on campus for an engineering summer camp. Working with them is quite different than our usual student population. But, they gave me some good ideas of activities to add to my regular work. Namely, more peer-to-peer discussions and less Q&A. Time to update my teaching materials!

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  • While I definitely have a political tilt in my life, I’m not opposed to reading contrary things. For example, I am fully behind the work of the 1619 Project, but I understand there was disagreement about the work. As an academic, I want to know more about that disagreement. “I Helped Fact-Check the 1619 Project. The Times Ignored Me.” is an article from a fact-checker that will help me learn where the discrepancies come from.

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]]><![CDATA[The Weekly Wrap #270 ]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-270https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/the-weekly-wrap-270Sun, 28 Jun 2026 15:03:06 GMTYou ever see something that makes you think, "Huh. I wonder how that works?"

That was me earlier this week. While walking home, I saw something normal - a garbage truck emptying dumpsters.

But it was …

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]]><![CDATA[3x3: June 25, 2026]]>https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-june-25-2026https://meghankowalski.substack.com/p/3x3-june-25-2026Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:47 GMT3x3 is a weekly paid subscriber exclusive. Where The Weekly Wrap shares what I’ve done, 3x3 shares what I want to get to.

Kiddo is nearing the end of her first week of summer camp. On the first day, she was so excited that she tried to run onto the bus without her backpack. It always takes us a few days to get into the swing our summer routine. We’re nearly there. As long as the kiddo keeps coming home happy and tired, we’ll be able to manage the next seven weeks.

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  • Linguistics is one of those topics I forget I’m into until something catches my eye. “New Mexico Is Losing a Form of Spanish Spoken Nowhere Else on Earth” looks at how we’re losing a dialect. Languages can go extinct just like species. But how we speak is also an inherent part of how we experience our culture and history. What happens when we no long have the words to share the nuances of a group?

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