I think maybe the Lexapro is starting to help a bit? Not 100%, but yesterday was a better day overall and this morning has been more or less okay. From what I can find online, many people do start feeling a bit of relief after a couple of weeks. The full effect can take more like 6-8 weeks, which is why my primary care doc wanted to do a followup around then.
The Things We Make was interesting all the way through. The overall lesson one can take from it is that engineering works with what it has — available resources, uncertainties, and specific needs — to create or improve something. The question of “best” is a thorny one. Math and science are tools to eliminate unfruitful design directions, but creativity, insight, persistence and rules of thumb are key. Diversity is incredibly important. The “lone genius” story is a myth, but there are many stories of brilliant engineers that just don’t get told. And neither Edison nor Tesla invented the light bulb — in fact Edison’s bulb wasn’t even the best in its time.
I’ve started Lilli Taylor’s Turning to Birds, because the ebook was on sale and the description sounded like it could be a fun read. The author is an actress who started birding, and found a lot of personal lessons in the process of observing avian behavior. I think birds are kind of neat but I don’t have that specific enthusiasm — but a well-told story of someone geeking out on a particular subject can definitely be charming, so I thought I’d give it a chance. And who knows, maybe I’ll pay more attention to the birds next time I’m on a walk. Once the weather starts to cooperate, that is… we’re having a string of very cold days, though last week’s snow did have a chance to mostly melt off.