{"id":45679,"date":"2026-03-04T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=45679"},"modified":"2026-02-25T14:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T21:42:13","slug":"whats-in-my-now-amanda-mcclendon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/whats-in-my-now-amanda-mcclendon\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s in my NOW? \u2014 Amanda McClendon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I\u2019m a librarian, but I don\u2019t do whatever you think of when you think of what librarians do. I also host trivia on Monday nights at a local Tex-Mex restaurant, work on a master\u2019s degree in theology, and listen to too many podcasts during whatever free time I have left. \u2014&nbsp;<strong>Amanda McClendon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2026\/02\/amanda-wimb-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-45680\" width=\"594\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2026\/02\/amanda-wimb-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2026\/02\/amanda-wimb-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2026\/02\/amanda-wimb-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2026\/02\/amanda-wimb.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>PHYSICAL<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/YzMNYm\">Oven pull<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; These are wood or silicone sticks with two notches. You grab your oven rack with it to get it in and out of the oven while putting some distance between yourself and a very hot metal box, so you\u2019re less likely to burn yourself.<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/good.store\/products\/evensong-chai-loose-leaf-tea\">Keats &amp; Co. Evensong Chai<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong>&#8211; Caffeine free (it\u2019s rooibos), plus all the profits go to tuberculosis treatment. Good.store, which runs the brand, is a great company run by internet celebrities John and Hank Green and they have all kinds of other good products as well.<\/li><li><strong>Public libraries!<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8211; Listen, I work at an academic library, and I still hit up my local public library all the time, because they have items for checkout that my workplace doesn\u2019t have, and they\u2019re one of the last places in American society where you can hang out and they won\u2019t ask you for money (save for maybe late fees). Plus they may have programs and items you weren\u2019t expecting, like board games, odd kitchen equipment, tax prep help, passport services, free museum passes, or makerspaces.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>DIGITAL<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gYvw68IneV4\">Kung Fu Grandpa in the Food Lion parking lot!<\/a>&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;<\/strong>The narration combined with the absurdity of the guy messing with nunchucks in the grocery store parking lot is pure gold.<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldsbeyondnumber.com\/\">Worlds Beyond Number<\/a>&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;<\/strong>If you had asked me a year ago if I would be interested in a podcast of four people playing DND together, I would have said no. Past me would have been wrong. Some of the best audio storytelling, and a lot of that is due to the friendship between the four players, all with improv backgrounds. (But also: The editing and sound design are pretty killer as well.)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>INVISIBLE<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cDo not be daunted by the enormity of the world\u2019s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it\u201d \u2014&nbsp;<em>Pirkei Avot<\/em>, 2:16<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Especially helpful in these times!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/whatsinmynow.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Sign up here<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0to get\u00a0What\u2019s in my NOW?\u00a0a week early in your inbox.<\/em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8ec17518-5a1f-4d72-bb4c-90894919687f_600x600.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>issue #244<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2303],"tags":[2389],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45679"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45679"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45681,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45679\/revisions\/45681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}