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Today’s Open Thread: It’s an Important Rodent Holiday 

It's time once again for us to turn Racket over to you, the readers.

10:25 AM CST on February 2, 2024

It’s your holiday, little buddy!

|Unsplash

Hello. Hi. Hola. It’s me, Jessica. Keith is out today moving to new digs, so I'm here to dump some lighter fluid onto the embers of this week’s open thread post. 

Last night, my Mom sent me a text at the stroke of midnight wishing me a happy Groundhog's Day. Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow this morning, in case you were wondering, which means spring is coming early, but if you’ve been outside in Minnesota lately you probably already knew that. 

While I don’t take weather predictions from disoriented rodents seriously, I do appreciate the reminder to watch Groundhog Day, a movie that gets me thinking about breaking bad habits, changing perspectives, and trying to be the best version of ourselves. I know New Year’s is the big resolution holiday, but I feel like Groundhog’s Day could be a lower stakes, more realistic counterpart. A big part of realizing goals is recognizing and breaking bad cycles, after all.

So let’s talk about bad habits and what we’re doing to break them this season. My lifelong dumb habit is drinking too much coffee. It gives me migraines. It fucks with my stomach. I stop sleeping. I drink too much, then I quit, only to start up again a few months later. I’ve been slowly weaning myself off the juice; during lockdown I was up to over a pint of joe a day, now I’m down to a single champagne flute (gotta put that neglected glassware to use somehow).

What dumb habits do you struggle to kick? Let’s talk in the thread below. Or, just share your plans for the weekend—or whatever else you feel like talking about. I’m going out for cocktails with a friend tonight, how about you?

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