Your Vote Matters
It does, and it did, and I wish I could revel for a bit longer in the historic news. But alas, reality (at least my reality) calls today.
I thought it would be fun to play a little game where my readers get to vote on which of the ridiculous things I’m dealing with today will be the last straw, the one that causes me to run screaming into the street:
1) The letter from the IRS marked URGENT that says they are going to levy my assets for non-payment of a check they cashed almost six months ago
2) The animal, likely the raccoon that has been strutting about my yard of late, that took a massive dump on the steps of my pool
3) Wandering through the health insurance maze in an effort to get coverage for the CWP, who ages out next month (spending hours going down rabbit holes and learning of new levels of greed and indifference)
4) The inexplicable pain below my clavicle that is making it excruciating to turn my head
5) The combination of all of the above (everything, everywhere, all at once)
Nothing that a long walk, a bowl of pasta, and a glass of wine won’t fix, for sure. Here’s to remembering that it’s all transitory.
Meanwhile, remembering and honoring veterans everywhere.
Ways I Found Joy This Week
Hearing Abdul El-Sayed call JD Vance habibi
Being the first one at the local fish market when it opened and scoring yellowtail snapper that made an amazing dinner
Spending an afternoon doing errands and organizing with the CWP
Collaging for hours as I recovered from my flu shot
Things I Learned This Week
That snow leopards can jump up to 50 feet in a single leap
That the eleven democrats who did not show up to vote on the motion to advance Hegseth’s impeachment have all received money from AIPAC or other pro-Israel PACs
Quotes That Resonated This Week
Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.
Mary Oliver
You are damaged and broken and unhinged. But so are shooting stars and comets.
Nikita Gill
What I Watched This Week
Dexter: Resurrection (Paramount+). Learning to savor the once-a-week releases. Dexter never disappoints.
Murder in a Small Town (Netflix). Drama and heartbreak when the sheriff’s job threatens his new relationship.
Phony (Hulu). The plot is thickening.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (Prime). An American in Rome witnesses an attempted murder and gets drawn in to assisting the police. This 1970s film is a classic of the giallo (yellow) genre of Italian murder mystery which influenced our 1980s slasher films.
Abbott Elementary (Hulu). Catching up after a long hiatus. Love this cast of quirky characters.
East of Eden (Netflix). Beautifully done adaptation of the John Steinbeck classic.
What I Read This Week
Mad Mabel, by Sally Hepworth. Is eighty-five-year-old Elsie really Mad Mabel, a former serial killer? Worth reading for the hilarious repartee between Elsie and her seven-year-old neighbor Persephone (who morphs from the bane of Elsie’s existence to a beloved) alone, but the back story of Mad Mabel is also engrossing.
Whale Harbor, by Mary Beth Keane. The sudden death of their mother shortly after the birth of her eleventh child sets the Joyce brothers on divergent paths. From Ireland in 1960, to Montana and New York, the choices made for them by their father reverberate through the next four decades. Detailed exploration of emigration and family ties.
Hollow Bones, by Jodi Picoult. Another trademark page-turner filled with current events and issues. This one revolves around the 25th anniversary of 9/11, the state of public health and emergency services, post-partum mental illness, motherhood, and so much more.
***
Thanks for reading!
Comments