Just My Cats And Me

Well, I'm super late this week but I completely skipped last week so I'm checking in now. This blog is mostly for future-me anyway, and I know I'm easy about scheduling, especially for people I like. I'm assuming future-me will like past-me, who is currently present-me.

I was a practical home owner lately! I scheduled my water heater for replacement, something I've been meaning to do for four years and been serious about for two. The last year I can sorta blame on the Pandemic, but before that was more an inability to deal with getting quotes. And then I found out my brother-in-law was having a company come out to remove moss from the roof (apparently moss is bad for roofs) so I got him to let me also have an appointment. So now I have a new water heater that is not thinking about exploding or whatever it is water heaters do when they get old, and a new roof that is not decomposing or whatever it is mossy roofs do. Next step -- deal with drips and probably get new toilets.

My older son Alexander wanted to get his driving license this summer. He checked the state website, followed the instructions, and showed up for his picture, at which point they told him that the online instructions were wrong (despite his having called to verify them) and he needed to go do stuff elsewhere before he could make a new appointment. Of course, with COVID appointments are a month out, so that meant he would have left to go back to school before his next appointment appeared. Government Fail! In added aggravation, his doctor's office failed to transfer a prescription despite four conversations with them. Since these were two times Alexander was really trying to do things responsibly (call people! His personal nemesis in terms of adulting) I was very disappointed that the lesson reality was teaching him was that if you do the right things it doesn't work anyway. Thanks, world. Well, specifically, thanks a lot, Washington State DOL. 

We went off to give blood again, and had arranged to meet a friend. I was so excited to see someone almost in person (masks stayed on, of course) that I guess I forgot to pump the squishy ball, and my blood clotted up and I failed my donation. So I got all the fun of the needle (and extra people coming by to poke at my needle) but didn't save any lives. Oh well, I brought a son, so I can points for the lives he saved, right? It's like one of those pyramid schemes. So my mom gets some of those points too, I guess.

Anyway, I took a few day break from exercising and running after the blood donation (they got about 80% of a full donation, so I had to follow the recommendations anyway) and then decided to continue the hiatus until after my planned long drives because being sore and trapped in a car seemed a recipe for unhappiness. Then I got food poisoning and exercise was right out. (This also explains how I missed posting last week.) The pain while twisting persisted long enough that I called the consulting nurse to see if it were likely from the workouts or from the running and she said I had to see a doctor if it didn't get better within the week. That was not the answer I was hoping for so now I refuse to exercise at all so that it has no excuse to stay.

I signed up for a painting class through my senior center which was great because they give you the paint and the canvas. My attempt was terrible, and then they ran over so I missed the final steps which usually really help. So instead of a glowing fall apple I have a radioactive mutant fruit lurking malevolently on the wall. But I had fun so I'll look around for something else to try to paint.

Socially I was busy. My monthly book club time rolled around and we did it remotely. Traditionally we do picture books in August -- I bring all the Cybils picture books finalists and we read and judge them. This year things were hard -- library holds didn't start up again until the beginning of August so I couldn't get all the books. We weren't in the same room so we couldn't pass the books around. So instead my sister and I took turns reading the board book finalists out loud to the screen (I buy those) and we judged those, and then I figured out how to share my screen so I could show the few picture books I had gotten online. It was still fun but I missed the traditional event.

I had just started working on my CERT classes when Pandemic ended everything. But one class that had been canceled was Mental Health First Aider, and that is now available online. So I spent a day in front of my computer getting trained up. Only about ten more trainings to go!

Our Weekly Family chats continue, so I enjoy seeing some of the far-flung relatives. The most recent one had to be scheduled by someone else as I wasn't sure I'd have a place to start it from, and it was hilarious how reluctant my much more tech-savvy siblings were to take on the daunting task of starting a Zoom meeting. I guess the way I've managed to mess it up in every possible way was not reassuring. Of course, the glitch this recent time was that *I* wasn't invited, since I'm not on the invite list for all the others ones. Good thing both my kids signed in; one was with me.

And of course, school time is here. My younger son had a signed lease in place, so we drove off so he could take classes remotely but now close to where they would have been held in person. The plan is he can study more coherently there than he can easily manage at home. Again, the world is strange. Instead of meeting his housemates, we moved him in while the building was empty and the only one I met was the dog. Then I drove home in full control of the radio and repacked the car with older son's stuff (both kids travel very light so this takes about twenty minutes) and repeated in a different direction. Older son will actually have some in person classes, so it didn't feel so quixotic to drive him to college. Also, getting my tank filled for me in Oregon is always a delight. I drove back home on Monday (that's my excuse for this week!).

My currently reading has drifted down to 18 including the three I'm just pretending to read, but also including things like serials that I subscribe to and my Greek picture book which I aim to read 2 pages a day in. Because I don't actually speak Greek despite what Duolingo thinks. 

The Book Date does a weekly roundup of what people are reading, want to read, or have read each week called "It's Monday! What Are You Reading" so I'll sign up there. Ditto for the children's lit version at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers. The Cybils picture book fest makes me very eligible!

Started

Someone to Remember, Mary Balogh. Another library book hoarded through the pandemic. I like this author.

Polaris Rising, Jessie Mihalik. For my Cloudy book club.

The Fix, David Baldacci. For my reading team.

The Illustrated Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking. For my Tuesday book club. Well, we picked the basic Brief History but I think I need the Illustrated version.

Beach Babe (Baby Mouse #3), Jennifer L. Holm. Cybils book from a while ago.

Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky. I've heard a lot about this author.

Front Desk, Kelly Yang. Cybils book.

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, Rey Terciero. Cybils book.

Into the Fire, Elizabeth Moon. For my reading team, and because I like the author.

To Dance, Sienna Cherson Siegel. Cybils book. 

Completed

Someone to Remember, Mary Balogh. A light novella staring an old aunt (over fifty! this is new territory for a romance) finding her HEA with her old boyfriend from thirty years ago. They are both nice people who have matured a lot since their childhood romance, and it doesn't take much for them to give it another go. The fun part is watching him explain to his kids about the illegitimate son (not hers) that was the plot device for their reunion, and then half to explain to them that he's getting remarried. It was a bit of a missed opportunity for him to be her first (only) love, but it fit the previous stories.

Amelia Rules! Superheroes, Jimmy Gownley. 2006 Cybils under-12 Graphic Novel. This is a slice-of-life story of Amelia, who moved to a new area and made friends. It's realistic with exaggerations and the occasional dream sequence. I had no problems (well, besides my usual comic problem of telling people apart which is a me thing, not a problem with the book) jumping into the middle of the series, although I bet knowing how the relationships got her would make it even better. Some twists went unexpectedly dark, and I'm still a bit confused about the friend with the heart condition. Pre-teen love seems so dreary; I'm glad I and then my kids skipped that entirely in our own lives.

The Fix, David Baldacci. For my reading team. I'm on a Baldacci kick. It's fun reading these out of order because I know how Decker is going to try to improve his interpersonal skills and what he will still not worry about. This is definitely the spot where the FBI is happiest with him, despite his struggles. It was also fun to see someone excited about meeting the president, and then to have the president speak to them in complete sentences, which what puts this book deep into AU land.

Beach Babe (Baby Mouse #3), Jennifer L. Holm. 2006 Cybils under-12 graphic novel. I am old. This book is aimed at the young. I was entertained but I felt like I was at a friend's kid's birthday party and sometimes I got tired. And I resented the moral at the end -- of course Babymouse, who is somewhere between 8 and 15, gets tired of hanging out with her pre-school brother. He can't do many of the things she can. How hard is it to include him sometimes and not bring him when it's inappropriate?

Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler. Reread. This is still a great book. The pieces about the fragmenting of society seem eerily prescient, and I liked reading about Lauren's passion for her formed religion and seeing how her companions become interested. Her mix of pragmatism and hope carries her through both good times and horrific ones; the dangers of their present and their uncertain future are vividly described, but you hope that Lauren can build something that will survive. And now that I'm old I can appreciate the concern Bancroft has about their relationship -- of course his sister would have been concerned.

Front Desk, Kelly Yang. 2018 Cybils middle grade finalist. Another great Cybils book. I thought it was fun hijinks of a kid working the front desk for her family, and yes I got that, but it also came with a tremendous strength of heart. Immigration, poverty, racism, shame, fear, all get the respect they are due. Most of the kid-shaped plans to fix the world don't work, but enough do that the build of hope and confidence feel earned. I'm going to chase down more from this author.

Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton. I had forgotten how encompassing the happy ending was. I should reread this more often. And maybe try the Trollope that it's based on. I really liked how the younger sister got treasure and marriage, the younger brother got marriage and wealth, and the young dragonets didn't get eaten. And I adore the final scene with the Yarge. From now on I shall think of myself as having very little length -- I'm practically flat.

Braiding Sweetgrass (audio), Robin Wall Kimmerer. This is a lovely audiobook. It was a delight to listen to and also an interesting subject, showing how to combine science and a love of the land. The author refuses to reject her cultural values and resources as she enters the path towards becoming a professor of botany, and instead shows how they strengthen her learning and her understanding. All world views have biases, and recognizing this helps in preventing them from obscuring data. She also makes the idea of having a relationship and reciprocity with nature appealing; maybe I'll try gardening...

Into the Fire, Elizabeth Moon. After a jerk start that skips over a lot of stuff that happened since the previous book, Moon jumps into the new problems facing our Vatta family. No money, immigration woes on her toes, and of course the deadly assassins who keep trying to simplify their lives. I really like how many POVs we get, and how well Moon keeps them separate, so even seeing the same scene from two viewpoints isn't at all repetitive -- instead it's an object lesson in how preconceptions, expectations and prejudices mediate what you hear and see. I'm here for whatever Moon writes, but I think this one is a bit top-heavy for newcomers.

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, Rey Terciero. 2019 Cybils graphic novel finalist. I'm a huge Little Woman fan, so I welcomed this with open arms but was also a tough reader. I wanted to see how Rey integrated the story into the modern world and for the most past I was really pleased. Mr March is a lot younger seeming and I don't think he's in the clergy anymore, but instead is a deployed soldier. Marmee is a nurse so now she gets paid for all her work. The girls keep their original passions and mostly their jobs -- Jo works for her aunt, Meg tutors rich kids, Amy is a brat at school. The family is blended, so Meg and Jo come from their parents' first marriages and Beth and Amy are full sisters. The only things I didn't like was the hatchet job on John Brooke, who gets a lot of money which means he has to be a jerk so Meg can reject him and become a lawyer, which was icky. And Jo is gay but really worried about it, which seems odd given her insanely accepting family and also a cheap reason to reject Laurie (I really liked Jo realizing that a great friendship is not the same as romantic love). But Beth gets sick and that's well done, and Amy has to learn to be less self-centered, and the pictures and text show them as a loving, strong family that has the capacity to reach out to bring other people into the safety of their concern, so that is true to the original.

Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:

Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan. 8-9/10 discs. Hmm. I'm finding it hard to be grateful for Liga's rescue.

Uncompromising Honor 26/??, David Weber. Baen Free Radio Hour's serial. The battle continues. I have to listen to all the techno-battle, which is a bit sad.

Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling. I'm listening to celebrities read this to me. Almost back to this!

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James. Sword and Laser pick. I have not given up. I'm trying combining audio and paper so I get the accent but still remember what happens.

Me and White Supremacy, Layla Saad. I have consistently skipped about one day in four, so I'd better catch up my this Thursday.

A Long Time Until Now, Michael Z Williamson. These guys still prioritize denigrating women to surviving. I'm sad for the competence that is a usual staple of Williamson characters. 

Minor Mage, T. Kingfisher. I should figure out how to move books between my computer and my tablet more conveniently because I forgot to move this and then I can't read it when I reach for it.

Picture Books / Short Stories:

 

Αλφαβητάρι με γλωσσοδέτες, Eugene Trivizas. Back to working out a letter or two.

Once Upon a Goat, Dan Richards. 2019 Cybils finalist.  I read this both on my computer and as a book. It was popular with book club, as we enjoyed the silliness of the royal couple and the way they warmed up to their four legged ward. I fear the human baby will never be the favorite kid. 

Hair Love, Matthew A. Cherry. 2019 Cybils finalist. I've seen and loved the short film that I think is based on this, so there was a boost for this. But I the little girl's kindness and the father's determination shone through, and the cat was a great boost. This would be a fun readaloud. 

The Undefeated, Kwame Alexander. 2019 Cybils finalist. Lovely glowing pictures and delicious words bring the reader through history to the present, showing proud and difficult pieces of Black American history. I found a video of Alexander reading this aloud and used it when it was my turn to bring an inspirational thing to start an anti-racial meeting. 

The Monsterologist: A Memoir in Rhyme, Bobbi Katz. 2009 Cybils poetry finalist. The thought of trying to sneak this past my kids as a picture book is a bit depressing (my sons were poetry-adverse)  but if it had worked I bet they would have had fun. 

One Fox, Kate Read. 2019 Cybils finalist. Very popular with book club. It's great how much story, suspense and pathos is contained in a counting book, and the jump to hundreds for one page is hilarious. This would have been great to read with my kids when they were tiny and I can see it working for a school group as well.

Ruby's Hope, Monica Culling. 2019 Cybils finalist. This was a good book with appealing pictures and text (I especially liked the grimy feet of the barefoot kids) but I wish it were more nonfiction that fiction. It's honoring the picture but doesn't use the real story of the people in the photo. I'd rather something that didn't try to straddle real people and a emblematic story that was representative of history. 

Dream Big, Joyce Wan. 2019 Cybils board book finalist. This was a great picture book, and I especially like the way it could grow with a baby, or work to share a book with a baby, a toddler, and a preschooler. Tiny eyes will like the bright faces, older hands will like the adventure, and mature preschoolers will be proud to know the names and then the stories behind each of the characters. This is a baby book that can be repeatedly enjoyed by both baby and parent.

Peek-a-Who Too?, Elsa Mroziewicz. 2019 Cybils board book finalist. A fun shape for the book and astonishingly lovely pictures give this book a great gift quality. I also appreciated the more esoteric animals making sounds, since it got dull playing "what does the sheep say" with my guys. 

Jump!, Tatsuhide Matsuoka. 2019 Cybils board book finalist. Simple but pleasant pictures center the joy of jumping high, and the repeated use of BOING in creative ways was fun and might accidentally teach some letters. A very happy book.

You Are Light, Aaron Becker. 2019 Cybils board book finalist. Inspiring concept book that would be a great gift to a new parent. I'm not sure the babies would be as pleased, although the light holes and finger holes would be interesting to them.

Huggle Wuggle, Bedtime Snuggle, Della Ross Ferreri. 2019 Cybils board book finalist. We applauded the realism of the plot as the child turns bedtime into wild dance party, but the nonsense words would soon seem twee and annoying if this became a staple. 

Good Night World. 2019 Cybils board book finalist. Each slightly cartoony page offers one or more goodnights in languages from around the world, spoken by animals local to that geography. Pronunciation guides help out the struggling reader, and an index at the back identifies the language and the animal. Charming.

Peek-a-Bruce, Ryan T. Higgins. 2019 Cybils board book finalist. This is a good gift for parents of second or more children, with a bit of cynicism as poor Bruce desperately tries to take a break but is hunted down by the ruthlessly cheerful ducklings. It would also go well with siblings, as the older one catches the subtext while the baby sibling counts the ducklings. 

Frank and Bean, Jamie Michalak. 2019 Cybils Easy Reader finalist. An Oscar & Felix story with a prim hot dog and a loud and drum-playing bean. It encourages young readers to cheer for both characters as they blunder towards friendship. The appealing problem of tall hot dog and his tall but not wide tent is a good example of the cheerful illustrations. 

Palate Cleansers

These books I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.

The Educated Child, William Bennett. 

Give All to Love, Patricia Veryan. 

Wool, Hugh Howey. 

The Wind Gourd of La'amaomao, Moses Nakuima.  The trickster child works with his dad to defeat their enemies, help their lord, and regain their status. 

Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. 

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. 

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2017. None. I just need 3 YA books to be done.
2. Cybils 2018. Finished Front Desk. Have Lightning Girl on deck. 
3. Cybils 2019. Only one picture book left -- the library seems to have gotten it lost in transit. Read the rest of the picture books, all the board books, and the last Easy Reader. I have a lot of younger nonfiction queued up at the library. 
4. Early Cybils: Finished Amelia Rules! Superheroes, and two other graphic novels.
5. Reading My Library. In the meantime I have decided to indulge myself with the mystery bags.
6. Ten to Try. At 9/10. Haven't read it yet, but I've got #10 on my tablet. It's also here in paper. 
7. Where Am I Reading: 16/51 states. 22 Countries. I've forgotten where Braiding Sweetgrass was set! Maybe Oklahoma? 
8. Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge. Got Indigenous author!