finished re-reading

My school book group chose this book because I raved about it; the least I could do was a reread.  Here's the link to my original thoughts.  The book was still powerful, challenging, and beautiful.

happy day 23

8/23:  A lazy day.  I did make mint chocolate swirl ice cream with my favorite kitchen gadget.

sunday stealing

 

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They Say It's Your Birthday...

Wikipedia Meme

Here's how to play. Search for your birthday (month and day only) at Wikipedia and then share what else happened that day.

First, what is your birthday (month/day)? October 29

Now, go to Wikipedia and list:

1) Four historic events 

1. Wall Street Crash of '29
2. Hurricane Sandy made landfall
3. John Glenn returned to space
4. Founding of the Red Cross in 1863: Representatives from 18 nations met in Geneva to establish the International Committee of the Red Cross.

2) Three births

1. Winona Ryder
2. Bob Ross
3. Tracee Ellis Ross

3) Two deaths

1. Terri Garr
2. Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers

4) One holiday or observance 

1. National Hermit Day

postsecret

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard. I like to post one that speaks to me each week.

happy day 21 & 22

8/21:  One of my students is teaching me "brain rot" terms so that I'll be current with the lingo.  We're having a good chuckle about it.

8/22:  I had breakfast with my Breakfast Club and an excellent conversation.  When I got home, I did some deep cleaning.  Then I rewarded  myself with an afternoon/evening of reading time.

saturday 9

Shoo Fly Pie (and Apple Pan Dowdy)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

This month Saturday 9 will be tasty, featuring songs with food in the title.

1) Shoo fly pie got its name from Shoo Fly the Boxing Mule. After the Civil War, the mule who could box was such a popular circus attraction that a molasses manufacturer started featuring him on their packaging. Since molasses is the key ingredient of this pie recipe, homemakers just began referring to it as "shoo fly pie." If we looked, would we find molasses in your kitchen? no, no molasses

2) Apple pan dowdy is another uniquely American recipe from the 19th century. It's like apple pie, except it only has a top crust, which is broken up. Apples are a good source of fiber, Vitamin C and antioxidants. Do you consider nutrition when choosing a dessert? Or are you just all about how it tastes? just how it tastes

3) The lyrics describe these two desserts as the ultimate comfort foods, able to make "the sun come out when the heavens are cloudy." Do you find that the foods you crave change with your mood? oh--for sure!!!

4) Singer June Christy pleads with her mama to whip up this "wonderful stuff." Did your mother have a dish you often requested? yes--either cinnamon rolls or red velvet cake

5) June was born in Springfield, Illinois' capital. Have you been to your state's capital city? many times!

6) June spent years singing with Stan Kenton's Orchestra. At one point, she gave 38 performances in 35 towns in 35 days. That's a busy schedule! Do you thrive on activity? Or do you find yourself rejuvenated by quiet time? as I get older, I like my quiet time

7) In 1946, when this record was popular, bikinis were first seen in Paris fashion shows. How often have you worn your swimsuit this summer? not even once (you're welcome)

8) Also in 1946, Elias Tupper invented Tupperware, a plastic container with an airtight top that's great for preserving leftovers. Are there any leftovers in your refrigerator right now? no

9) Random question: Is there a day of the week that goes by faster than the others? Saturday

three on thursday

 

Thing 1:  tomorrow after school is my annual back-to-school massage appointment!  Boy, do I need it!

Thing 2:  in all honesty, this week has flown by.  It kind of feels like I've been back at school longer than two days.

Thing 3:  there really is no tired like teacher tired. 🥱

happy day 19 & 20

8/19: Pretty flowers on my last first day of school.

8/20: I really liked today's outfit.  Nothing flashy, but comfortable.

finished reading

A darkly twisty satire that pits generations against each other in a world fueled by tech and middle-class wealth. The characters are completely unlikable in the best way possible, driving a delightfully twisty revenge plot. Sharp, fun, and practically begging for a TV adaptation.

From the publisher:

"Every successful marriage has its own private language." So it is for baby boomer Kate and her beloved architect husband Jack, thirty years into their seemingly idyllic metropolitan North London life. And so it is for spiky millennial screenwriter Phoebe and her charming loafer of a partner, Tony.

But when Phoebe’s steamy television series Cheating becomes the year’s most talked-about show, Kate thinks she sees in it details and intimacies of her marriage that only she and her husband could possibly have known. Who has betrayed whom? Who has stolen whose story—and why?

A black comedy of love, trust, resentment, and entitlement, Look What You Made Me Do is the sharply observed and suspenseful story of two very different women from two very different generations, entangled in a battle only one of them can win.

happy day 18

 8/18:  Dinner with friends--one of whom I haven't seen in thirty-odd years!

happy day 17

8/17: My last back-to-school workshop training!  Never to have PowerPoints read to me in a monotone!

finished reading

This is a perfect summer read: a later-in-life romance with clever dialogue, warm family dynamics, and a delightfully fun fake dating setup.  Of course, the main female character, Dolly, is a can-do fixer of everyone's problems, except her own.  Her relationship with her teenage son is sweet.  Her sibling dynamics seemed authentic.  And I appreciate the bond she has with her father.  

The main male character, Stewart, is a wealthy, unlucky-in-love workaholic who enters a fake relationship with Dolly.  Of course, their worlds collide.  Of course, they fall in love.  But how it all happens is the good stuff: quiet moments of vulnerability and witty banter.  I loved the secondary characters, too, especially Stewart's sister.

The audio is delightful.

From the publisher:

If they start by pretending, can they end with something real?

Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn’t solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home.

So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield—annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family—with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it’s in her nature to help. But Stewart’s proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high-society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and kisses that hit her bloodstream like a ghost pepper, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She’s never relied on anyone besides herself—can she really start now?

sunday stealing

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WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ...? 

1. Flavor?  chocolate

2. Movie? from recent years, it's Hamnet

3. Piece of jewelry? silver hoop earrings from Silpada

4. Place to be? right here

5. Boy's name? Paul

6. Girl's name? Faye

7. Candy? Reese's or Snickers

8. Sports team? all of the teams where I teach:  go Vikings!

9. Color? brown

10. Month? October

postsecret

 

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard. I like to post one that speaks to me each week.

happy day 15 & 16

8/15:  An incredibly beautiful day!  I took a leisurely drive around the countryside with no destination.

8/16: My last official day of my last summer vacation!  This retirement year is going to have many last firsts and last lasts.

finished reading

So, I’ve been sitting with this book for a while, trying to figure out how to articulate what it’s truly about, given its lack of a traditional plot. Rather, it’s an immersive story of how a place takes hold, carrying the echoes of the past alongside hope for the future.

Set in Ireland, the narrative follows Tomás, who has little recollection of his childhood after barely surviving the Great Hunger in a poorhouse. There, he meets Phina, who later becomes his wife, and together they raise four children: Liam, Enda, Rose, and Eugene.

A gifted cartographer, Tomás is hired by the British government to redraw and redistrict Ireland during the 1860s Ordnance Survey. When ten-year-old Liam accompanies his father to learn the craft, a mystical experience in a remote copse changes them forever. It is here that the history of the land and all who came before cast an indelible shadow over their lives. As the children grow, they face unimaginable hardships and heartbreak, yet continually find ways to persevere.

I cannot say enough about the beauty of this book. The atmosphere, deep emotional resonance, and exquisite writing held me from start to finish. Despite the heavy themes, I couldn't put it down. Additionally, the audiobook narration is phenomenal; Dane Whyte O'Hara's authentic Irish cadence makes O'Farrell's prose and subtle folklore elements come vibrantly alive.

From the publisher:

'You will never understand how the land remembers, how deep the roots grow'

A spellbinding story of separation, longing, recovery and survival as a family makes a new home in the aftermath of tragedy.

On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. The year is 1865, and in a country not long since ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger, the task is not an easy one. Tomás, however, is determined that his maps will be a record of the disaster.

The British soldiers in charge are due to arrive any day, expecting the work to be completed, but Tomás is sent off course by an unsettling encounter in a copse. His life, and those of his family, will never be the same again. Liam is terrified by the sudden change in his taciturn father. What was it that caused such cracks to open in Tomás and how is Liam, aged only ten, going to finish the mapping, and get them both home?

Land is a story of buried treasure, overlapping lives, ancient woodland, persistent ghosts, a particularly loyal dog, and how, when it comes to both land and history, nothing ever goes away.

saturday 9

Blueberry Hill

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

This month Saturday 9 will be tasty, featuring songs with food in the title.

1) Fats Domino sings about a hill named for blueberries. According to the Old Farmers Almanac, blueberries can grow just about anywhere in North America, as long as they have plenty of direct sunlight. Do you have a garden? as I have the THUMB OF DEATH, I do not have a garden

2) Blueberries are low in calories and rich in fiber. Are they a regular part of your diet? no, I detest them

3) They also have a high moisture content. Staying hydrated is important to human health. Do you drink the standard recommended 8 glasses of water every day? indeed I do--or I'm very close to it

4) Fats originally had a big hit with "Blueberry Hill" in 1956, and then enjoyed the record's renewed popularity in the mid-70s, when "Blueberry Hill" was often referenced as Richie Cunningham's favorite song. Without looking it up, do you remember what show Richie Cunningham was on? (Extra non-existent Saturday 9 points if you can also name the actor who played Richie.) oh yes!  Happy Days and Richie was played by Ron Howard

5) Born Antoine Domino, he took the name "Fats" not just because of his physique. Growing up, jazz pianist Fats Waller was one of his heroes. If you were to adopt the first name of someone you admire, what would we call you? Louise

6) Despite his warm and friendly stage persona, Fats was shy around strangers and hated giving interviews. Tell us about something you did only because it was part of your job, not because you enjoyed it. attended meetings, every single meeting could have been an email

7) In 1956, when this record was topping the charts, the Olympics were held in Melbourne. Have you ever been to the land down under? no, I have not

8)  The star of the 1956 Olympics was Austrian Toni Sailer, who won all three gold medals in Alpine skiing. Do you prefer snow skiing, water skiing, or just watching other people ski? if I am cozy and warm, I will watch skiing

9) Random question: Do you believe everyone has a jealous streak? yes, it's human nature