CBWC October 2026: Week 1

It's Cool Bloggers Walking Club (CBWC) time! Hosted by Elisabeth, we're trying for ten minutes of intentional movement every day.

Thursday, October 1 - Hannah and I did our usual round of walks, including a half hour in the rain in the morning and a half hour in the rain after work. She was having a blast. I was...enjoying watching her have a blast. (I have to admit that I watched a video of someone training their dog to use the cue "look" to look at the camera and I probably should follow their example and train Hannah to actually look at me, but I just love how she looks in profile. I HONESTLY THINK SHE'S TOO CUTE FOR WORDS. ahem)

Friday, October 2 - Forty-five minutes in the (pitch black) morning and ten minutes around the (pitch black) block before bed.

Saturday, October 3 - Half hour walk with Dr. BB and Hannah after lunch. It is the first weekend for duck hunting season, so what that means is that there are gunshots all damn day and Hannah is NOT a fan.

Sunday, October 4 - More duck hunting this morning, so we did a quick 20 minute loop this morning, but we were out for almost an hour after lunch. We play a game where I pretend like I'm running to grab her and she runs away. Then I fall down dramatically on the ground and act like I'm dying and she runs over to jump all over me. We do this over and over again. Look, if you ever come to my town and see this happening, don't worry. We're both okay. Probably. 

Monday, October 5 - Hannah and I were out for about 45 minutes this morning. We also did a ten minute spin right before bed. 

Someone forgot to charge her LED collar, so she's just wandering around with an unnecessary necklace on this morning. 

Tuesday, October 6 - My best girl and I were out for about 35 minutes this morning. Her little doggy ears could pick up more than mine could and there must have been something scary out there because she was NOT HAVING IT. We did another half hour after work.

Wednesday, October 7 - We were out for almost an hour this morning. It was gorgeous out and we walked along the river. And then we did another quick ten minutes around the block before bed. 

Um. I literally walk out the door with the dog with no prep. I don't brush my hair. I don't put on makeup. I mean, no one can see us because it's dark, you know? 

Thursday, October 8 - Today we did forty-five minutes before the sun came up. I want everyone to know that while I whinge about how the sun isn't out, I cherish my walks with Hannah. Life is short and starting the day with a long meander with my best canine friends is one of the absolute best parts of my daily routine. She is getting older and slower and I know there will come a day when I won't have my best girl and so I will not take any of our walks for granted. Plus, I get to see things like this. (We also did about half hour after work and ten minutes before bed.)

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What's something cool you've seen on your CBWC walks? 

Wanderers (Wanderers #1) by Chuck Wendig

Sometimes you hear about an audiobook about a pandemic that is over 32 hours long and you get it immediately from the library, right? Well, that's how I picked up Wanderers by Chuck Wendig. 

A new affliction strikes a small number of Americans. They appear to be sleepwalking in a horde, going to an unknown destination. Nothing seems to hurt them, nothing, that is, except for if you try to stop them. These people are known as the flock and the friends and family who follow them are called shepherds. And there are scientists and people from the CDC trying to figure out what's going on with them.

Meanwhile, in Texas, some bats attack some people at a press conference and those people begin to get sick. 

And...a pandemic begins.

What is so amazing about this book is that it was published in 2019 and the talk of quarantines and social distancing and contact tracing and testing with a swab up your nose WAS SO PRESCIENT. 

But. Hm. It's not a perfect book. There's a lot about religion and I do understand that people would turn to religion in an apocalypse, but the ending of the book was very disappointing to me on this front. Also, there are some very sexually violent scenes that were deeply upsetting (to me - maybe you'd be fine!). It's also pretty blatant in its disregard for people with certain anti-science, pro-religion views. And that's fine! But it's also disturbing how quickly those same people become Nazis. I mean, maybe that's right. Maybe after the 2016 election, Wendig is right to make those connections crystal clear. But I like to think there are non-Nazis out there in the American South. But maybe I'm just sticking my head in the sand.

I liked this, but I didn't love it. Should you read it? I don't know. It's long. It's immersive. But in the end, I thought the first part of the book was far better than the second half and I will not be reading the sequel.  

3.5/5 stars

Lines of note:

"That is how science and medicine are practiced best, though. We are best when we admit our ignorance up front and then attempt to fill the darkness of not knowing with the light of information and knowledge." (Chapter 9)

I highlighted this as clunky dialogue, but the literal next line was a character calling out this character for being too poetic. It felt like real awareness on the part of the author. 

"It's like I've got a hole inside of my mind and inside that hole is a voice -  sometimes it's loud, sometimes it's quiet, but it's always, always there. That voice tells me that I'm not good enough and the world is going to hell and nothing matters. I'll never be a famous artist, the coral reef is bleached and dead...and it doesn't matter anyway because global warming is going to boil us or bake us, but that only happens if North Korea doesn't drop a bomb in our lap first. Or maybe a plane will crash on my head. Or maybe the ground will swallow me up or maybe I'll get cancer and it will eat me up." (Chapter 14)

Okay, real talk. This was a character explaining to another character why she needed medication for her depression. And, like, isn't this everyone's internal monologue? There is a reason I'm always listening to podcasts or audiobooks - it's an attempt to drown this out. IS THIS NOT NORMAL? 

Anger ran through Shana. People were supposed to have answers. Experts were supposed to know shit. And they didn't know anything. (Chapter 15)

And now we have RFK Jr. 

...Benji knew they would call it a civil war, although in it, civility was lost. (Chapter 59)

Egads. 

Life looked normal at a distance, even though when you looked close, you could see the panic and the chaos setting it. (Chapter 63)

Do you remember this from the early days of the pandemic? Surface level things were sort of normal, but they really weren't?

Is a book only real its printed or is it real the moment its written in a word processing program? Are one's thoughts only real once they leave the mind? Are they real once expressed in an electronic mail or across social media? Or do they only become real once they manifest in a way that has an effect - a tree falling in the forest with someone to hear? Perhaps all of everything is a simulation. (Chapter 68)

I spent too long pondering this. 

Things I looked up:

QEPD (Chapter 64) - the Spanish abbreviation for "que en paz descanse," which translates to "rest in peace" (R.I.P.) in English

dour (Chapter 65) - I looked this up because I thought the narrator pronounced it incorrectly, but it turns out I'm the one who's been pronouncing it incorrectly. 

Lloyd Alexander books (The Prydain Chronicles) (Chapter 65 and 77) - Lloyd Alexander was an American author of more than 40 books, primarily fantasy novels for children and young adults. Over his seven-decade career, Alexander wrote 48 books, and his work has been translated into 20 languages.

Hat mentions (why hats?):

camo hat (Chapter 21 x2, Interlude between Parts II and III)

baseball hat (Interlude between Parts II and III)

John Deere hat (Chapter 26)

Kubota trucker hat (Chapter 42)

all hat and no cattle (Chapter 72) -   All hat and no cattle is a saying that means someone is all talk and no action. It describes a person who tries to look rich or important but lacks real substance. 

cowboy hat (Chapter 79)

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Okay, who's in for a 32 hour audiobook about a pandemic? 

2026 Goals, Q3 Update

It's the most fabulous time of the quarter in which I update you on how well or how poorly my 2026 quarterly goals are going. And I do mean poorly. I am STRUGGLING over here. 

Q1 update
Q2 update

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At least one trip with Dr. BB and Hannah 
You know what? I don't think this is going to happen.

 

At least two trips with friends 

August: I went to Indy with TJC to see Garth!

At least two trips to Michigan to visit my high school friends 

Ooops. I don't even have a plan. I should have a plan. 

Go to a fitness class I've never gone to before

July: I went to a Pilates class as part of my town's Book Fair. 

Make homemade ice cream

July: I made some vanilla ice cream and took it to my book club. 

Become a regular reader of at least five new blogs in 2026

July: I added one blog, but deleted a blog off my blogroll that seems to be inactive. 

August: No progress. 

September: No progress. I'm sort of hoping NaBloPoMo will introduce me to new blogs in November. 

Leave an average of five blog comments on other blogs every day 

July: 20/30 days - I am not so good at this. 

August - 15/31 days - Egads.

September - 15/30 days 

Send at least five postcards every month

July: I sent five cards to graduating seniors on my caseload, a high school graduation card to a friend's daughter, three birthday cards, one just because card, a bill, and one package. No postcards, but I felt good about my mail this month. 

August: I sent two giveaway packages, tiny books to five bloggers, a thank you note, a birthday card, a sympathy card, and some stickers to a friend. This feels like the spirit of the goal. 

September: My records indicate I literally sent not a single piece of mail in September. Zero. This might be an all-time low. (In October I've already sent a card, so I'm already doing better this month.)

Track how many people come to yoga at the student union during lunchtime

July: We met seven times - twice it was just me, four times there were two people, and once there were three people. 

August: We met pretty irregularly (there are issues with the room) - 4, 3, 3, 1, 2. 

September: Also a pretty irregular schedule, but things are more normal in October. 2, 2, 4, 5, 4. 

Use a new journal to track goals, plan out the year, and take time to notice things I'm grateful for 

July: Yes! It's fun to do a line of gratitude daily.

August: It really is fun. 

September: Still keeping on, even though sometimes it's hard. I could use the planning ahead more often, but I'm trying. 

Take a good photo every week and print them out once a quarter and add these photos to the journal. 

July: Done. I had so many photos to choose from!

August: Yes!

September: I have them ordered and just need to pick them up. 

Take photo of five places at least once a month 

July: Whoops. I did 3/5. LOL. I'll have to get back to it in August. 

August: 4/5 - Not too shabby. Ha. 

September: 5/5 - I ended strongly. 

September! I got them all!

Pay myself and charity first 

Honestly, who did January NGS think she was?

Reread 

July: I relistened to Dungeon Crawler Carl. 

August: Nope. 

September: I listened to Assassin's Apprentice. Still so good!

Do a buddy read

August: Sarah and I read Cleanup on Aisle Five!

Gratitude practice

July: Every day!

August: Still doing it!

September: Yes!

Be consistent in working out (at least 80% of days of 30 days of intentional movement) 

July: 24/31 (77.4%) days of 30 minutes or more

August: 20/31 (64.5%) days of 30 minutes or more

September: 20/30 (66.7%) days of 30 minutes or more

Spend 750 hours outside

July: 56 hours, 29 minutes

August: 38 hours, 25 minutes

September: 45 hours, 16 minutes

Get on the same page as my husband about home repairs, investments, and a will 

July: LOL. 

August: We talked about a will. For about thirty seconds. 

September: I...am a bad adult. 

Do two more iterations of CBBC on my blog 

Nothing in this quarter, but will run one starting in October. 

Date night with Dr. BB every month 

July: We went to a Fourth of July parade. We went to a fundraiser at our local community center and to book trivia. 

August: I do not know that we did this. 

September: Why are we so bad at this? 

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Just July goals:

Repot two of my office plants - I immediately forgot about this goal as soon as I typed it. 

Text at least one person a day (other than my husband) - I 100% did this! I loved this goal. I texted people who I normally wouldn't just because I was thinking about them. 

Clean out the photo gallery on my phone (rollover goal) - I've done nothing! It's worse now than ever. 

Finish journal project through 2021 (rollover goal) - Done. 

Take a photo a day and post it on the old bloggo - I mean, mixed results. Most days anyway. 

Just August goals:

Repot two of my office plants (rollover goal): Obviously not. 

Finish journal project through the first six months of 2022: I did this! I'm actually all the way through November, so I only have one more month of the entire year to go. 

Clean out the photo gallery on my phone (rollover goal): I have only added to the problem. 

Make plans to see my high school friends in Michigan before the end of the year: These plans are not made. 

Just September goals:

Repot two of my office plants (rollover goal): Those poor plants are still neglected.

Finish 2022 and 2023 of journal project: I DID IT!

Clean out the photo gallery on my phone (rollover goal): Um. I did go through some of my photo gallery on my phone while I was on endless planes. I'm down to about 1600 photos, which is down from close to 4000. So that's something, although it's still too unwieldy. 

Make plans to see my high school friends in Michigan before the end of the year: I did not do this. 

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Who else is limping to the end of the year with their goals? 

CBBC Fall 2026: The Vote Is In

I left you all on a cliffhanger last month about which of the three books would be our next CBBC read.

The voting was so close that there were moments when all three were tied and a good chunk of time when two books were tied for the lead. I had to actually make sure I had all three books in my possession because I was worried you'd all vote on one that I didn't have.

It was a real nail biter.

In the end, Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori) pulled out the victory by ONE POINT. 

Here's the schedule as I see it. I'm going to give everyone a couple of weeks to find the book and then we'll start on our usual Monday schedule. It's a short book, so I think we'll be able to do in a couple of weeks. (I am SO SORRY, friends, but this book has NO CHAPTERS. I'm using page numbers and some language cues.)

Monday, 10/19 - Pages 1-81 (there's a break separated by * * * between two paragraphs - the first paragraph ends in "fix me" and the second paragraph begins with "Somehow I felt")

Monday, 10/26 - Page 81- end

Monday, 11/2 - Wrap-up

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This gives you about 80 pages a week to read, which seems doable since the book is tiny. 

Thanks once again to all who voted! Who's in for this round of CBBC?

Five for Friday, Edition #51

1) The world at large: I try not to talk too much about the news, but between what's coming out of Cornell and the death penalty torture in Tennessee, I'm starting to feel like even the non-federal government failing, endless wars, presidential corruption news is spiraling out of control. And it's all part of the same thing, right? If you put an admitted rapist in the White House, it's clear what the nation's priorities are. And those priorities do not include the safety of women. I might have to put myself back on a news moratorium until after the election.

2) Update on my girls: Zelda gets righteously pissed off when she runs out of water during the work day. This is the outcome. 

Why don't you get her a bigger water bowl? BECAUSE THIS IS THE ONLY ONE SHE'LL DRINK OUT OF. Why do we have a fussypants as a cat? 

Hannah makes a great yoga partner. Just look at this face.

Don't talk about her grey muzzle. Don't talk about it at all. 

3) Campus scenes: This week has been a bit hectic in our household. Here are some scenes from work this week. I'll leave you to figure out what's what. 

4) Earworm ahead: There's this controversy in my local area about building giant power lines. Protest signs have been popping up all over the place. It's making for some interesting alliances and cross party agreement, so at least we all have NIMBYism in common, right? 

I bring it up because whenever I see one of these signs, I start singing the theme song to Firefly. You are SUPER WELCOME if you've never heard that song before because it's awesome. 

5) Blogosphere things: There are two main things I want to talk about. One, Elisabeth is hosting Cool Bloggers Walking Club (CBWC) in October. Go to her page for a printable. Just do 10 minutes of intentional movement a day and you are DOING IT. 

Two, did you know that NaBloPoMo is next month! Egads! I created a Google doc of topics a couple of years ago. Feel free to add to it or look at it for ideas. I have a special project I've been working on since January that is going to end up here on NaBloPoMo, but I want to make sure everyone's getting prepped!!

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Are you currently singing the Firefly theme? What unites people in your area across party lines? Who's in for CBWC and/or NaBloPoMo? 

September 2026 Accountability Buddy

It was another rough month for me over here, but I will be accountable. There was Labor Day and a conference in Philly and...80% just didn't happen. 

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Tuesday, September 1
45-minute body blast class at the community center after work - It was like a million degrees and 95% humidity. I did not ration my water correctly. LOL

Wednesday, September 2
9 minutes of a 15 minute stretch class - I had to start late because a meeting ran over. 

45-minute yoga class at the community center after work

Thursday, September 3

30-minute yoga video at the student union during lunchtime 

Friday, September 4 - Monday, September 7

Labor Day - There was a lot of activity, but no formal workouts

Tuesday, September 8

30-minute no repeat full body supersets - When you don't lift for a week, your body is stupid. I AM INVINCIBLE. (I may not be able to lift my arms tomorrow.)

Wednesday, September 9

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime*

20-minute no repeat strength and conditioning workout

10-minute low impact cardio

Thursday, September 10

60-minute Zumba class after work - SO MUCH FUN. I pay the price because my leg will hurt tomorrow, but YOLO. 

Friday, September 11

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

Saturday, September 12

30-minute new moon yoga - Look, sometimes your balance and flexibility are terrible, especially when you haven't done yoga in more than a week. 

Sunday, September 13
30 minute total body and abs 

Monday, September 14

30-minute yoga video at the student union during lunchtime 

Tuesday, September 15

45-minute Body Blast class at the community center after work

Wednesday, September 16

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

10-minute Japanese walking - possibly the most boring video on the internet

20-minute functional full body and core workout - I used 7.5 pounds for everything except deadbugs when I switched to 5 pounds. 

Thursday, September 17

30-minute yoga video at the student union during lunchtime

Friday, September 18

30-minute balance exercises - I really like this video for this purpose. I don't have time to workout tonight after work, so this was what I could do unobtrusively in my office at lunchtime. 

Saturday, September 19 - Sunday, September 20

Days off

Monday, September 21

37-minute morning yoga flow

Hotel room yoga.

Tuesday, September 22

30-minute bedtime yoga - It really did feel good after sitting in a conference all day and then walking and walking. 

Wednesday, September 23

Day off

Thursday, September 24

30-minute yoga video at the student union during lunchtime 

Friday, September 25

15-minute stretch class at lunchtime

Saturday, September 26

Day off

Sunday, September 27

45-minute yardwork - pulling, dragging, wanting to cry

Monday, September 28

30-minute yoga video at the student union during lunchtime 

Tuesday, September 29

30-minute bodyweight bootcamp - Sheesh. It had been quite some time. 

Wednesday, September 30

30-minute full body somatic yoga

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Totals: 20/30 (66.7%) days of 30 minutes or more

Yoga: 11 days

Strength/cardio: 9 days

Short stretch classes at lunchtime: 4.5

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*Our local healthcare organization does free stretch classes virtually three times a week. Sign up here! It's free. It's fun. We regularly talk about candy and what's for lunch. It's a delightful break in the middle of the day. You do not have to have your camera on. She has the classes out there for the rest of the year, so you'd only have to register ONCE. 

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How are your fitness goals going as we head into the final quarter of the year? 

September 2026 Books Read

It's not a huge list this month, but I'm reading a couple of doorstops (one physical book and one audiobook that's more than 32 hours long), so my reading came to an abrupt halt at the end of the month, but I am still reading, just not finishing. Not yet.

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9/4: Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser (library, 2026) - Interesting retelling of the Cinderella tale from the stepmother's perspective, but it didn't completely work for me. 3/5 stars

9/7: Habits of the Sea by Shea Ernshaw (library, 2026) - Just two people on an island by themselves. 3.5/5 stars

9/11: We Were Forbidden by Jacqueline Harpman (library, 2026) - Sometimes you just need to sink into some depressing literary short stories. 4/5 stars

9/11: Sea of Charms (Spellshop #3) by Sarah Beth Durst (library 2026) - And sometimes you want some cozy fantasy. 4/5 stars

9/12: Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy #1: Realm of the Elderlings #1) by Robin Hobb (audiobook narrated by Paul Boehmer, library)  - Look, it's brilliant. 5/5 stars

9/21: London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe (audiobook narrated by the author) - I can't with this story of an entitled teen from an entitled family pretending to be a Russian oligarch. I can't. 2/5 stars

9/22: The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman (library, 2012) - A couple steals a baby and there's quite the aftermath. 3.5/5 stars

9/24: The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 3) by Matt Dinniman (library ebook, 2021) - It's fine. This series is fine. I'm mostly reading it because the local bookstore has events centered around these books. This one has a dungeon level with trains. Hats play a major plot point, so that kept me entertained. 3.5/5 stars

Total: 8 books

Average star rating: 3.6/5 stars

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DNF: 

Whistler by Ann Patchett - Look, Patchett does not work for me. What a snoozefest this was. There was some sort of accident in the past and instead of telling us about it upfront, Patchett wants to dole it out in little bits and pieces. I just...don't have time for this. DNF at 20%. (Also, 4.35 on Goodreads! I feel like I'm missing the literary fiction gene.)

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Okay, I'm sorry about Whistler, friends. Tell me about a DNF you did for a book everyone loved. 

Podcast Roundup, September 2026 edition

Look, I am not sure why my podcast slump is so slumpy, but it feels like maybe the era of Great Podcast is over. My regulars are still there, but finding a good limited run series seems virtually impossible at this point. Oh, well. I'm here for the quality ones out there still.

Criminal "911" - A woman is an emergency phone operator. Everything is as it should be until the shift when her daughter called. Such a well told, heartrending, suspenseful story. 

A History of the US Told Through 100 Objects through 99% Invisible -

99PI sold to Sirius in 2021 (that was FIVE YEARS AGO!) and it has not been the same since. Oh, well, we had more than ten years of the glory days. At some point, I actually unsubscribed and took it off my feed. BUT THEN! Roman Mars, the host and creator, started producing episodes inspired by A History of the World in 100 Objects, a podcast that was put out by the British Museum about objects in the British Museum. 

And these episodes are SO GOOD. A taste of what I've been loving.

#12 "The Negro Cloth" - Clothing that enslaved people wore is basically impossible to find. It wasn't meant to be long-lasting, scraps were used in other ways, including in quilts, and it wouldn't have been deemed "worthy" enough for someone to keep in their attic. When someone asked the inaugural director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture about the kind of things he was most hoping to find and also least likely to find, he put "slave clothing" at the top of his list. Do you want to know what they found?! FASCINATING STUFF.

#15 "The Bundy Clock" - Someone had to invent the timeclock, didn't they?! 

#16 "The Wheel of Fortune Dalmatian" - Do you remember the shopping round on Wheel? I remember it. I lived for it. I also liked Supermarket Sweep, but we don't have time for me to talk about my complicated feelings about capitalism in game shows. OH! Do you know what Pat Sajak said Vanna White's name so often? So it would be harder to fire her. I always though Sajak was a weird choice for a host because he was oddly gruff and sort of condescending, but this little factoid made me like him a lot more. 

#18 "Hair Relaxer" - I needed this primer on black hair, I really did. The first black woman who was a millionaire was a millionaire because of hair straightener. But it's really bad for your hair and probably your overall health with increased cancer risks. But it's cultural. And...it's so complicated. 

(Okay, to be transparent, I tried to listen to #14 "The Basketball Sleeve" and nothing could have been less interesting to me, so not all episodes in this series are homeruns. But most of them are.)

"The BIG Books Episode with Chrissie Whitley, Episode 235" from Sarah's Bookshelves Live - In general, I like this podcast. I like the recommendations, I like that they don't love everything that they read, and I like that they're honest. What I didn't like?

Every book Sarah recommended this week was by a man. Do better, Sarah. 

Planet Money "The Domino's Pizza Tracker Theory of Everything" - This honestly would have been a great 99PI crossover episode. The mashup of design and commerce was fascinating! Also, do people really watch trackers? I occasionally check-in on where a package is, but I don't need minute by minute updates on anything!

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Have you listened to a great limited series pod recently? 

Forget podcasts, what else are you listening to? Great songs? Great audiobooks? I need SOMETHING for all these hours I'm walking the dog. 

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

In The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman, we have a couple who operate a lighthouse in remote Australia. Isabel keeps having late-pregnancy miscarriages and when a boat washes up by the lighthouse with a dead man and a living baby, they raise the baby as their own. The consequences of this decision will haunt more lives than just their own.

I mean, this one is tough because everyone makes such terrible decisions. I mean, just everybody. But once you make a terrible decision, can it be undone? Ugh. Such an ethical quagmire. 

The writing was lovely. But are you ready for this super sad morality mess? 

3.5/5 stars

Lines of note:

Tom isn’t one of the men whose legs trailed by a hank of sinews, or whose guts cascaded from their casing like slithering eels. Nor were his lungs turned to glue or his brains to stodge by the gas. But he’s scarred all the same, having to live in the same skin as the man who did the things that needed to be done back then. (location 151)

Uff-da. 

The old clock on the kitchen wall still clicked its minutes with fussy punctuality. A life had come and gone and nature had not paused a second for it. The machine of time and space grinds on, and people are fed through it like grist through the mill. (location 1198)

Brutal. 

...she wondered whether she was still technically a sister, now that her adored brothers had died. (location 1635)

SO BRUTAL.

Things I looked up:

stoush (location 275) - an informal Australian and New Zealand term that means a fight, brawl, or verbal argument

jarrah (location 295) - a plant in the myrtle family found in the south-west of Western Australia

Lux flakes (location 637) - a classic, gentle washing product originally created by Lever Brothers to clean delicate fabrics like wool and silk

banjine (location 1471) - a slender shrub with large, rather hairy yellow inflorescences - What are inflorescences? I think you have to be a biologist to find out. 

trevally (location 1471) - a diverse group of powerful, fast-swimming marine fish belonging to the jack family

dugite (location 1935) - a species of highly venomous, potentially lethal snake endemic to Western Australia

Wisden (location 2206) - Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, or simply Wisden, colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. This feels mean and a bit niche for readers outside of the UK!

stephanotis (location 2711) - commonly known as Madagascar jasmine or the Hawaiian wedding flower, is an evergreen, vining plant prized for its intensely fragrant, waxy, pure white tubular blooms and glossy green

Hat mentions (why hats?):

hat and coat (location 341)

take your hats (location 346)

brand-new slouch hats (location 1025)

replaced his hat (location 1894)

keep it under your hat (location 1896)

low-brimmed felt hat (location 2035)

swipe Frank’s hat (location 2090)

“Keep it under your hat, all this, could you, mate?” (location 2266)

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Who's in for a sad book like this? Who's out? Who feels like I should know more about the flora and fauna of Western Australia? 

Catching Up

I've just been writing about books, but you are due a life update. I'm going to do it based on what is on my camera roll.

I spent a glorious part of an afternoon wandering around the University of Pennsylvania campus. Here's what you need to know. The campus is GORGEOUS and there are SO MANY PEOPLE wandering around on foot. Since COVID, our campus is basically dead, so this was shocking to me. I cannot stress how pretty the campus is. 

Also, Philly has a reputation for people being assholes and I have to admit that while most Philadelphians I met were lovely and welcoming, there were more assholes per capita than in any other place I've ever been. I was shoulder checked on the sidewalk multiple times and the guy on the train was really short with me when I could not produce my ticket in 0.3 seconds. But, honestly, most people were generous and excited to show me their city.

It is the City of Brotherly Love, I guess. 

My conference was at the Penn Museum, which has lovely grounds and you would not believe how fabulous conference spaces and classrooms. 

When you walk in, you are greeted with a sphinx.

This is the room where we ate all our meals. Look, I was not expecting any of this based on the conference description. If I had known it was going to be like this, I would have been way more excited about the conference instead of absolutely dreading it. 

Moving on. 

After the gorgeous day, it rained and rained and rained. I had packed an umbrella, but it broke upon leaving the museum right before my 1.3 mile walk to my hotel. I stopped at a random bookstore (I think it was Drexel's bookstore?) and purchased this umbrella, which my husband helpfully told me is in support of the Philadelphia Phillies. I guess I'm a Phillies fan now? 

So things went really well. The conference was actually useful, the venue was stunning, and my hotel was great. I think you know where this is going. 

Hey, it has been over a year since I have flown and the rules have changed SO MUCH. Why isn't anyone telling me about these changes. When I left Madison, I literally just put my backpack in the x-ray machine and walked through the thingmabob that is probably giving me radiation poisoning. There was no shoe taking off, no electronics out of the bag, NO LIQUIDS IN A ZIPLOC BAG. You still can't bring in a water bottle with liquid in it, though. 

When I left via Philadelphia, I did have to take my Kindle and laptop out of my bag, but that was it. No shoes, no three ounce liquids all in a bag. Honestly, if I had known this liquid rule change, I would have brought my foundation. Anyway. Regular travelers, why aren't you telling me these things? 

Because I wanted to leave from Madison and because I wanted to stay for the morning presentations on Wednesday at the conference, I had to have a layover on the way home. It happened to be in Charlotte. I don't want to go get into the gory details, but the flight was delayed and delayed and delayed and we didn't leave Charlotte until after 1am. 

It wasn't my worst travel story, but I have got to stop using American Airlines. I got into bed after 3:30am and when the alarm went off, I almost cried.

So I've been mostly recovering because apparently one messed up night's sleep in my 40s means I am essentially useless for the next five days.

Here are some views from my morning walk with Hannah yesterday. 

Spooky season is here and I'm going to stop complaining about the end of summer. I'm embracing fall and Halloween and I'm here for it! 

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If you have a bad night's sleep, how long does it take you to recover? What city do you think has the rudest people? 

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe is one of those books. You know the kind? The kind that the author is on Fresh Air, but you think it sounds boring? But people you know and trust tell you it's really good despite the fact that you know you think it sounds boring? 

Well, hey, you should LISTEN TO YOUR OWN FEELINGS. This book is not my jam. Maybe it's your jam, particularly if you want to hear about the history of London for half an hour before you even meet a human being. This is the kind of book that thinks it's important that you know the history of the great-grandparents of a random person you'll only hear about sort of tangentially. This is the kind of book about a pathological liar who somehow gets into trouble and you're supposed to feel sympathy for him. This is the kind of book about bad people doing bad things and their only motivation is money. Now maybe that's interesting for some people, but it's not interesting for ME. 

Sort of rich kid pretends to be the son of a rich Russian oligarch, gets mixed up with mobsters and the drug trade, and ends up jumping off a balcony into the Thames. His parents try to figure out what went wrong (I dunno? you never parented him?) and all sorts of things about the underworld of London are discovered. 

Do you enjoy reading about wealthy entitled people being wealthy and entitled? Do you enjoy stories about thugs and mobsters? Do you enjoy it when entire judicial systems just shrug about thugs and mobsters because, hey, they're rich and they bring in a lot of money to the economy? Do you enjoy parents justifying how they didn't parent? 

It appears as if a lot of people DO enjoy Keefe's long digressions into history and rich people behaving badly because this book has a 4.29 on Goodreads. Listen, you do you. 2/5 stars

Lines of note:

It was a strange sensation, to move around St. John's Wood, picking up groceries or stopping for a cup of tea in a cafe, and knowing that there might be people around them, people from their own community, who had connections to Verinder Sharma, or to other elements of London's criminal subculture and who perhaps knew more than they did about their son's death. (Chapter 15)

I think this is profound, actually. When something big happens in your life (a new baby, a new job, a death in the family, discovering your son was a drug dealer who jumped off a balcony fleeing from a Russian mobster), it's CRAZY how the rest of the world just goes on, isn't it? 

I ended up speaking with dozens of former law enforcement officials, but never succeeded in locating anyone who nurtured the kind of Ahab like obsession I had in mind. (Chapter 22)

Moby-Dick!!! I KNOW THIS ONE. 

What I looked up: 

Candy and Candy apartment (Chapter 3) - Candy and Candy (now known as Candy London) is a world-famous ultra-prime interior design and property development company founded by British brothers Nick and Christian Candy. I thought this was just some British idiom I'd never heard. 

Hat mentions (why hats?):

bowler hats (Chapter 2)

top hatted mascot of the game (Chapter 7)

top hat (Chapter 11)

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Have you read this? Did you think it was super boring? Do you like how I'll fit Moby-Dick into anything I can? Do you think I'll still be so proud of reading Moby-Dick in a decade? 

The Reread - Realm of the Elderlings #1: Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

It has been more than five years since I read The Realm of the Elderlings and I am due a reread. 

Several years ago, I dogsat for a friend for an extended time while she was in Europe. Her dogs were adorable, but it was quite a bit of work to go back and forth to her house multiple times a day. She gave me a big gift card to Powell's and told me I had to buy something fun. I bought the ENTIRE Realm of the Elderlings saga. 

Lately I've been in a reading valley. It's not a slump - I've read some very good books - but the books are not exciting me or making me eager to read them. So the advice I've always gotten about these situations is to do a reread. So here I am. First up is The Assassin's Apprentice. 

Fitz is the bastard son of Prince Chivalry. His mother's family abandons him at a royal home and he's raised in the background of court, mostly hanging out with the stableman, Burrich, who is his father's man. Well, King Shrewd realizes that Fitz could be useful, so he convinces Fitz to tutor under Chade, Shrewd's assassin. Along the way, Fitz realizes he has a special bond with animals called the Wit, which is taboo. He's also tutored by a dickwad named Galen to try to be able to Skill, a talent only those with royal blood have, but Fitz is not good at it. Anyway, he has to go on a mission to kill someone and he sort of succeeds, but more by accident than anything else. Meanwhile, Prince Regal, second in line to the throne, hates Fitz, so I'm pretty sure that's going to be important. 

Let's all pour one out for Nosy and Smithy, Fitz's dogs who, sadly, do not make it through the entirety of this novel. 

Look, this book is SO GOOD. Fitz is a traumatized child who immediately clings to any adult who shows him any attention. No one actually teaches him the nuances of the court, so he never has any idea what's really going on. He has no idea why Regal and Galen despise him, even though to the reader, it's crystal clear. Dogs show him real affection, so of course he develops his Wit, even though Burrich tells him it's shameful. It's such a great character study of poor Fitz. And we sort of know, before we're even halfway done with this first book in this entire eighteen book series, that it's always going to be poor Fitz.

I listened to the audiobook and it's so good. If you haven't read this, what are you waiting for? 

5/5 stars

Lines of note:

All events, no matter how earthshaking or bizarre, are diluted within moments of their occurrence by the continuance of the necessary routines of day-to-day living. Men walking a battlefield to search for wounded among the dead will still stop to cough, to blow their noses, still lift their eyes to watch a V of geese in flight. I have seen farmers continue their plowing and planting, heedless of armies clashing but a few miles away.  (Chapter 3)

You guys, I just looked this up. It is the same exact passage I marked when I read this in 2020. 

"...Burrich's shown you both how to work, and how to obey. Two things that Burrich himself excels at. You're not especially strong, or fast, or bright. Don't think you are. But you'll have the stubbornness to wear down anyone stronger, or faster, or brighter than yourself. And that's more of a danger to you than to anyone else." (Chapter 4)

So much foreshadowing in this book, friends. Fitz is so incompetent at everything he does. 

"There isn't much in a man's head," he told me, "that can't be cured by working and taking care of something else." (Chapter 5)

Right? I get out of bed to take care of my girls. 

"Keppet," said the woman at the next mat as I completed my purchase. I glanced at her, thinking she was addressing the woman I had just paid. But she was staring at me. "Keppet," she said, quite insistently, and I wondered what I meant in her language. It seemed a request for something, but the older woman only stared coldly out into the street, so I shrugged at her younger neighbor apologetically and turned away as I stowed the nuts in my basket.

I hadn't gotten more than a dozen steps away when I heard her shriek "Keppet!" yet again. I looked back to see the two women engaged in a struggle. The older one gripped the younger one's wrists and the younger one struggled and thrashed and kicked to get free of her. (Chapter 6)

Click to show spoiler

THIS IS FITZ'S MOM. 

 

The more tolerant Chade was, the more surly I felt. (Chapter 7)

Teenagers, right? Or, alternately, me when I'm hungry. I hate it when my husband is super reasonable when I'm pissed off. 

Men cannot grieve as dogs do. But we grieve for many years. (Chapter 24)

Poor Fitz. 

Hat mentions (why hats?)

so many new garments, hats, and accoutrements for Regal (Chapter 19)

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Do you reread books? How often? What motivates you to do a reread? 

Weekend Roundup

Friday during the day, I put my nose to the grindstone and got my work inbox from over 260 emails to under 30. I felt like confetti should have rained from the sky. Alas, it did not. 

Friday after work my friend Gina and I went to a Paint & Sip at a local art shop that is located in the same space as our new bookstore. Gina accidentally drank the paint water and I accidentally painted my water bottle, but we made it out alive.

Now, neither of us are artists. We are lovely human beings and we have a lot of strengths, including being great humans to a dog and a cat, holding big girl jobs, and paying taxes. But I will send out a delightful prize (to be determined) to the first person who correctly identifies who or what exactly we painted here in the comments. 

Yes, I hope everyone notices that I'm wearing LAYERS and REAL SHOES because that is the bullshit that is living in Wisconsin. The next weekend I'm home I'm going to have to put away my summer dresses and bring out my stupid cold weather wardrobe. 

Moving on. Saturday my husband went to visit a sick friend who lives in Madison. While he did that, I went to Sephora and World Market. I don't remember the last time I meandered around a store without a specific mission - maybe when Joann's was going out of business? Well, here's what I do. I look at an item, come up with a price for what I would pay for it in my mind, and then when the price tag says anywhere from twice to five times that price, I immediately laugh at myself for thinking this is 2002 and leave the store without buying anything.

The popcorn advent calendar was $45. Forty-five American dollars, yo. No, thank you. 

Then we went to Costco, but the less said about that the better.  I wish it were closer so we could go on a non-Saturday. (We can't go on Sunday because the pharmacy isn't open on Sunday.)

Sunday I packed my bags and Dr. BB drove me to the airport. Now I'm in Philadelphia, which is a real city, yo. I guess in my mind all the cities in Pennsylvania are like Pittsburgh, which more of a large town. ANYWAY. I managed to get myself from the airport to the hotel on the train and didn't make a single wrong turn getting to my hotel. Then I went out to dinner and meandered around for a bit before heading back to the hotel because, friends, fall HAS not hit Philly yet and I was dressed for 60s and rainy (what it was when I left Madison) and it was almost 80 here. I was sweating like a stadium beer is what I'm saying. 

Mural on the train station exit. 

Not a bad view from my hotel room. 

Public art!

I'm pretty sure my camera lens was messed up. Will try again for a crisper photo tomorrow night. 

Just a quick reminder that you should vote for the next CBBC book if you have not done so already. Just fill out this Google form. At first, there was such a runaway winner that I ordered one of the books from the bookstore, but it's a really tight race now. The scores are 39, 40, and 41, which is SHOCKINGLY close. The form will close on Thursday or whenever I get around to looking at the results when I get back into town. 

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Okay, who or what did Gina and I paint? There is a great prize at stake here. Have you ever been to Philly? Why wasn't I aware of the fact that it's a real city? 

Five for Friday, Edition #50: The Good and Bad of Our Four-Legged Friends

There's a lot (too much?) of capslock in this post. I'm just warning you. If you don't want to watch me go off the rails in real typing time, maybe skip this post. 

1) Remember that adorable fawn with its mom? Well, the fawn is no longer in the picture and the doe has taken to sitting under our pine tree drooling. She's skin and bones and is not even remotely moved when Hannah lunges and barks at her, so we're pretty sure she has CWD (don't click that link if you don't want to be sad). It's not a good scene. The DNR thanked us for calling, but told us to the call our local police, who politely told us to fuck off. So, hey, if next week there's an update about a dead deer in our yard, I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR MY REACTION. (NOTE: She hasn't been in our yard for about 24 hours. I am hoping she went off and died in an appropriate deer dying place, LIKE THE WOODS.)

2) Speaking of, we think something died in our basement and it smells repulsive. We cannot figure out WHAT died, though, OR WHERE IT IS, so if you come to our house, now it smells like dog shit AND dead animal. WELCOME TO THE GIMBALSH HOUSEHOLD, HERE'S SOME queaseEASE. (I don't think this is actually true, but who the hell knows? I'm nose blind to the house at this point. Who wants to volunteer to come visit and tell me?)

3) I hit a ground squirrel on the way to work this morning. Am I sad about this? YES. There was also a dead squirrel in front of the sidewalk two doors down earlier this week and Hannah now thinks that when we get to that sidewalk square, we need to walk ten feet into the yard to avoid it. She is so smart that she was trained to do that on only two walks, isn't she? 

She is all nose. 

4) Life hack: Some months ago, we switched kitty litters to Lightweight Tidy Cats after years of using the cheapest 40 pound bag I could get at the local pet store. THIS HAS BEEN LIFE CHANGING. It's less dusty, less stinky, and when I spill it, it doesn't require every single muscle in my upper body to clean it up. I strongly prefer the scent free versions; there are Glade versions that I think are sort of gross - do you want your cat poop to be covered up with the artificial scent of an ocean with dead fish? Anyway. Do you have a cat? Does it use litter? Consider lightweight litter. Pro tip from me to you.

Collage of bad photos I have taken of my pretty kitty. She refuses to look at the camera when I take out my phone. She's like a sulky teen. I'm particularly fond of the one where she's cuddling scissors and earbuds. 

5) Life hack: Make homemade capsules for the bitter powder your dog has to take for the rest of her life. Remember Hannah's GI issues? Well, the vet has given up on trying to treat whatever the underlying cause of it is. Apparently some dogs, MOSTLY SHEPHERDS, OF COURSE, are just on this medication all the time. So now Hannah's in that club. Anyway, we bought some 1000 (ONE THOUSAND) empty capsules, fancy tweezers to hold said capsules, and now we have an assembly line of pill making once a month. DON'T YOU WISH YOU LIVED WITH US?

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Random things I need to tell of you.

1) I'm going to be out of town for a conference next week, so I'll be MIA. Am I looking forward to this conference? Absolutely not. But I might get to see my cousin, so that's all right. Oh, if you happen to be in Philly on Monday morning, let me know. I have nothing on my calendar right now. I'm not opposed to sleeping in, to be honest. 

2) What is this complete and utter bullshit? TREES ARE ALREADY CHANGING. I HAD TO WEAR REAL SHOES ON TUESDAY BECAUSE IT WAS TOO COLD FOR SANDALS. Bring back summer! Boo to fall! Next year I'm moving to Belize. (I am not moving to Belize.)

3) I don't remember the third thing. It's probably for the best.

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Any news from four-legged creatures in your life? Are the leaves changing where you live? How do you feel about that? Are you going to be in Philadelphia early next week?