I’ve sent off some Postcrossing postcards, because Postcrossing is a thing that makes me quite happy. This postcard, the first Postcrossing postcard I’ve received in many years, is from Noriko, who lives in Pasadena California.
I love the woodcut design, the quote, and also the stamp.
Thanks, Noriko!
I’m not very good at Wordle in the same way I’m not good at Scrabble. When given a blank slate, I can remember no words at all. And even when I have some letters, it’s very hard for me to mentally sub in other letters and find words. Hence, I have things to help me, like always starting with the same two words and having letters in front of me to move around.
Today, I was tickled that my favorite brand of hair dye as a teenager got me to the correct word.
The fifth quadrant has had a custom lampshade business since 1954. But no longer. The owners closed up shop and retired. I will miss this bit of local color.
I discovered this little stack of post-it note calendar and bought one immediately. It’s fun to pull off the note each day and discover the next week’s theme.
This also came with a little spiral bound book where I could stick each day’s note in the book. There was a lot of flavor text that I couldn’t read because it was in Japanese. Google translate told me that it was talking about the various office supplies that are featured each week.
Maybe the dude who has never had any children should keep his trap shut about the humanity that childrearing brings?
I’ve got a lot of opinions about raising children, but since I’ve not done that job, I keep my remarks to myself.
Covid is a thing now. It’s part of life. But with the Omicron variant these three graphs really brought to life how much more contagious it is. Look at those spikes!
And these!
This one was particularly shocking. Number 6 is Omicron. Such a big jump!
From the future I can report that two of my family members got sick during the Omicron surge. They were both vaccinated and both recovered.
I didn’t love the title. “Actual advice” sounds pretty judgey, plus the “the news” clearly reports that it’s from a Twitter user. But the advice itself made me laugh.
Lean who talks about Trish for an extended period, who the main character of Red Rocket reminded me of, and in which movie showing I saw four people leave halfway through.
Note: Josh Greenbaum directed, didn’t write. Mikey isn’t probably really middle aged, but he is old for his industry.
I’ve signed on to Stonesoup recipes again. I need someone else to pick out things for me to eat, plus there was a half-price sale. Jules has revamped her program to better onboard new people into regularly cooking. I didn’t need that, but was glad to partake in her class about seasoning things. I listened to it while I traced my next embroidery pattern as part of the #YearofStitch from Badass Cross Stitch.
Here we did some adding of things to tomato puree. It was fun to see how it changed the flavors.
Make Meatballs Sing
Matthew Burgess, Kara Kramer
Read for Librarian Book Group
A large and colorful depiction of Sister Corita Kent’s life and art.
Best pages: I liked the gas tank pages, as I often saw that landmark when I lived in Boston.
A Boy Named Isamu
James Young
Read for Librarian Book Group
The story begins “If you are a boy named Isamu” and I am not, so it was a rough first few pages. I did like the illustrations of early twentieth century Japan.
Boogie Boogie, Y’all
C.G. Esperanza
Read for Librarian Book Group
A vibrant book, the content of which may be received at varying levels of enjoyment depending on the reader’s view of graffiti. There were some fun fold-out pages.
Zonia’s Rain Forest
Juana Martinez-Neal
Read for Librarian Book Group
Zonia hangs out in her part of the rain forest spending time with the animals. Then she feels sad because of logging. It was a bit of a bummer ending, plus, I’m pretty sure a few of those animals would eat her.
Sisters of the Neversea
Cynthia Leitich Smith
Read for Librarian Book Group
An excellent example of a really great concept that I didn’t find much fun to read due to the total bummer of reality as presented.
Lots of good identity blended family stuff, though.
The Beatryce Prophecy
Kate DiCamillo, Sophie Blackall
Read for Librarian Book Group
A vague Middle Ages setting for this story of a goat, a monk, a girl, and an orphan. I don’t seem to emotionally attach to DiCamillo novels as others do, and this was no exception. I do love when middle grade fiction (and any fiction, really) has illustrations.
Also, I mentally pronounced it “Beet-rice” throughout the book.
Breaking Stalin’s Nose
Eugene Yelchin
Read for Librarian Book Group
Brief middle grade book about one boy’s life in the USSR under Stalin. Plus, Yelchin’s illustrations, which I love.
Tiny Dancer
Siena Cherson Siegel & Mark Siegel
Siena’s life as a ballet dancer in New York City in the 70s and 80s. There were a lot of great illustrations of dancers. The story was fine.
Full Disclosure
Camryn Garrett
An uneven first novel about an HIV positive girl navigating her first relationship.
This was fine; Camryn Garrett’s Off the Record is really great.
Blackout
Dhonielle Clayton and many others
The joy of opening a book of short stories by some of my favorite YA authors was compounded exponentially when I realized the stories were interwoven. Such fun!
A Snake Falls to Earth
Darcie Little Badger
Read for Librarian Book Group
Two stories, one set in an alternate present where Texas has good public transportation, and one set in the Reflecting World, where animals have false forms that are human. This was a very well-built world. It was also a very long book, though its length was possibly compounded by my not being the greatest lover of fantasy.
Vampires, Hearts, and Other Dead Things
Margie Fuston
Read for Librarian Book Group
The main character was singularly focused in a way that made her one dimensional in this slog of a book.
Huda F Are You?
Huda Fahmy
Read for Librarian Book Group
Fahmy reflects on her high school days of trying to fit in. This was an engaging and interesting graphic novel, and I’d love to hear more about her and her sisters’ lives.
Fallout: Spies, Superbombs and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown
Steve Sheinkin
Read for Librarian Book Group
Sheinkin works his usual nonfiction magic to teach us about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Kind of Ragtime: The Story of Scott Joplin
Stephen Costanza
Read for Librarian Book Group
Intricate and interesting illustrations accompany the story of Scott Joplin. And there are suggested Joplin pieces to listen to in the author note.
The author note also says that Joplin’s father had left the family by the time his mother started looking to purchase a piano, but the illustrated page shows both parents searching out the piano.
Saving American Beach: The biography of African American Environmentalist Mavynee Betsch
Heidi Tylene King and Ekua Holmes
Read for Librarian Book Group
Mavynee Betsch worked awfully hard to save American Beach in Florida.
Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
Brandy Colbert
Read for Librarian Book Group
Unlike Tim Madigen and Hilary Beard’s The Burning, Colbert’s book about the Tulsa Race Massacre is a broader examination of policies and factors across the US that allowed white people to murder Black people and destroy their homes and business without being punished. Her coverage of the massacre is not as blow by blow, but still very informative.
The Woman All Spies Fear
Amy Butler Greenfield
Read for Librarian Book Group
Engrossing story of an early 20th century cryptoanalyst and pioneer of cryptology. Aside from engaging prose that had me reading just one more chapter, the book was a good reminder that if you have someone in your life who takes great photos—in this case, Greenfield’s husband enjoyed photography—your future biography will be the better for it.
The American Dream? A Journey on Route 66 Discovering Dinosaur Statues, Muffler Man, and the Perfect Breakfast Burrito: a Graphic Memoir
Shing Yin Khor
Shing Yin Khor takes a road trip, driving Route 66 while she reflects on her life and the life of the Mother Road.
