boxofdelights

I hosted book group last Sunday and I'm only just feeling recovered today. We read How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community, by Mia Birdsong, which is a very timely book about weaving the web of connections that we all need to survive the current omnidisaster. Eight people showed up at my house!

I made broccoli & tofu with peanut sauce, a tomato-lentil dish, spiced nuts (sweet and not sweet), and served salad, bread, cheese and crackers. My friend Karen made mojitos.

I also had door prizes: a stack of books. Six of them went home with someone.

( pics )

I'm about to go to an event at the library called Open Book Connections: Speed Dating & Friending and I'm suddenly panicking that everyone else there will be looking for a date and I will be standing alone in a corner. I've got a good book though. I chose Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass.

Here's the event description:

Are you a book lover looking to build connections with fellow readers in a fun and relaxed setting? Join us for an evening where books, conversation, and new connections come together!

How it works:

Bring Your Favorite Book: Choose a book that you absolutely love, whether it's a timeless classic, a recent bestseller, or an unexpected gem. You’ll get the chance to share why this book resonates with you and hear about others’ literary passions.
Speed Dating with a Twist: In our speed dating-style setup, you'll engage in brief, rotating conversations with fellow participants. During each round, you’ll have several minutes to explain what makes your chosen book special and connect with others over shared reading interests.
Continue the Conversation: After the speed dating rounds, we’ll unwind with mocktails and treats. This is your chance to further chat with the people you've met, discuss books in more depth, or simply enjoy some great conversation in a laid-back atmosphere.
Stay Connected: If you meet someone you'd like to stay in touch with after the event, simply write down their name during the speed dating rounds. If you both note each other's names, we'll email you with each other's contact information to help you keep the connection going.
This event is all about making connections—whether it's over the joy of a favorite book or the thrill of discovering someone with similar reading tastes. No pressure, just good conversation and great company.

Readers of all ages and backgrounds who are passionate about books and open to meeting new people are welcome to attend. Whether you're a mystery lover, fantasy fanatic, or fan of memoirs, there’s a seat at the table for you.

My neighbors and I have fallen into the habit of shoveling each other's sidewalk when we are doing our own, because if you are out there why not. They do it more often, because they get up in the morning and I do not. So whenever I am baking a big batch of cookies I bake some for them, to keep up my end.

First snow this year, they shoveled, and I said thank you when we crossed paths. Neighbor said actually, their youngest child did it; they're making him work! I left cookies at their door a few days later.

Neighbor texted: "Thank you so much for the ginger snap cookies!! These are our favorite!!"
Me: "I hope [child's name] likes them too!"
Neighbor: "For sure!"

This morning, even though it was very cold, the public sidewalk was shoveled from one alley to the other, and so was the walk to my front door, which was not something we have done for each other before. The shoveling was thoroughly done, the whole width of the sidewalk, so I'm going to guess it was not the child's job this time.

I'm thinking, ginger cookies and brownies? Ginger cookies and Mexican wedding cakes? Ginger cookies and spiced nuts?

On the other hand, where will this end?

I just hated The Berry Pickers, the first book I finished this year. It has a good topic: A very young Canadian First Nations child is stolen by a white woman who wants a child, and the next fifty years are narrated in alternate chapters by the stolen child and her brother. I appreciated the author's choice to make the kidnapper parents ordinary people who did their best to be good parents; it makes it clear that stealing a child is a monstrous act that damages everyone it affects, even if you don't pile more child abuse on top.

But the writing is just sentimental and dull. It doesn't deserve to be hated. I should have just put it down when I realized it wasn't for me. But this is for book group. I refused to read the books this member chose in previous years, which were also sentimental, melodramatic, and dull novels about worthy topics, so I had made up my mind I was going to push through and finish this time. Mistake.

The other book I'm reading is a delight:

The baby plant root has forty-eight hours after it decides to emerge to locate water and nutrients, and then push out a leaf or two and begin photosynthesizing, before it runs out of resources and dies. The first green parts of any plant are folded preassembled and waiting inside the seed. This preassembled plantlet bears little resemblance to the plant itself; it consists of one or two cartoonish green lobes on a short green stem, the manifestation of the plant emoji, and it is entirely temporary.

From The Light Eaters, by Zoe Schlanger.

We're in a cold spell. A lot of trees are budding out, due to the last several weeks of warm temperatures.

Dutch, my 1/3 scale Bernese Mountain Dog, loves sitting outside in the cold. Tilda does not. She is happy running around, but while Dutch can sit out there on squirrel patrol for hours, Tilda wants to come in. And then she wants to go out, because Dutch is out there without Tilda. And then she wants to come in, because it is cold.

Inside, Tilda likes to tuck herself behind me in the big comfy chair. Here is the position she gets into:

( Read more... )
(These are the same photos I posted to Mastodon)

I just read Not Lost (Never Lost), a moving short story by Premee Mohamed: https://psychopomp.com/not-lost-never-lost/

I'm in the middle of The Light Eaters, a good book about plant intelligence by Zoe Schlanger, and Free Love, a novel by Tessa Hadley, which are both due back to the library but I'm not willing to relinquish them and pick them back up after someone else has had a turn yet, even though

I have A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn,
How to Read Now, by Elaine Castillo,
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa See,
The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters,
Kings of the Wyld, by Nicholas Eames,
and Self-Made Boys, by Anna-Marie McLemore
all on deck for book groups this month.

I got a trike!

( trike )

I bought it second hand from someone who just didn't use it. While I was bringing it home, I got a notification that "AirTag Found Moving With You". The previous owner didn't mention an AirTag, but I think it has to be somewhere on the trike. Should I contact the previous owner, or will I be able to find it and take it off myself?

ETA: the person whose pickup I borrowed to transport the trike has an AirTag on her pickup, so I'm assuming that's where the notification came from.

I finally got to see Hamilton. My friend won the ticket lottery, and her partner didn't want to go on a school night so she asked me. We were in the third row.

I've loved the songs for a long time, but seeing the real thing is amazing. So many talented people working together, working so hard, and so precisely, to make this beautiful, intricate design happen!

My friend asked someone in the row behind us to take our picture. She took her mask off for the photo so I did too, although I probably would have chosen not to if I had thought about it beforehand. Peer pressure is real! I got the new vaccine in September and I used my antiviral mouthwash before I went and it was only for a moment.

( pix )

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/517-ten-free-ebooks-for-getting-free

Haymarket Books is offering free ebooks, until Dec 5:

Freedom Is a Constant Struggle
by Angela Y. Davis

Hope in the Dark
by Rebecca Solnit

How We Get Free
Edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Class Struggle Unionism
by Joe Burns

Elite Capture
by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

Socialism . . . Seriously
by Danny Katch

Let This Radicalize You
by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba

Unbuild Walls
by Silky Shah

The Black Antifascist Tradition
by Jeanelle K. Hope and Bill V. Mullen

Palestine in a World on Fire
by Katherine Natanel and Ilan Pappé

I like this interview with Elva Guerra, of Dark Winds and Reservation Dogs:

What advice would you give to other two-spirit and queer Indigenous kids?

That’s my favorite question because I get so sentimental when thinking of young queer Indigenous kids. I was them at one point, and I know what they’re feeling, and I know that they sometimes feel like it can be very isolating and very lonely, and I just want them to know that we exist and we’re still here.

If you ever want to reach out to any of us, any of the queer Indigenous role models, just do. Go vent to my DMs, or just come to me. There’s always a different option besides the saddest option. I always want to protect young Indigenous kids because I know how much you’re going through, and I know that it’s hard, and I know that you might want to give up, and I don’t blame you. I really don’t. I was in that position at one time, but you have to see the beauties of the world.

I would just love it if you stayed here with us and did that with us. We need more open Indigenous kids and people in this community and just a lot of love. I hope that I can give that to them. Whether through the screen or meeting people, I love meeting queer Indigenous kids because it makes my heart so full to see that they look up to me.

I just want to tell the queer Indigenous kids to keep on going, man. We really are all rooting for you. We’re all here for you, and we’re all doing this for you and for us. We love you. We really do.

https://nativenewsonline.net/arts-entertainment/q-a-two-spirit-actor-and-reservation-dogs-star-elva-guerra

My house is clean. Ish. Don't look in that one room though.

This is for bookgroup. I should schedule an event for spring, too, so my house gets clean at least twice a year. It'll have to be very early spring, though, because as soon as gardening season starts, the house is just a place to rest when it's too dark, wet, or cold to garden.

( a dining room )

Hello WisCon community!

We are currently considering the prospect of having a WisCon convention in 2025. However, to have a WisCon in 2025, we need at least three (3) Co-Chairs by end of August. At least one of these people should have had some previous experience with WisCon/SF3 in a pre-con role, meaning that the person is current or former member of the ConCom, Personnel Committee, Comms, or the SF3 Board. We would also like either additional Co-Chairs or apprentice Co-Chairs who can act in a supporting role. Apprentice Co-Chairs do not require experience and will have a smaller work load.

Are you interested in serving as a co-chair or apprentice (or would you like more information about these volunteer opportunities)?

Contact Personnel (personnel@sf3.org)

https://wiscon.net/2024/07/11/seeking-co-chairs-and-apprentice-co-chairs-for-wiscon-2025/

She made a raspberry galette
Pastry and fruit
And not a thing more
There was no custard and no cream
Cuz it was too hot
To go to the store

( Read more... )

( raspberries )

Tomorrow, there will be oatmeal, and the raspberries will go on the oatmeal. But it's the raspberries that make it worth getting out of bed.

( conversation with my kid )

I know the gecko was his partner's, and died months ago, before they moved in together. I assume the hamster was an even earlier pet. I know that people who have small pets and live in apartments often keep their bodies in the freezer until they get a chance to bury them. But where does the pile of dirt come in?

They _were_ sharing that side of the couch like civilized beings, but Tilda stretched out and left Dutch no place to go but up. Dutch tried to balance on the back of the couch, but slid down onto Tilda's head. They both went back to sleep like that.

( large photo of sleeping dogs )

So I've been back from the hospital for two weeks. I still have a sore throat, but I'm still testing negative for Covid. And getting more energetic every day! I was outside with my hands in the soil the other day, and my husband said, "That's the happiest I've seen you in two weeks!"

( Iris reticulata )

Yesterday, about 5:30, I heard the sandhill cranes flying north. My husband came into the back yard as I was hobbling up the steps to the back door. "Do you hear that? Do you hear that?" I called to him. I stuck my head inside and yelled, "Phoebe! Come out and listen!" Phoebe came out and started laughing with joy. She has seen thousands of the sandhill cranes overwintering in New Mexico, and this was just a small group, maybe sixty, flying overhead for a few moments, but it was a delight. They don't sound like anything else.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/sounds

( on the couch with the dogs )

I've been stalling this for a couple years now, but I finally decided to go ahead with it. Radical hysterectomy, which means everything must go. With an abdominal incision, though I don't know whether that will be vertical or horizontal.

I'm afraid of brain damage from the general anesthesia, and I'm afraid of catching Covid in the hospital.

I should be fully recovered before gardening begins in earnest. It would have been better to do this in the interval between losing my high-maintenance very old dog and acquiring my high-maintenance, anxious, strong, energetic, mannerless young dog. My husband will be staying with me for a couple weeks, as long as I need, and doing all the chores, but Matilda is A Lot.

Having shredded ALL THE THINGS, Matilda settles down for a good night's sleep.

( Read more... )

Photos of two of my other dogs on the wall behind her reveal that I have a type.

I'm back from the hospital! Thank you all for encouraging words. The surgery was long but uncomplicated, and all the organs that did not get removed are working properly, including my brain.

I was on the Oncology floor, so there were signs on every patient's room saying masks were required to enter, but very few people were wearing masks in the halls. They kept me for four days. I don't know how long until I can be confident I didn't catch Covid, but I feel okay so far.

The dogs need more exercise. Today and tomorrow have highs of 60, so I have the back door open for them to run in and out, but after that the highs will be in the 40s for a while. Tilda keeps letting me know that she is concerned about my belly wound, and would like to clean it up for me.

( Read more... )

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book group

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I raise you one

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wednesday reading

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Ten Free Ebooks for Getting Free

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