Society
Q1 / 2022 Reading Recap
Well, as it turned out 2022 began as 2021 had ended — all work and no play, albeit with the addition of a hospital detour to boot. (Nothing serious, just way more painful and, all told, protracted, than it had any right to be.) So I’m back to posting one summary post for the first […]
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Isabel Wilkerson: Caste
Blurb: The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions. “As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down […]
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Beryl Bainbridge: According to Queeney
Festive Tasks Master Update Post HERE Festive Tasks, Door 7 — Gift Giving & Wrapping: Read a book with a cover that would make beautiful wrapping paper; or read a book that you would have enjoyed giving or receiving as a gift: This is less a fictional biography than a portrait of manners and […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “R”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. I took a hiatus from this project in February in order to finish some blog cleanup operations, but yesterday’s post by BookStooge reminded […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “M”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two items mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “L”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two items mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “J”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two items mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “C”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two things mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
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An Alphabet of My Likes and Dislikes: “B”
This is a post belonging to a new blogging project — the title is pretty much self-explanatory, I think; the project’s introductory post can be found HERE. Credit for the idea: BeetleyPete. As always, the only thing linking the two items mentioned in this post in my mind is that they both start with the […]
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Favorite Fictional Societies and Ingredients of a Well-Functioning Real Society
24 Festive Tasks: Door 3 – Saturnalia, Task 2: Saturnalia was originally a celebration in remembrance of the “Golden Age” of Graeco-Roman mythology, ruled over by Saturn (Kronos in Greek), and during which humanity existed in a utopian state of innocence, living off nature’s bounty without having to work. Name a book describing / set […]
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Spices!
The sort of online rabbit hole one is liable to fall down in lockdown times … There’s a company named Spirit of Spice that specializes in “whole seed” spice mixes all coming in their own little mills: I’ve been a fan of theirs for quite a while, though so far I’ve been buying their products […]
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Pandemic: Desperate Measures
Desperate times call for desperate measures … I’d never have believed I’d ever let a monstrosity like this cross my front door, but with supermarket and drugstore shelves persistently empty in my area (despite rumors that elsewhere in this country, the hoarders have had their fill and stocks are being replenished), the other day when […]
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“Lockdown”? — Tell me again Germans are supposed to be law-abiding as a rule …
I went for a short walk earlier this afternoon (alone, of course) — the kind of thing we’re still allowed to do to maintain a modicum of exercise and intake of fresh air. This is what our street looked like — and what it, and all the streets in our neighborhood have been looking like […]
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#Stayathome: Working Moms and Helpful Neighbors
Snagged from LinkedIn: It reads: Mom has a conference call! 09:00 – 11:00 AM. !DO NOT ENTER! The answer to your question may be: * It’s in the laundry. * NO! * I don’t know yet what we’ll be having for lunch. * Have a fruit. * Look in your room. * Ignore him and […]
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Free David Williams audiobook
Reblogged from: XOX Source: www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/elevenses David Williams free audio book for all who have to stay home. Original post: ThemisAthena.booklikes.com/post/2112524/free-david-williams-audiobook
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Hoarding: The Figures
… for Germany, according to the federal statistics monitoring agency (Statistisches Bundesamt): Sales of disinfectants: up by up to 800% — then down to zero sales, because stores went out of stock. Sales of soap: up by 400%. Sales of toilet paper: up by 300% (this is surprisingly low). Sales of pasta, flour, sugar, rice, […]
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Meanwhile in Brazil …
See: www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/03/25/821327282/in-brazil-bolsonaro-doubles-down-on-exaggerated-coronavirus?t=1585223690880 I know it’s extremely small comfort for those of us worried about their own governments’ responses, but I’m still glad we don’t have to deal with this sort of mega-f*ckery. No wonder Brazilians are furious. Original post: ThemisAthena.booklikes.com/post/2105131/meanwhile-in-brazil
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Literary Hub: The first lines of 10 classic novels, rewritten for social distancing.
Source: lithub.com/the-first-lines-of-10-classic-novels-rewritten-for-social-distancing Pride and Prejudice It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be hoarding toilet paper. (Midu shared this on LinkedIn the other day; thought I’d pass it on.) And there are a couple of repuposed last lines, too … Original post: […]
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Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” (starring Patrick Stewart): A Favorite Christmas Movie — and Ignorance and Want
24 Festive Tasks: Door 20 – Christmas, Task 3: Watch a favorite Christmas movie. Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol was published 175 years ago today: I’ve marked the occasion by honoring one of my personal annual Christmas traditions and rewatching the 1999 screen adaptation starring Sir Patrick Stewart. (Review HERE.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ignorance and […]
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Happy Independence Day – and, my Freedom and Future Library
Related Blog Post: Book Recs Solicited: Freedom and Future Library Reading Project: Freedom and Future Library Could there possibly be a better day on which to finally follow up on my Freedom and Future Library post? Truth be told, I’d been hoping to compile this much faster, but RL threw a major spanner in […]
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