To continue the catch-up, here are the books, movies, and goals progress from October through December.

Books:

17 Books this quarter.

1. Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give. I read this for the Crones and Tomes book club. This is nominally a Young Adult novel, but that didn’t make it easy reading. The story involves a 16-year-old girl who witnesses a ( Read more... )

I am slowly working my way through getting back to normal life, but it’s a slow process. So, here, have the last set of answers to blog prompts from 2023.

1. What was the last thing you put off doing? I need to finish putting away laundry.

2. Do you eat your dinner at a dining table, coffee table or off your lap? At the dining room table.

3. ( Read more... )

I got home Friday morning and I am only just now really starting to get caught up on anything. I have at least 5 entries to write here, so I am just going to start with a few easier ones, then write about my trip and get around to the 2023 year in review after all that.

1 - Cookie Cutter Day: Do you own any cookie cutters? Any unusual ones? Tell ( Read more... )

I’m leaving on vacation in the morning, so wanted to get this done before I go. It’s unclear how much internet access I’ll have over the trip, so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me.

1. How do you prefer your toast? Lightly toasted, with a little butter.

2. How often do you post something to social media? Typically, one to three times a day ( Read more... )

1 - Extra Mile Day: When was the last time you went the extra mile for someone, or someone went the extra mile for you? Tell us about it. I think this is mostly a matter of being willing to provide a listening ear (and, in some cases, travel-related advice) to friends.

2 - Stress Awareness Day: How stressful is your everyday life? How well do ( Read more... )

Celebrity Death Watch: Bill Rice was a country music singer and songwriter. Robert Brustein was a theatre critic. Ado Ibrahim was the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, which is some sort of Nigerian traditional ruler. Frank “Hondo” Howard played outfield and first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Washington Senators (who became the Texas Rangers ( Read more... )

I Should Probably Insert Some Sort of Trigger Warning: I’ve been trying to write something about Israel for a while and can’t quite find the words I want. So this is a bit of a brain dump.

Where’s the Outrage: My main thought has to do with something I once read about news coverage. The thing I am thinking of was an analysis somebody did of the ( Read more... )

Grounded: I went to see the opera, Grounded, at the Kennedy Center on Saturday night. The story involves a female F-16 fighter pilot who gets pregnant as a result of an affair with a rancher while on leave in Wyoming. She takes 8 years off, but returns to the Air Force and is shunted into being a drone pilot. She resents that at first, but she ( Read more... )

Elections: The Virginia elections went better than I expected. My area is not at all competitive so there were no surprises locally. (For example, our candidate for delegate was running unopposed.) And I can’t say that I was surprised that the candidate for county sheriff who had a long rant on his web page about why campaign contributions are ( Read more... )

1.What was your favorite sport to play? I liked racket sports. I played both tennis and badminton. I preferred the latter. I also enjoyed archery. And, of course, all the kids in my neighborhood (and some of the adults, e.g. my Dad) played softball.

2. What was your first pet and what did you name it? We had turtles when I was really little, ( Read more... )