• • Currently reading The Mothers and Truly Madly Guilty. DNF The Summer That Melted Everything. Picked up All is Not Forgotten. 
  • After some serious technological fuckery, Steph and I finally made it through a recording of The Armchair Librarians. We discussed The Couple Next Door, and the episode will release next Friday so you have something to listen to while you avoid Black Friday shopping or while you drive from store to store. We’re here for you either way.
  • Also in book news, I have a books column over at my friends’ site, Adulting, and my first post went live this week. It’s a big list of influential books, mostly of the business and personal development variety. I’m planning to do a second one like this but with influential novels. I will be turning to you guys for help. I know you won’t let me down.
  • I will not talk about the post-election bullshit. I will not talk about the post-election bullshit. Oh, fuck that. Yes. I will. Because appointing an anti-Semitic, racist, misogynistic, xenophobe as the chief White House strategist is not something I take lightly. I mean, HOW MUCH BIGGER CAN THIS DUMPSTER FIRE GET? At what point does it stop? I am genuinely fearful for this country, not from external threats but from internal ones. Specifically, the ones with authority. And not only is Steve Bannon (who, to be fair, might not actually be those things but merely associated with them because of Breitbart but let’s be honest, you don’t run a company like that without agreeing with its message on some level) now the co-top level adviser to someone wildly unqualified for the job to which he’s been elected, that kind of appointment speaks to the kind of country this administration is going to create. I tried to be hopeful that it was just blowhard rhetoric to garner support. Clearly I was wrong. And while I am never ashamed of my heritage, I have never been so thankful to have a non-ethnic last name. It shouldn’t be like that. Not here, not anywhere.
  • Okay. Now we need to lighten things up. Have a funny (I mean, besides all the Biden/Obama memes. That shit is priceless and I cannot pick my favorite because they are all SO GOOD):
  • Song of the week. It was hard to pick one. I went back and forth between picking one that makes me genuinely happy and one that’s meaningful and inspirational because, let’s face it, we need both. So I went with a Breaking Benjamin oldie, “I Will Not Bow”, because it does both for me and I think I’m like a month overdue for a BB song anyway.

Hope you all have a great weekend! I’m going to my very first Coach/Thirty-One Bingo event and I’m quite excited since it’s been on my unofficial 40 by 40 list for a long time. I’ll also be prepping my house for Thanksgiving and visiting with some friends and family. I’ll see you back on Tuesday with my Plum Paper planner review!

 

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This recap seems unnecessary and irrelevant and unimportant given the week’s events but let’s do it anyway.

• • Picked up Chuck Klosterman’s new book (fun fact: we have the same birthday) and Tig Notaro’s book. Muddled through The Summer That Melted Everything. Thanks to everyone who participated in Show Us Your Books and we have two(!) next month, one on December 13 (the regular monthly one) and the other on December 27 (favorites of the year).
  • Started Good Girls Revolt. Seems extra apropos now.
  • I didn’t want to give any more attention to the election results but in light of several events, I have to. While I’m trying my hardest to convince my daughter that everything will be okay, I’m finding it incredibly difficult to do so. I have friends–close friends–who are afraid for their safety and the safety of their children. I don’t blame them, not when there are stories of swastikas graffitied on store fronts and Muslim women being assaulted and black baby dolls found hanging from nooses. I don’t even want to discuss the fact that my friend was called a cunt for saying she doesn’t like Trump. This is despicable. It is disgusting. It is everything our country is not supposed to be and my heart is shattered. And as our now leader, he has a responsibility to condemn this behavior. Try to curtail it. But he won’t. He’s proud of it, and he condones it not just with his actions but his refusal to own responsibility for making this shit acceptable again. EXCEPT THAT IT’S NOT. And while some might be running for Canada or other countries, I plan to stay right here and fight in any way I can to make this shit stop. #nastywomanforlife
  • I recently took inventory of all the things I have with polka dots. Official tally: almost everything I own except my clothes save for one polka dot cardigan. I want to say it’s a problem except…no. It’s not. I LOVE POLKA DOTS AND I AM NOT ASHAMED.
  • This made me laugh. We all need to laugh.
  • Song of the week: “Still Breathing” by Green Day. Here’s the video rather than just audio. It’s pretty powerful.

And since it’s Veteran’s Day here in the U.S., I want to take a moment to thank anyone who’s served. This week more than any other week in my memory, I appreciate what you’ve done to protect our freedoms, specifically our freedoms to disagree open with our government.

I hope you all have a great weekend and try to take some time to recover. As for me, I’ll be visiting with a friend and recording an episode of my new true crime podcast that I’m hosting with my friend Athena. More info on that when we’re ready to roll!

 

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• • Finished Behind Closed Doors and Between the World and Me. Picked up The Mothers. Show Us Your Books this Tuesday, November 8. That’s also Election Day so please go vote before you indulge in book nerdiness.
  • Resisted all binge watching, including the new season of The Fall for which I am monumentally excited. Watched nothing else because…
  • THE WORLD SERIES. Holy shit. What a fucking series. I’m not a Cubs or Indians fan (raging Mets fan over here) but OMG. Game 7 was probably the best game I’ve ever watched. Ever in my whole life. Incredible isn’t even a descriptive enough word for what happened. I got teary and emotional and it all felt like I was watching a movie instead of real life. I can’t even imagine how Cubs fans feel. It’s pretty amazing to think that in the last decade or so we’ve seen the Red Sox AND the Cubs break their streaks (Indians, I’m seriously pulling for you next year). Also, with the Indians in the World Series, it made my chronic quoting of Major League appropriate instead of weird. And Anthony Rizzo is my new favorite person.
  • And while we’re talking about history, can we talk about the CMAs honoring Dolly Parton with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award? She’s the first woman to win it and it’s just another in a long line of accomplishments and achievements and trailblazing she’s done. I could go on for many, many words about Dolly as I love her so. But you know what made the whole thing better besides her awesome speech? Seeing the tribute to her done by women. ALL WOMEN. No men (Pentatonix gets a pass). You know why? Because women kick just as much as ass as men and sometimes, men just need to shut up, sit down, and watch what women can do. (Remember this on Tuesday, too)
  • Received my Plum Paper planner. I’d been wanting one and after Kristen’s review, I bit the bullet and purchased one for myself. And since Kathy requested it, I’ll do a whole post detailing my experience thus far. Reader’s Digest version: I fucking love it.
  • Song of the week. I wanted to do a Dolly song but I know I keep saying I’m going to do a Breaking Benjamin song so instead of either, let’s go in a completely different direction and use this song by Skillet. They happen to be the child’s favorite band and this song is empowering as fuck:

So that’s all for this week. Don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour on Saturday night unless you live in a place that recognizes how stupid daylight savings time actually is although I am looking forward to it being light when I wake up in the morning. See you on Tuesday for Show Us Your Books!

 

 

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I don’t even know where this week went. Let’s try to recap anyway.

• Finished The Sea of Tranquility and had a major book hangover for the rest of the week. It’s better now but my god, did this book destroy me. Made it hard to function the whole week because I am tired. Picked up The Summer That Melted Everything and Truly Madly Guilty. Am in the middle of 4 different books because I cannot commit.
• Steph and I saw Jodi Picoult at the Philadelphia Free Library on Tuesday for a Q&A about her new book, Small Great Things. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly, HIGHLY recommend it. I’ve read every single one of her books and without a doubt, this one is the most impactful and one of her best. It brings up issues of race and racism which, while it’s uncomfortable to talk about, it an incredibly necessary conversation this country needs to have. And those conversations start with us.
• I watched the Netflix documentary Audrie & Daisy. If you have the ability, watch it. It’s about rape, which, like race, is not an easy topic to discuss but the way these girls’ cases were handled are an affront to justice and explores the rape culture that persists in this country. There’s one police officer in the documentary I wanted to punch in the face. People like him should not exist in law enforcement yet they do. It is infuriating. And as a parent, I am absolutely terrified of what my daughter might face as she gets older, particularly with social media and online bullying.
• We got our carpets cleaned. So instead of in the house, my dog puked all over my car. While I was in the school pickup line. Sans anything to clean it up with. My daughter said my car smells like her nightmare. Smells like my nightmare, too.
• While I’m not a fan of the Cubs or the Indians, this World Series is historic and fascinating and I’m rooting for the Cubs only because good friends of mine are Cubs fans and I think they might implode if the Cubs don’t win. I like my friends and don’t want them to implode. Also, Fox? NOT COOL to put up a graphic about the no hitter. YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT THE NO HITTER. Basic baseball etiquette.
• Song of the week. I know I was going to do a Breaking Benjamin song this week but I changed my mind. Have you heard the new Kings of Leon song? It’s so, so good. Kings of Leon is like Mumford and Sons. I forget about them and then I hear a song or two on the radio and remember how fucking awesome they are.

That’s all she wrote this week. We’re headed to the beach for a college friend’s wedding and I get to see lots of old friends as well. I’m very excited about this (and even more excited that I found a dress and shoes for a total of $50). Maybe, MAYBE, I might even take a picture and put it on ye old Instagram. We’ll see.

Have a great weekend!

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Written after the shitshow of a presidential debate. I apologize for the brevity but my brain is fried from it.

• Finished Eileen and currently reading Adnan’s Story and Burn Baby Burn. Picked up Between the World and Me. Had to pause Brat Pack America to finish up some library books.
• Binged on Longmire. I love that Netflix picked up this show after A&E dumped it because Lou Diamond Phillips is freaking everything. The show is worth watching solely for him.
• My daughter lost another tooth this week. I find loose teeth DISGUSTING and I was thrilled when the thing fell out. However, she still believes, or my husband still wants her to believe in the tooth fairy and I am so over that shit. When she was 5 it was cute. At almost 10, it’s simply annoying. I don’t have it in my to make a big deal out of a tooth anymore. Why? Because it’s a fucking tooth. They fall out. That’s what they’re supposed to do.
• The debate: there’s not much left for me to say except that Trump is exactly the reason we still need feminism. He started the debate insulting a woman, he ended the debate insulting a woman, and throughout the debate he did nothing but bully, yell, demean, patronize, and yes, insult, a woman. He evaded a question that attempted to hold him accountable for his behavior towards women. He used fear mongering language about a women’s issue rather than fact and actual information. He is mansplaining personified. He is clearly threatened by intelligent, competent, successful women and when women rise up and defeat this motherfucker in a few weeks, I hope he becomes nothing but a footnote and distant orange memory.
• Help, please. I need new recipes, preferably meat free or can be easily adapted to meat free. Can you guys point me in the direction of some of your favorites?
• Song of the week: “If You Don’t Don’t” by Jimmy Eat World. I was torn between this one and one from Breaking Benjamin but I’ll pick one of theirs for next week. Jimmy Eat World has a new album (do you love how I show my age with that word?) that releases today and it makes me happy when a band that’s been around forever but isn’t maybe crazy popular still puts out new music. This song is from Bleed American, which is my favorite of their albums, and this is my favorite of all the songs.

Hope you guys enjoy your weekend!

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