Jana Says

Living life from cover to cover

Weekly six pack, 2017, v29

by Jana 13 Comments

Thanks to everyone who participated in SUYB this month (I promise I’ll finish reading all your posts today) and a HUGE thank you to Tanya for the amazing facelift of this little space of mine! If you need or want yours done, I cannot recommend her enough. Not only is she crazy talented, her patience is unparalleled.

It’s been quite a week with all the news coming out of DC and my anger is starting to boil over. Like, cannot be contained anymore. Between Al Franken and the rollbacks on protections for elephants and more mass shootings and fucking Roy Moore and just the endless steaming pile of shit that just keeps growing like a political landfill replete with stinking turds, it’s hard to focus on anything else anymore.

But like my hero Elizabeth Warren, I persist. So let’s recap this week’s non-shitty events.

Reading. Ghettoside by Jill Leovy. Still. Nothing new from the library and I’m on a NetGalley break.

Watching. Mr. Robot and Damnation. The former is so fucking weird and at least 4 times an episode I get lost and the latter is filling my inexplicable love of Westerns. Even thought it’s less Western and more drama. I don’t know. At least I’m taking a break from Netflix.

Eating. Baked ziti. I haven’t had it in YEARS and I couldn’t stop thinking about it so I made some the other day and now I have enough until I turn 50. Separately, it’s one of those foods I make that I never actually follow a recipe and make differently every single time. See also: stuffed shells and crab cakes.

Listening. New podcast alert (well, new to me): Professional Book Nerds. It’s interview style (at least the ones I’ve listened to) and I really like the hosts. Plus, they’re funny and they followed me back on Twitter so I have to pimp them now.

Welcoming. A new dog! If you follow me on IG, you’ve seen her take over my feed and I’ll go into depth about her next week but the gist is her name is Lizzy (after aforementioned Elizabeth Warren), she’s 5, a puppy mill survivor, and she’s absolutely awesome. Barkley is adjusting as well as a cranky old man can adjust, the cat fucking hates her, and it’s nice to hear 8 feet running around the house again instead of just 4.

Laughing.

That’s all she wrote this week. Can’t remember what all of my weekend plans are but I know some involve doing a mile walk in the cold and the dark at the beach so mixed feelings about that. I’ll see you guys back on Tuesday. Have a great weekend!

Weekly six pack, 2017, v28

by Jana 9 Comments

Coming to you live from my phone so we’ll save my rants about the shitstorm we’re living in for next week.

Reading. Finished The Heart’s Invisible Furies. Currently reading The Financial Diaries. Picked up Ghettoside, Lincoln in the Bardo and Chuck Klosterman’s X. Don’t forget Show Us Your Books on Tuesday!

Watching. Stranger Things 2 (hot mess of a plot but if you don’t love Steve now something is wrong with you) and bingeing the final season of Longmire this weekend.

Listening. Or attempting to listen to some new podcasts. Specifically Professional Book Nerds and A Murder on Orchard Street. No verdict yet but I’ll get back to you.

Drinking. All the hazelnut coffee I can. I don’t know why. But I can’t stop.

Celebrating. The fact that my cat survived over 48 hours on the streets. Last Saturday, an in-home vet came to the house to give the cat a rabies shot (necessary in the event adopting another dog is in the future) and, without going into too much detail, she traumatized the fuck out of my cat. As soon as she had the opportunity, Boots took the hell off, spent a night outside in the pouring rain, and came home late Monday after I spent 2 solid days in hysterics. It was nice to stop crying and finally get some sleep.

Laughing.

Have a great weekend! This is the last one until January that I have no plans and I am going to love every single minute of it. See you on Tuesday for the best day of the month (and you might see some changes, too)!

Weekly six-pack, 2017, v27

by Jana 13 Comments

I think this feature needs a new name. I don’t always have 6 things to talk about. But I am lazy and I like routine so who knows when a change will happen. If ever.

Reading. Caroline. It’s very tedious but not terrible enough to quit. Nothing new from anywhere but anxiously waiting to get to my NetGalley books.

Watching. Mindhunter. This show is incredibly well done and interesting but they really play up the serial killers hate women angle. It’s kind of annoying.

Feeling. Accomplished. The husband and I finished our couch to 5k training and I ran for 35 minutes. IN A ROW. My life is weird now.

Wondering. Why the fuck a kid who I have seen hit her dog with a newspaper would think I would ever EVER pay her to walk my dog. Also I have a child her age who can do it for free and I enjoy walking my dog myself. I commend her desire to make money but COME ON.

Loving. That Michael’s had Hanukkah decorations. It is incredibly hard to find anything for Hanukkah where I live, including menorah candles, so you can bet I spent money I shouldn’t have on some stuff.

Laughing.

So I probably won’t be around next week as I’ll be in Dallas but before that, we’ll be celebrating my husband’s 40th (it was on Tuesday) this weekend with food and drinks and beach time. Hope you all enjoy your weekend and week and I’ll see you when I get back!

Weekly six-pack, 2017, v26

by Jana 10 Comments

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and comments on Dobie. I miss him so hard and am slowly easing back into normal life or whatever normal looks like now. We do plan to get another dog but it’s off the table until I return from Dallas which is actually better for all of us, Barkley included. And as far as rejoining the blogging world. I’m getting there.

In the meantime, here’s what my life looked like this week when I wasn’t crying.

Reading.American Fire by Monica Hesse. I planned to start Caroline but this one called me instead. Haven’t bothered to look at NetGalley or get anything from the library. Three year anniversary for Show Us Your Books is Tuesday and that means giveaway and prizes!

Watching. American Vandal. It’s a Netflix parody of true crime docs but it’s incredibly hilarious and well done and definitely stands on its own merit. I also started The Disappearance of Maura Murray. Fascinating shit, that case.

Listening. I’m trying to get into some new serial (not Serial) type podcasts and I found Small Town Horror which is okay but not my favorite. I have a couple of others that I’m looking forward to but if you know of any in the vein of Homecoming or Alice Isn’t Dead, send them my way, please.

Eating. Um, well, really nothing beyond basic sustenance. I don’t eat when I’m grieving (although I binge when I’m stressed) so I’ve been on a steady diet of coffee, cheese, and tortilla chips. If you have any recipes that might help bring back my appetite, please also send them my way. If they can be adapted into gluten free, all the better.

Raging. Watching the events in Las Vegas and the horror show of 45’s trip to Puerto Rico and the new abortion ban that passed the House and the lack of vote to reauthorize CHIP and now 9 million kids are uninsured unfold when you’re in a fog makes it hard to really process all that you’re seeing. Where I want to see red, and believe me I do, I just feel helpless instead. I CANNOT handle what the orange menace is doing to this country and to see people like Pitbull and Bethenny Frankel and Mark Cuban and Ricky Martin and others step in overwhelms me to the point of crying even more. And then there’s the Second Amendment. I’ve never really expressed my opinion on this in any forum but here goes. I have absolutely ZERO problem with the amendment itself. I have no problem with people owning guns for their own safety, protection, or simple amusement. You feel that you need a conceal and carry permit, have the fuck at it. There are thousands and thousands of responsible, normal gun owners in this country and it is their right to do so. HOWEVER. We have a serious fucking problem with mass shootings. We have a serious fucking problem with access to assault rifles and unhinged lunatics who procure them and the accessories needed to turn them into even bigger weapons of mass destruction. We have a serious fucking problems with gun control laws and regulations and an even more serious problem with the gun lobby. People are too afraid to lose a donor than to stand up and protect the rights of concert goers, movie goers, club goers, church goers, women attending exercise classes, people going to work, and KIDS WHO DID NOTHING ELSE BUT GO TO SCHOOL. Freedom of assembly is in the First Amendment and we have a raging problem of the power of the Second usurping the freedom guaranteed in the First.  Gun control and regulation is not taking away the right to own guns. It is limiting access to people who shouldn’t have them in the first place and adapting our laws to match the evolution of the weapons and accessories. Assault rifles in their current form weren’t a thing in the 1780s when the Constitution was written and I’m confident the Founding Fathers would be just fine with some modifications. We should all be. THE TIME TO TALK ABOUT IT WAS IN 1999 BUT NOW WILL DO, TOO. JUST HAVE THE FUCKING DISCUSSION.

Deciding. To run a bunch of 5Ks next year. I hate running but Dobie loved it and because of his heart, he never could do it as much as he wanted so for the next year, my husband and I are going to honor him by running when we can and in races that support causes we believe in.

I try to end these with something funny so

Have a great weekend! Wish me luck as I’m going shopping. I hate shopping.

Weekly six-pack, 2017, v25

by Jana 10 Comments

Not much to report this week. Which I like.

Reading. ARC of Grist Mill Road (why not actually read one before it releases?) and The Locals. Two because one is an ebook and sometimes I need a screen break. Nothing from the library or NetGalley.

Watching. Random shows all over the place and nothing consistently. I think I went 3 days without turning on the TV for me (I watched the American Ninja Warrior finale under duress). I did watch the Emmys. Mixed feelings on the Sean Spicer thing but hooray for all the history making!

Eating. Cookie butter Oreos. You must eat them, too. It’s a moral imperative.

Raging. Just when it seemed like fucking 45 was going to act like a human, he goes and acts just like himself again. From the golf ball gif to failing to recognize or show any sympathy for Mexico and Puerto Rico (and we all know exactly why, too) to the Rocket Man nonsense (so it’s okay to quote a gay man but not okay to make sure they have rights? Got it) and everything else he continues to do, I don’t even know what to do with myself some days. I can’t even rationally address the health care situation. I have never in my life had less respect for a person or been more afraid for my and my country’s safety.

Loving. Bagels. Not like I can eat them but I wanted to profess my love anyway.

Laughing.

Have a great weekend guys! See you on Tuesday!

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