Cyclist ran a red light while I was walking to work this morning. I had to wait FOUR EXTRA SECONDS!!! to cross the street. All cyclists are terrible and shouldn’t be allowed to live.
Libraries and information
Reading update
by dcdotnerd • • 0 Comments
Looking at my list of posts, it appears that I’ve completely neglected to keep up my running commentary on my 50 states, 50 books project. You might have noticed that you’re not really missing anything, as my “reviews” of the books are, well, terrible. I won’t bore you with my reactions to every book since Arizona. (Keep that sigh of relief to yourself, please!) I will, however, let you know that I’m 22 states in (not all in alphabetical order, primarily because I took 6 novels out of the library at the same time and have put off reading Infinite Jest because it is LONG), so making reasonable progress.
I will also say that Deliverance was amazing, A Confederacy of Dunces hilarious, and the book I ultimately read for Hawaii (none of the nearby library systems had the designated book) turned out to barely mention Hawaii. I certainly expected more Hawaii from a novel called December 6 with a LC subject heading involving the word “Hawaii.” (That heading was not, however, “Fiction — Hawaii”, so one could legitimately say that I should have done a better search.)
Was anyone playing along with this game? How is your progress?
DC (dot) nerd
Endorsements
by dcdotnerd • • 0 Comments
Well folks, tomorrow is the primary election here in DC, and I’m not fooling. (Ha ha ha. I’ll be here all night.) All the popular kids are blogging their endorsements, so I’m jumping on the bandwagon. I have two endorsements. Read carefully because these are going to sway the direction of the city for years to come.
One. I endorse voting early. But I guess it’s too late for that. So vote early next time. Hopefully the next time will be the general election in November.
Two. I endorse voting. Go do it!! Find your polling place here.
And that is all. Happy voting!
Mundanities
KidneyDotNerd
by dcdotnerd • • 0 Comments
Two weeks ago (15 days, to be precise) I donated a kidney to one of my friends. Thirteen days ago I was discharged from the hospital and twelve days ago I felt well enough to walk to the pharmacy and supermarket. But thanks to an incredible synagogue community, I’m going to be getting meals delivered for another week and a half.
I have a bit of a secret: I’m kind of tired of it.
Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate that my friends want to do this, I appreciate meatloaf and lasagna (each of which I’ve only been delivered once, and I feel kind of cheated because of it), I appreciate that I don’t have to go grocery shopping while I’m not supposed to be lifting much. And whining because I have too many leftovers to feel like I can just make myself a pot of spaghetti is the definition of spoiled.
But I’ve learned some lessons from this experience.
- Fruit. I am desperate for a granny smith apple. I am very grateful for the two food deliveries that included fruit. And that I will have time tomorrow to stop at the supermarket for apples.
- Labels. This is mostly relevant for the kosher-keeping folks among us, but if the meal isn’t meat, let me know if it’s pareve or dairy. I want dessert darn it, and I don’t know if the cookies that came with the fish burgers are suitable to eat after the meatloaf.
- Shabbat. Okay, so I probably wouldn’t be cooking for guests and having people over for Shabbat, but there’s something kind of sucky about being basically forced to eat alone because people are delivering food to you instead of inviting you to their homes. I realize that if I hadn’t recovered so quickly this would be a blessing but right now I’m feeling particularly bummed.
Now, go forth and do something good for someone. And maybe share a kidney while you’re at it. I’ll bring you fruit.
Libraries and information
Arizona (and why Alaska is missing)
by dcdotnerd • • 0 Comments
Arizona’s book is Crossers, by Philip Caputo. Definitely not a book I would have chosen to read based on the book jacket (wait until we get to California–THAT’S a book I almost didn’t read despite the list) but I appreciate having read it. It takes place on the Arizona-Mexico border, and is either completely imaginary, in which case–why?, or is based to some degree on real life ranches and drug kingpins. For this urban/suburban girl, reading an account of a border ranch with immigrants and drug runners passing through was an introduction to a completely different world that I had absolutely no idea of. In my mind, border crossings are at airports and bridges, and one’s property isn’t so vast that it can’t all be seen in a single day (let alone “out one’s window”). I’m not a big fan of physical danger in my reading, and any book with drug runners and every character packing is going to have physical danger, but at least you can’t say it’s gratuitous. And my horizons were expanded, so all in all it was a good selection.
(I’ve mentioned before that I’d previously read The Yiddish policeman’s union, which takes place in Alaska. Not my favorite Michael Chabon novel, though; for that you need to go to The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.)
Libraries and information
Alabama
by dcdotnerd • • 0 Comments
Last night I read the first on my list of books for 2014. Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
First of all, it takes place at a boarding school. That’s one way straight to my heart.
Second, it is very clear right from the beginning that something significant is going to happen and when. A more sophisticated reader (this is a YA novel) might be bothered by the complete lack of subtlety; I found it an aid to the building tension.
So I liked it. It was short (again, a YA novel)–note my language above “last night I read”, not “started” and not “finished,” but actually the whole thing. I tend to prefer longer books, but…bring on Arizona.*
*I’ve read Alaska already.