Check in

 
I haven't done a gratitude list here since before the election. No shock there. But - I have been working on feeling grateful, and also I've been posting daily gratitude on Threads. 

I'll list a few here. Why not?

- That one episode of something that Sachin's going to be in, his manager posted about it on IG

- Yesterday was a Saturday and Doris was off work, and she saw me being so productive and said it inspired her! (Also, IDK if this is grateful or weird, but we went for brunch at Handlebar. I ate a few bites and started to feel ill. Mildly nauseated and needing to go potty like now. Thankfully the feeling passed in a few hours. Doris and I speculate that maybe it was the hot cocoa I drank down, along with a lot of her latte.....like too much sugar and caffeine all at once?)

- Speaking of being productive, I set up my new computer and mostly transferred stuff over from the old

- Uh, I went to the new coffeeshop last week. It's walking distance to my house. And they have vegan muffins. (But as for seating, they just have 1 sofa so it won't work for Scrabble day) (EDIT - Doris and I walked there today, Sunday. She likes it too, and they have a peppermint cocoa, and can make any of their drinks vegan. I guess I can say I love walking to a coffeeshop with Doris)

- Reading my BFF's posts about inspiration and what makes you feel alive. It's good to read that. For me, it includes some form of political activism. Of which I did a bunch this year, and no doubt I will need to double down and do more in 2025. (And side note, I did make a total of $495 canvassing, though of course I didn't do it for the money. Would gladly trade that and half my 401k for a better election result....)

- I've started on that new role at work that I mentioned a few posts ago. It's going fine, there's lots of gray area as there usually is in this sort of thing. I think it will go well, and I certainly have plenty of time to help this team in the coming weeks. 

Book Report

 
Another one already? Well, I read the first book in like 2 days, and then the next two were fairly short...

Coming Home by Brittney Griner – Memoir by the famous athlete who spent 292 days in the Russian prison system before being allowed home in a prisoner swap. Griner had forgotten to remove some vapes from her bag when she headed to Russia; apparently the combined amount of what was left in the vapes wouldn’t have gotten a person high, but it didn’t matter. There was no due process, nothing that could’ve been considered fair or reasonable with the way Russia treated her. Imagine being imprisoned by a scary, confusing, inconsistent, cruel system. With no way of knowing how long you will actually be there. (At one point, she has to constantly tell herself she’ll serve her entire 9 year sentence, as it’s the only way she can keep from breaking down. The conditions in the places where she was kept were all terrible). The book was a page-turner. Grade: 8

 

Dusk Night Dawn by Anne Lamott – Got this book from a Little Free Library in Wisconsin, and I am never letting it go! It is a series of essays that was published a few years ago, and every word completely resonates, especially now. Lamott writes about living in challenging times and struggling to find hope and joy. The book is like a gentle hand in the pitch dark, making you feel that at least you are not alone. I am struck that this book came into my life right at the time of this horrific election result. Grade: 8

 

Trans Like Me: Conversations for All of Us by CS Lester  – I listened to this on audio, and it is read by the author who has a very mellifluous voice. Lester gives the basics of being trans and they easily refute the usual anti-trans arguments. As one reviewer said, the book is thoughtful, intelligent, and approachable. It’s also short, so anyone who drives and wants to listen to something should really check this out. Grade: 7

 

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross - Apparently for centuries there were rumors that a female Pope existed in the 9^th century, and that for a long time this was even taken as fact until the Catholic Church began a concerted effort to erase her existence. (The author admits there is no way to know for sure whether or not there ever was a female Pope, as the 9^th century is one of the most poorly-documented centuries). This is a well-researched novelization of her life. It was fairly compelling, though like not super well-written. There are mid-scene shifts in point-of-view, there’s info-dumping, and the last third feels like a rushed outline rather than a novel where events unfold and we get a chance to feel it and react. There are also too many tangents focusing on Joan’s nemesis, and these sections were boring – like, why pull the focus away like that? Still, it held my interest. Grade: 5

 

The Wind At My Back by Misty Copeland – This is the famous ballerina’s tribute to another pioneering ballerina, Raven Wilkinson. Wilkinson danced with major ballet companies in the 1950s, virtually unheard-of for a Black woman at the time. It’s a quick, easy read and a good one. I learned that when Wilkinson’s ballet company’s bus reached the south, KKK members blockaded the road because they learned there was a Black ballerina on it. Perhaps it was too much to expect that 70 years later this country would elect a Black woman as president. Grade: 7