Happy August, beautiful blog readers. We’ll start with a public service announcement. A few of you have kindly mentioned that there have been some tech issues here on the blog — slow loading times, commenting issues, and the like. I’m aware of them, but honestly stumped as to what to do (or where to even begin) and for what I pay to maintain this site, it’s frustrating as hell. I probably should contact BlueHost’s support folks. In the meantime (or permanent time), I do have a bit of a solution to offer:
I’ve started cross-posting to Substack and if you’re among those having issues with accessing the blog, I invite you to subscribe to me on Substack. (If you’re reading this on Facebook, you’re reading the Substack version.) It’s free, you’ll get each blog post emailed directly to you, and you should be able to comment accordingly. We’ll try this and see how it goes.
Back to our regularly scheduled Sunday Salon. It’s been a nice weekend. Yesterday College Boy and I went out for our usual weekend breakfast at Eat’n Park, followed by grocery shopping. Pittsburgh’s weather is absolutely perfect this weekend — sunny and mid-70s with a nice breeze, doesn’t get any better than that — so I spent a good portion of yesterday afternoon reading on the deck. I did some yoga this morning for my lower back and hip pain, and took College Girl out for a little driving practice this afternoon, followed by Starbucks. Otherwise, a very low-key, chill weekend — just the way I like ‘em.
Ranting Against the Unvaxxed
We’ve now arrived at the month where both kids will soon be off to their respective campuses. Three weeks to go for College Girl, four for College Boy. I’m hoping to God that they (and all of our kids) can have a normal school year. This week the CDC stated that 7 counties in Pennsylvania should return to masking indoors, even for those who are vaccinated. Naturally, Adams County (where College Boy’s school is located) is among them because if you go five minutes beyond his campus, it becomes T***p Land.
Wearing a mask indoors won’t be the worst thing in the world, I know, but it makes me seethe with a fury unbridled that we’re even at this point. There have been several articles in The New York Times and Washington Post about the anger people have with those who refuse to get vaccinated, and I am right there with them. I have zero sympathy for you if you don’t get vaccinated and wind up fighting for your life in the hospital. None whatsoever. Maybe that makes me a bad person, but so be it. I don’t care. The vaccines are safe, they work, and they are the only hope we have of returning to something resembling normalcy where this becomes like the flu. By refusing, your selfishness is putting children at risk and endangering people with compromised immune systems. My father-in-law, my aunt, and my uncle should have had a chance to get the vaccine. They all died last year of this godforsaken virus, and to not get the vaccine is irresponsible and a total fuck you to them and us and everyone else who died and their grieving loved ones.
(I trust that I’m preaching to the choir here, but if you’re not vaxxed by this point and you live in the United States, you really need to do some soul searching.)
Currently Reading
I finished one book this week: Women Write: A Mosaic of Women’s Voices in Fiction, Poetry, Memoir, and Essay edited by Susan Cahill, PhD (New American Library, 2004). This is an anthology that’s been on my shelves since 2004. Yes, indeed, your math is correct. 17 years. I bought it as a brand new release at a women’s philanthropy conference in Toronto, started it at some point, and never finished. It includes mostly well-known women authors, but also some lesser-known (at least to me) names. Each author’s piece is accompanied by a very brief profile.
I thought this collection was just okay. I was glad to be introduced to some new authors and their work, as well as writing I’d never read before by authors I’ve previously read (that’s an awkward sentence, I know, but hopefully you know what I mean). I also hoped that it would pique my interest in exploring some women authors who I haven’t read much of, but it really didn’t. Mostly, this was a good bedside reading book to pick up when I just wanted something short.
I’m currently reading Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House, 2020). This one is absolutely fascinating and it’s clear why Wilkerson is a Pulitzer Prize winner. She’s a phenomenal writer and this extensively researched book examines the characteristics of caste and effectively argues that America is a caste system along the same lines as India and Nazi Germany. It’s sobering, informative, thought-provoking, and provides context to the fraught nature of our current moment. I’m recommending it highly and this will be among the best books I’ve read in 2021.
Currently Listening
My audiobook this week has been Writers & Lovers by Lily King (Grove Press, 2020). Set in 1997, Casey Peabody is 31 years-old, living in Boston, waitressing while struggling to finish her novel, and grieving the sudden death of her mother. She’s consumed with student loan debt and lives in a potting shed; in exchange for a discount on the rent, she walks her landlord’s dog. It’s wry and smartly written. I’m enjoying this very much — more than I expected, actually. Stacey Glemboski‘s narration is superb. What a talent.
Alas, there was a DNF this week. I started the week listening to The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (Harper, 2019) which I was initially excited about because a) it’s Ann Patchett and b) it’s set in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, this didn’t hold my interest at all (not even Tom Hanks’ narration on the audiobook helped). It’s about a brother and sister from an affluent family. Their mother abandons them when they’re young, their father remarries a horrible woman, he dies, and she cheats the siblings out of their inheritance. (I think. I didn’t get that far.) There’s no plot to this story, the characters felt flat, the premise was uninventive, and the writing is just ho-hum. I found myself mostly bored and not invested in this one at all. This is my 12th DNF this year, I think.
I’m in a bit of a reflective mood because today marks 10 years since we moved to Pittsburgh. A lot has happened in our lives during the past decade, to put it mildly, and although my tendency is to focus on the negative stuff, I need to remind myself that there was some good, too. I may or may not write more about this in a separate post — we’ll see.
Sunday Salon: I'm on Substack; A Rant Against the Unvaxxed; Currently Reading
What kind words, Joyce -- thank you! I had to LOL about seeming to have a life. When my coworkers ask about our weekends, for example, I'm always like, "Well, I did a lot of sitting around being lazy on the couch." I explain all the reading by saying that my house is less than pristine and I don't watch much TV or many movies. It's how I relax -- that, and browsing the internet. :) It's great to meet you via Substack and I've just subscribed to your newsletter. Looking forward to reading your work.
You're amazing! You seem to have a life and yet your reading is extensive and what you write about is compelling. I try to not be an in or out kind of person but the anti-vaxx thing is a deal breaker ... even more than the tfg thing! Anyway, happy to discover your newsletter.