Winding down with 2021

December 31, 2021 | Chaos,Geraldine DeRuiter,Jennifer Hudson,Julie K. Brown,Lyz Lenz,New Year,Nikole Hanna-Jones,Pandemic,Pandemonium,Renee Watson,SNL,Stephanie Land,Twitter,Writing

Is this thing still on? I guess we’ll see.

My 2021:

Vaxxed, boosted, flu-shotted, masked.

Started catching up on medical stuff that had been postponed or canceled for far too long.

Started going back to the salon.

Continued grocery delivery.

Traveled for Thanksgiving (carefully & masked).

Thinking I should probably start canceling all my appointments again (if they’re not canceled for me).

Getting ready to hunker down again in 2022.

Sigh.

Betty White died on New Year’s Eve.

Dammit.

My reading has been waning, but I did consume some interesting media and art this year.

I listened to Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story by Julie K. Brown, the Miami Herald reporter who doggedly investigated and covered Epstein and was there in New York when the jury found Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of sex trafficking children.

I watched Maid on Netflix. Because of that, I had to listen to the book, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land (foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich, whose work I have read and recommend). Both intense and excellent.

I subscribed to the Lyz Lenz newsletter called Men Yell at Me. I’ve read her books, and I follow her on Twitter. She lives in Iowa. She is hilarious and serious as a heart attack.

This was the most amazing thing I read on Twitter this year: “Bros., Lecce: We Eat at the Worst Michelin Starred Restaurant, Ever” (httpss://everywhereist.com/2021/12/bros-restaurant-lecce-we-eat-at-the-worst-michelin-starred-restaurant-ever/) by Geraldine DeRuiter. Amazing in that it just kept getting worse and worse until you thought it couldn’t get any worse. And then it did. And watching what happened online after that was amazing, too.

Now I have to listen to her book, All Over the Place: Adventures in Travel, True Love, and Petty Theft. I guess it’s about time. I’ve been following her on Twitter for a while now.

I got the hard copy of Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson (illustrated by Nikkolas Smith), and I’ve started listening to The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones.

I don’t know if I’ll get to them, but here are some books I hope to listen to this year:

(I got Bell’s Palsy a day before my first child was born. It has never completely gone away. I tried not to let it bother me for the most part. But it really hurt when someone laughed and called me “Grace” when I struggled to eat a sandwich because my face is still partially numb. I still have the numb face. I no longer have that someone in my life.)

I watched Babette’s Feast again after editing a review of a play performance of it. Such a sweet story and worth a second viewing experience.

I watched Respect, a film starring Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin. She was superb.

I watched the Summer of Soul documentary. If you love music, you will love this.

I watched Field of Dreams again before watching Kevin Costner return to Iowa to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the movie with a real-life major-league baseball game. Experiencing the movie again was less bittersweet than experiencing the anniversary commemoration.

I watched Get Back, the Beatles documentary series. I couldn’t watch it all at once. I was mostly relieved that it didn’t show anyone to be a complete jerk. The most amazing parts were watching a couple of their songs being born right before our very eyes.

Some of my favorite TV shows are Yellowjackets, Kenan, and We’re Here. I got hooked on TikTok and Dave Grohl. I didn’t even know about the Hanukkah Sessions until I saw him cover “Copacabana.” Then I discovered his Night One cover of “Stay.”

httpss://youtu.be/AB8Jxjv5mug

Even with all of that, though, my heart this year belongs to Ted Lasso and all the weird, wonderful characters in his world. It was an extra treat that he was host on SNL. I can’t wait for the next season.

All this beauty made 2021 suck less than it would have without it. I will say to 2022 in my best RuPaul voice, “Good luck and don’t fuck it up.”

Books: 2008 in review

January 12, 2009 | 2008,2009,Books,New Year

1) What did you read in 2008?
2) Anything not on my list that you would recommend?

Here’s what I read in 2008.

• Life of Pi by Yann Martel [Wasn’t as good as the author thought he it was.]
• The Girls by Lori Lansens [Amazingly sweet story.]
• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson [Incredible, inspiring, exhausting.]
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown
• Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman
• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
• The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama [Slow read but definitely worth the effort.]
• The Bookseller of Kabul by Ã…sne Seierstad [Disappointing.]
• Final Salute by Jim Sheeler [Everyone should read this book. Everyone.]
• Rumors of our Progress have been Greatly Exaggerated by Carolyn B. Maloney
• Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid They’d Ask) by Justin Richardson and Mark Schuster [Humorous and informative.]
• The Giver by Lois Lowry [Creepy.]
• Entwined Lives by Nancy L. Segal [Packed with information the author has studied her entire life.]
• Indivisible by Twoby Nancy L. Segal [In-depth look at some of the subjects from her first book.]
• Identical Strangers by Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein [Touching and honest look at their incredible story of separation, reunion and confrontation of the people who controlled their lives.]
• The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson [Lively and entertaining historical account.]
• Iowa Curiosities by Dan Coffey and Eric Jones with Berit Thorkelson [Funny, interesting, informative.]
• Touch and Go by Studs Terkel
• Patriotic Grace by Peggy Noonan
• Hold on to Your Kids by Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D., and Gabor Maté, M.D.

I started several others that I haven’t finished yet, and I may have missed a few.

Actually, I just finished reading that one, Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish. It’s a great book.

I’m reading this one now: Involuntary Joy by Joy M. Newcom.

2008 in review: Blogland and beyond

January 9, 2009 | 2008,2009,Audience participation,Blogging,Blogland games,Citizen of the Month,Dad2twins,Devra Renner,Friends,Goon Squad Sarah,Great Interview Experiment,Guest blogger,Gunfighter,Magpie Musing,New Year,Traveling

Hey. Still grateful here.

Just a little more than a year ago, we decided at the last minute to go to Norway for the holidays. My husband’s grandmother was gravely ill, and we hoped to see her one more time. (She died just a few days before we got there.)

I put out a desperate call to a bunch of blogfriends, asking if they would be willing to guest post in my absence. I was humbled with the response. I had guest posts for almost every day I was away.

So I’m still grateful.

For …

• AdventureDad
• Bad American
• The Bullshit Observer
• Childs Play x2
• Creative Ink
• Dad2twins
• Funny Business
• Kemp’s Blog
• The Little Bird
• Mamma Loves
• Margaret
• Mom’s Minivan
• One Man and his Blog
• Parentopia
• Sarah and the Goon Squad
• Toddled Dredge
• The View from Here
• Writer’s Round-About

For …

Linda Jones for letting me blog at You’ve Got Your Hands Full.

Linda also gave me free rein to redesign the blog, which I did over my crazy summer. I had some hits and misses. A photographer promised the use of an image then wouldn’t return e-mails or telephone calls. So I scrambled for a suitable replacement, and I got something even better. I called on someone I knew, Kristine Freed.

With the help of Kristine and Sherilyn Brinker of Brinker-Freed Photographyand new mother-of-twins Kerrin Laari and her 5-week-old babies, Elise and Ian, I had a fabulous image to use on the blog.

None of it would have happened, though, without Jo-Lynne at DCR Design. She made the header and buttons, arranged and rearranged everything and even called me to give me a crash course in making my own changes. (Though I’m still fairly hopeless in that department.) I would have made a big announcement on the blog by now, but I’m having technical difficulties with Typepad, and I haven’t been able to sign on. As soon as I get it figured out, though, I’ll get something posted.

For …

• Stefania for giving me a blogging job at Being Savvy.
• Morningside Mom for taking over my Tampa spot when I moved.

For …

Citizen of the Month for a great experience, The Interview Experiment, and meeting two new blogfriends at A Juicy Life (now Notre Vie Juteuse since she moved to France) and The Would-Be Writers Guild.

For …

• Dad2twins for the E for Excellent award.
• Magpie Musing for the <3 award.

For …

Bob for his review of Final Salute.

For …

• Gunfighter for letting me guest post.
• PunditMom for letting me guest post.

For …

• Everyone who stopped by to read and/or comment.

Happy New Year.

We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne

January 6, 2009 | 2008,2009,Family,Friends,New Year,Stuff

I’ve heard so many people say about last year, “Good riddance!” and “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.” Yeah, 2008 sucked in many ways. Even so, I’m … grateful.

Don’t worry. I’m not going permanently smarmy. I have plenty of complaints and pessimism to last the rest of the year. But for now, I’m grateful.

In a year where losses piled on losses, I have so much. I have a wonderful husband who still loves me after all these years. I have three beautiful children. I live closer to the rest of my family than I ever have before. I have shelter, warmth, companionship and love.

Wishing you all of this and more … happy New Year.