tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31821415182326136902024-03-28T11:24:34.809-05:0052 Newmkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.comBlogger294125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-51001600522767622862024-03-27T12:43:00.007-05:002024-03-27T12:46:51.381-05:00#96 - Go to a New Country<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpGN1vDM8RJW5RaRp0tfQtXVUL_RZ4DM4DxFw5sHmN146HrK-AZtrPag4sj9FQXUarECYZAy8obBAe1zeC69l0OxgdMZSmZGwh3uFrsF3abjjX7SMSbYD7mSNtqYaRTBYbVHxW8I0NfDYCH1TeFC9YCVNJBg0yVmG5_HNJ8Is-dBtVfIgE5NpaUW0MHyuS/s4032/20240326_101506.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpGN1vDM8RJW5RaRp0tfQtXVUL_RZ4DM4DxFw5sHmN146HrK-AZtrPag4sj9FQXUarECYZAy8obBAe1zeC69l0OxgdMZSmZGwh3uFrsF3abjjX7SMSbYD7mSNtqYaRTBYbVHxW8I0NfDYCH1TeFC9YCVNJBg0yVmG5_HNJ8Is-dBtVfIgE5NpaUW0MHyuS/s320/20240326_101506.jpg" width="240" /></a>So, instead of giving gifts during the year for birthdays and Christmas, my family travels together. </p><p><a href="https://mk52new.blogspot.com/2020/01/95-go-to-new-country.html">In December 2019, we went to Costa Rica</a>. </p><p>In November 2020, we were supposed to go to Florence, Italy. The thing is, November 2020 was not a great time to visit Italy, specifically, so we went no where. </p><p>Then, <a href="https://mk52new.blogspot.com/2021/12/86-visit-new-national-park.html">in December 2021, we decided to go back to Costa Rica</a>. We'd all been vaccinated. We'd have our own house. Nearly everything we would be doing was outside. And when we got there, we found that Costa Ricans were taking the pandemic and precautions much more seriously than Americans. So much so that we actually felt safer there than in the U.S. Everyone was masked, unless they were eating, including in outdoor areas. To enter a restaurant, even an outdoor one, you had to wash your hands. And none of us got sick. Interesting.</p><p><a href="https://mk52new.blogspot.com/2022/12/50-see-new-animal-in-wild.html">In December 2022, we went back to Costa Rica again</a> because, well, we kinda love it there. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Z0YMECPmX7tWyIgTnHlP2X5aKLY3zWOryudVQDrtwX0cCO8s9nSom8KWkky9x40xZRkHl2aUjIchOt9-89gtLVfYpW0R90ecQ8eFzjgoupLoz_RrCnQZODv6-wxtaXdNUxd57IP9t-5NUN9_dLIgkVMDevfndxRYxaySP_vP7aZWeGskD4-1Py_78EPP/s4032/20240318_105138.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Z0YMECPmX7tWyIgTnHlP2X5aKLY3zWOryudVQDrtwX0cCO8s9nSom8KWkky9x40xZRkHl2aUjIchOt9-89gtLVfYpW0R90ecQ8eFzjgoupLoz_RrCnQZODv6-wxtaXdNUxd57IP9t-5NUN9_dLIgkVMDevfndxRYxaySP_vP7aZWeGskD4-1Py_78EPP/s320/20240318_105138.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In 2023, my brother wasn't available during our usual time of year, so we decided to go somewhere in August. That obviously limits options, especially as he wanted to stay in the Central or Eastern time zones, so he could work some. So we decided to go to the Finger Lakes. Found a nice house. Would find fun things to do.<p></p><p>Then, in May 2023, I got a call from my mom, who was at lunch with my brother and dad. She said, "Hey, instead of going to the Finger Lakes in August, do you want to go to Barcelona in March of next year?" </p><p>Um... yes.</p><p>So we changed the plans. We spent almost two weeks in Barcelona. We rented an apartment in the Gothic Quarter and then just explored. My parents had been to Barcelona many times, so they had a few suggestions, and we had a few suggestions, but mostly we just kept it low key. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLMzlyR6rPrDLaVmh_4olsgA8cROsQHZUQb1VhUzyvKf0eZteiwbGquULEU3nSPsKsXmegsIIopzzchIsOv3I3IXMPMsB1JCsBOxqg9q9Jv71a6I1lMaHmBBBrA_0CJ-5GGwQijr4HVHlJuOuEAUm5_4u0BqmUYxZFblX3zirRsWZENOMdVQMXf1UEtjyT/s3648/20240318_163742.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLMzlyR6rPrDLaVmh_4olsgA8cROsQHZUQb1VhUzyvKf0eZteiwbGquULEU3nSPsKsXmegsIIopzzchIsOv3I3IXMPMsB1JCsBOxqg9q9Jv71a6I1lMaHmBBBrA_0CJ-5GGwQijr4HVHlJuOuEAUm5_4u0BqmUYxZFblX3zirRsWZENOMdVQMXf1UEtjyT/w400-h300/20240318_163742.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6WNHxGp89QWlVyyW1x7GYtdP9nYRmndyu-FF9VxfC4A7ZPFkC0jHNybjgScNoKsuxLioT1JwVJrBg0gOzg_ZYxFKXr6BbZ4ew8YevUjLzfEFxUhT1f4RDw_vB7ZWa98oIMJZTuAVTXrlkwql2XO5vngMNA44Muly7dS-Bi3CuUlEW7uWTr1T0jr4fwsv/s4000/20240322_193121.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6WNHxGp89QWlVyyW1x7GYtdP9nYRmndyu-FF9VxfC4A7ZPFkC0jHNybjgScNoKsuxLioT1JwVJrBg0gOzg_ZYxFKXr6BbZ4ew8YevUjLzfEFxUhT1f4RDw_vB7ZWa98oIMJZTuAVTXrlkwql2XO5vngMNA44Muly7dS-Bi3CuUlEW7uWTr1T0jr4fwsv/s320/20240322_193121.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="text-align: left;">I love a city that is very walkable and has great food and wine. That's definitely Barcelona. </span></div><p></p><p>I went for a walk in the Gothic Quarter every morning, exploring all of the narrow streets and alleys. I ran most days, either heading to the beach or a nearby park. We visited markets. We went to <a href="https://mk52new.blogspot.com/2024/03/74-visit-new-unesco-heritage-site.html">La Sagrada Familia</a>. We ate tapas. We drank wine (or beer or vodka). We went to the Picasso Museum. We rented a car for a few days and saw the coast and the Dali Museum. And <a href="https://mk52new.blogspot.com/2024/03/55-see-friend-i-havent-seen-in-at-least.html">I got to spend a really lovely day with my friend Maria</a>, who lives here.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0rMaUogKAXSHP_sGjfA96S4LcTyLv11JKjTqgg_mL46d68Z0Sw5yiQJSFbZ3-osqk2ceq6ZJ4jGkLW5tgk8qOX9YXnDXQqzwj7H8fTOOewz-Frl4qpHd4FeTyh9jW_D5ksBmyqnh-_QoaCYN_sEnTZeOPqndClpiQwEbicbfUpuf_hCU0ng5HHwdmqkMq/s2944/20240325_145628.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2944" data-original-width="2208" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0rMaUogKAXSHP_sGjfA96S4LcTyLv11JKjTqgg_mL46d68Z0Sw5yiQJSFbZ3-osqk2ceq6ZJ4jGkLW5tgk8qOX9YXnDXQqzwj7H8fTOOewz-Frl4qpHd4FeTyh9jW_D5ksBmyqnh-_QoaCYN_sEnTZeOPqndClpiQwEbicbfUpuf_hCU0ng5HHwdmqkMq/s320/20240325_145628.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p>I'm so thankful we took this trip together and look forward to future trips to this beautiful city!</p><p><br /></p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-48809901864620508182024-03-25T17:03:00.001-05:002024-03-25T17:03:06.459-05:00#74 - Visit a New UNESCO Heritage Site<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ObFZf7c2ukx0ZtY0liXU_X5vb2aDcGRy0QWuOXhoDwN8kN11rEn7GzFTRmAyEjzRfodWUbXYWmnvTMjPcHGh1wS2S7jD_G2iSDLxGL40ZFMGWj2f46TuytjdMgBevN3o43kQBR_crRgV9ZcFreMceE_wSJO02D3y8Fv8MV4swnszVo6WdeE4L4rnbA3S/s4032/20240325_125908.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ObFZf7c2ukx0ZtY0liXU_X5vb2aDcGRy0QWuOXhoDwN8kN11rEn7GzFTRmAyEjzRfodWUbXYWmnvTMjPcHGh1wS2S7jD_G2iSDLxGL40ZFMGWj2f46TuytjdMgBevN3o43kQBR_crRgV9ZcFreMceE_wSJO02D3y8Fv8MV4swnszVo6WdeE4L4rnbA3S/w300-h400/20240325_125908.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p></p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdegNj6u_eVQFMEqY0vNMMTANtcDuIuS2Dv7CHba8XHgpXxg6JVuS6lLgaiga6zFPmPtyzWXCGwIyGd0oNtg1DqSbRGhRTyUW0S0OHGey-RfrcWUS8lWBz5hQ5Ta0hi4jTZn0XCvLfe9mDOg6SHc1kKvzKBCbq7QJICskuNEBGE5q18PaM7Z9DcVBr7Q7/s4032/20240325_113828.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdegNj6u_eVQFMEqY0vNMMTANtcDuIuS2Dv7CHba8XHgpXxg6JVuS6lLgaiga6zFPmPtyzWXCGwIyGd0oNtg1DqSbRGhRTyUW0S0OHGey-RfrcWUS8lWBz5hQ5Ta0hi4jTZn0XCvLfe9mDOg6SHc1kKvzKBCbq7QJICskuNEBGE5q18PaM7Z9DcVBr7Q7/s320/20240325_113828.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I call this one "Where's Chris?!"<br />because my dad was worried, but<br />that's Chris in the background.</td></tr></tbody></table>The only place I requested to visit while in Barcelona was La Sagrada Familia. It wasn't because it's a UNESCO Heritage Site, and I don't remember when I learned about it, but I just knew it was an incredible architectural feat and just art. </p><p>Well, those teachings, wherever they came from, weren't wrong. Inside and out, La Sagrada Familia is incredible. The gothic architecture and attention to detail are striking. Outside, the towers and details are hard to take in because it's so much and so beautiful. Inside, it's like walking through a forest with colors popping through stained glass windows within white walls and fixtures. </p><p>While I'm not religious, the intentional symbolism within the structure, inside and out, is incredible. There's just so much there. The pictures cannot do it justice. </p><p>It wasn't until I heard a mention on a tour that it was a UNESCO site that I realized it could fit this list item. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwiY_lXYxL8mbBaD52G59mKDyrlZtzjFs30k1wTBkueul2nVlN8wHIaFM1Cb2e4KfqNyeBW3T_xJz078YnmCWexBqfX9wv2Z52IltZf437J8Beg9VMDWzMCT5wuMNzNInuJva-zgDuVPV5fYXZxaNDvgOdHzSLnKmVP690HxQvG-bRto3eWcoJFTh4WGn/s4032/20240325_114248.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwiY_lXYxL8mbBaD52G59mKDyrlZtzjFs30k1wTBkueul2nVlN8wHIaFM1Cb2e4KfqNyeBW3T_xJz078YnmCWexBqfX9wv2Z52IltZf437J8Beg9VMDWzMCT5wuMNzNInuJva-zgDuVPV5fYXZxaNDvgOdHzSLnKmVP690HxQvG-bRto3eWcoJFTh4WGn/s320/20240325_114248.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-80455498183703069102024-03-25T15:39:00.005-05:002024-03-25T15:39:44.772-05:00#55 - See a Friend I Haven't Seen in at Least 3 Years<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO1krG-d3WyBHbKpkEojBoQQ6hIakMkFE5tnC9xaMIl4zVKolfMSDwx-jXJH3dW4rc4BISxSsAEfHO_HWa16urvAoFEE_SF6o0UGCXqMMalhFH-K6VqgbDezQw4glIHbFEbQw6_dF4KF1i23n149gWfV2ykqRe0OwvrqdjjpF18YJVeX70D5Rs0w4fLNwu/s2048/IMG-20240323-WA0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO1krG-d3WyBHbKpkEojBoQQ6hIakMkFE5tnC9xaMIl4zVKolfMSDwx-jXJH3dW4rc4BISxSsAEfHO_HWa16urvAoFEE_SF6o0UGCXqMMalhFH-K6VqgbDezQw4glIHbFEbQw6_dF4KF1i23n149gWfV2ykqRe0OwvrqdjjpF18YJVeX70D5Rs0w4fLNwu/s320/IMG-20240323-WA0003.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>I cannot articulate the type and amount of joy I felt spending time with Maria Trias Arraut again. It felt very similar to the joy I felt spending time together in San Diego: easy and sometimes deep and sometimes light and sometimes silly. I'm so pleased we spent time together, just the two of us and with her family. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm also thankful for my first paella experience with Maria and Pere (so delicious) and for the opportunity wander around Maria's hometown, chatting and seeing neighborhoods and spots I never would have found on my own.</div><div><br /></div><div>We both left San Diego in 2016, and I'm pretty sure I've never been to Barcelona before, though she has her doubts. I hope the next reuniting is well under 7 years because I adore this special human!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpvuzeZe1IKmzOhaQVARGgQy9E_QsPGVJxxKYU8mjjylFQglRSVdLxay_KdUFaKb_3r4cfGItPes8c-mJywZEXFHj5C_K-zeOJyVNO2oDsIOzzZyb-xWi9UT2RrjTJBG8aVsRRCDHu6ZCMplk5yNdcF5OAtGJhJMKIP19-aNFgk8qJyUyR3F24wFE-2Ix/s3648/20240323_222010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="2736" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpvuzeZe1IKmzOhaQVARGgQy9E_QsPGVJxxKYU8mjjylFQglRSVdLxay_KdUFaKb_3r4cfGItPes8c-mJywZEXFHj5C_K-zeOJyVNO2oDsIOzzZyb-xWi9UT2RrjTJBG8aVsRRCDHu6ZCMplk5yNdcF5OAtGJhJMKIP19-aNFgk8qJyUyR3F24wFE-2Ix/s320/20240323_222010.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-67797227711716861532023-12-31T21:47:00.002-06:002023-12-31T21:47:22.559-06:00#12 - Practice Yoga 26 Times<p>I was so close to making this one, even though the sessions were short. I plan to get back into it next year though, as I know yoga is so very good for me.</p><p>1 - 1/7/23: 10 minutes </p><p>2 - 1/15/23: 15 minutes</p><p>3 - 1/26/23: 15 minutes</p><p>4 - 1/30/23: 20 minutes</p><p>5 - 2/23/23: 15 minutes</p><p>6 - 3/21/23: 5 minutes</p><p>7 - 4/7/23: 5 minutes</p><p>8 - 4/16/23: 10 minutes</p><p>9 - 6/11/23: 5 minutes</p><p>10 - 6/16/23: 10 minutes</p><p>11 - 6/18/23: 10 minutes</p><p>12 - 6/27/23: 10 minutes</p><p>13 - 8/26/23: 5 minutes</p><p>14 - 9/10/23: 5 minutes</p><p>15 - 9/16/23: 10 minutes</p><p>16 - 9/24/23: 15 minutes </p><p>17 - 10/1/23: 20 minutes</p><p>18 - 10/27/23: 10 minutes</p><p>19 - 11/10/23: 10 minutes</p><p>20 - 11/26/23: 10 minutes</p><p>21 - 12/3/23: 15 minutes</p><p>22 - 12/13/23: 15 minutes</p><p>23 - 12/15/23: 15 minutes (video)</p><p>24 - 1/17/23: 15 minutes (video)</p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-9039080666230474032023-12-31T21:18:00.003-06:002023-12-31T21:18:54.557-06:00#1 - Complete the 2023 Book Riot Reading Challenge<p>Every year, I try the <a href="https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2023/">Book Riot Read Harder Challenge</a>. I've never made it, but this is the year I've come the closest to it. I only finished 11 of the items, but I at least started a book for each of the 24 items. And I can't wait to try again because this list always expands how I read and pushes me to read new genres, many of which I end up really enjoying. This year, this list gifted me a new book on my list of very favorite books (<i>Lonesome Dove</i>), a book I never would have picked up on my own, and made me fall in love with YA novels. So much good reading this year with Book Riot!</p><p>**1. Read a novel about a trans character written by a trans author: <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/cemetery-boys-9781250250469">Cemetary Boys</a></i> by Aiden Thomas</p><p>3/6/23</p><p>This is the best book I've read in a long, long time. Thomas created both compelling characters and a compelling story. Each character is round, full, and incredibly human, with endearing moments and mistakes. It was one of those stories where it's clear so many of the characters have been through deeply hurtful experience in their past, but within the current story, their motivations are so caring and considerate. I say all that without even mentioning that it starts with a murder mystery that has twists and turns throughout the book. This book is inspiring me to dive a bit deeper in to recent YA literature because I loved this journey.</p><p><br /></p><p>***2. Read one of your favorite author’s favorite books & 24. Pick a challenge from any of the previous years’ challenges to repeat!: 2020: Read a book that takes place in a rural setting: <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/lonesome-dove-9781439195260">Lonesome Dove</a></i> by Larry McMurty</p><p>6/11/23</p><p>I cannot remember the last time I fell so unexpectedly, deeply in love with a book. I added this book to my queue as part of one of the Book Riot 2023 challenges: Read one of your favorite author's books. While Kurt Vonnegut is my favorite author, Stephen King is up there and talks frequently about other authors. When I Googled King's favorite book, I was surprised to see it is Lonesome Dove. I really wasn't looking forward to it, especially when it arrived and was 858 pages. Then, I read the forward... and dreaded it even more. It took maybe 50 pages or so to get me hooked. The characters are incredible, from the main characters to the side characters to the villains. I understand why this book may have lost favor because it's definitely a "Cowboys and Indians" story, and there is plenty of racism and prejudice against Indigenous people. Yet, it is told through the perspective of cowboys, cattlemen, Texas Rangers, and a handful of people who lived among them, including sex workers, barmen, musicians, cooks, etc. It feels honest of the perspectives of the time, yet gives such depth and breadth in characters and experiences. While the main group certainly holds harmful prejudice against the Indigenous people of the West, McMurty also artfully demonstrated how both groups were taught to fear the other; how both had both violent and peaceful tendencies, depending on the individual or group; how the fears could cause injuries and deaths and how those involved often knew it was simply a misunderstanding, not evil--though there were truly evil characters of many races/ethnicities; how each group also had instances of showing each other peace and kindness; and how all were affected by the decimation of the buffalo population. McMurty presented each character, except the most violent ones, with humanity and wholeness, showing how they each had something special to offer the world and how they could each care for others in unexpected ways. I have not sobbed so much reading a book in years and years, and I did so multiple times because I grew to care so deeply for the characters. I was also very sad when I reached the last few pages and realized I was at the end of the tale. I still can't stop thinking about Gus, Deets, Lorena, and Newt. And Po. And Walbinger. Just wow.</p><p><br /></p><p>**3. Read a book about activism & 4 Read a book that’s been challenged recently in your school district/library OR read one of the most-challenged/banned books of the year by a queer and/or BIPOC author. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-hate-u-give-9780062498533">The Hate You Give </a></i>by Angie Thomas</p><p>I have been meaning to read <i>The Hate You Give</i> for awhile now and finally made it happen with a push through the <a href="https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2023/">Book Riot 2023 Read Harder Challenge</a> item: "Read a book that’s been challenged recently in your school district/library OR read one of the most-challenged/banned books of the year by a queer and/or BIPOC author." As far as I know, very few books are banned in the Chicago Public Library system (though I'm sure they get plenty of challenges), so I went with one of the most-challenged/banned books, and now I understand why this one is so challenged: because it's incredible. If you've ever struggled to understand systemic racism and the anger that has spurred both protests and riots over the assaults and murders of Black people at the hands of the police, this book provides a really powerful first-person narrative of the complexities and emotions following a murder by cop. This is yet another YA book I've loved this year, and I highly recommend it for young adults, mid adults, older adults, etc. If you have a preteen/teenager, encourage them to read it--and read it yourself. If you don't, also just read it. It also has a fantastic list of resources and "read next" lists that I'm definitely going to use, as I continue to my own work and consider the ways I engage in activism.</p><p><br /></p><p>*5. Read a completed webcomic: <i><a href="https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/succubishez/list?title_no=236167">Succubishez</a></i></p><p>12/15/23</p><p>First, thank you to Chris Krone for explaining to me what a webcomic is, so I could find one I might like.</p><p>Succubishez was totally up my alley. A super honest take on being a young woman--or, rather young demon. The world is full of angels and demons, indicated with halos and horns, and these distinctions don't seem to have anything to do with if someone is good or bad. Plus, it the drawings are cute, and I saw a lot of myself in the main character.</p><p><br /></p><p>6. Finish a book you’ve DNFed (did not finish): <a href="https://www.powells.com/book/white-tiger-9781416562603" style="font-style: italic;">White Tiger</a> by Aravind Adiga</p><p>12/24/23</p><p>Over 10 years ago, one of my students' moms (who worked at the university) gave this book to me because she'd noticed I like to read and thought I'd like it. At the time, I probably got 20% through and then put it down. I think I read part of it, left it at work one day, and forgot about it because while I thought it was okay, I just wasn't that interested in it. I picked it back up for this Book Riot item, and honestly, it's just okay. I could have easily never finished it again.</p><p><br /></p><p>7. Listen to an audiobook performed by a person of color of a book written by an author of color: <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-final-revival-of-opal-nev-9781982140168">The Final Revival of Opal & Nev</a> </i>by Dawnie Walton</p><p>7/15/23</p><p>I (audio)read this for the Book Riot 2023 Read Harder Challenge item "Listen to an audiobook performed by a person of color of a book written by an author of color." I'm wondering if I might have liked this book better if I'd read it instead of listened to it. This is the second time I've listened to an audiobook with an ensemble cast, and I don't think I like that style. I find it really bumpy to either hear someone's name right before they're about to speak or to have to pay attention and remember the different voices to remember who is speaking. Weirdly, this book does both. So there was the bumpiness of hearing the name and also sometimes just jumping in without knowing who is speaking. And there are a LOT of characters. And some cameos. I tried to look up how many, and every source listed 7 names and then added "full cast." I can't tell if that means there were only 7 or if there are more than 7. What I did like is that the story itself felt so realistic that I, like many other readers, stopped to Google if it were a true story. It's not, but it feels like it could be. Walton weaves in real-life events and people into the telling of the story of this interracial rock duo, which is fascinating. I do think it would have made for a better novella or short story though. Everything seems to build up to this one event, which holds many family secrets, and the event itself is quite a scene. But then it goes on. And on. Like, there's a whole Part 3 after the climax of the story. And the events in Parts 1 and 3 just aren't that interesting. They're just people navigating a music career and life. So realistically that it was a bit boring because I feel like I've heard so many similar stories. I wish I'd liked it enough to try reading it to see if I enjoyed that more, but I just don't really want to put anymore time into this story.</p><p><br /></p><p>8. Read a graphic novel/comic/manga if you haven’t before; or read one that is a different genre than you normally read: <i>G.I. Joe European Missions</i> "Ice Spy..."</p><p>12/27/23</p><p>This is only slightly off the genre I've read before, which is superheroes, but it definitely read differently because no one had special powers. It did have the same themes of good versus bad and the bad trying to pull tricks to gain power. I don't think the G.I. Joe series is one I'm going to revisit because I'm really not into worshipping war and demonizing "the other," but this issue was a quick read and I wasn't sure how they were going to remedy the situation. I am confused about why (spoiler alert) there was a glass "diamond" though.</p><p><br /></p><p>*13. Read an author local to you: <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-house-on-mango-street-9780679734772">The House on Mango Street</a> </i>by Sandra Cisneros</p><p>At just 2 hours and 18 minutes, this book packs a big, intricate story. It is as series of vignettes told by a young girl, Esperanza, coming of age in a Chicago neighborhood. She dislikes her neighborhood and yearns for her own house, somewhere else, and some of her stories make her reasons very clear. Other stories, however, are really lovely, showing the complexity of growing up and living in an impoverished area. It's a really beautiful, quick read.</p><p><br /></p><p>14. Read a book with under 500 ratings on Goodreads: <a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1990-a-spectre-haunting"><i>A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto</i> </a>by China Mieville</p><p>Awhile back, I signed up for Haymarket Book's book subscription, where subscribers are sent one book a month. Honestly, they sent a lot of really interesting reads... that I couldn't keep up with, so I discontinued my subscription (for now). Because it's a smaller publisher though, many of the books they've sent fit this Book Riot Read Harder Challenge item perfectly, as many have under 500 reviews on Goodreads. When I'd checked this one, it had only 125. While most of it was over my head, I am really glad I picked this one because about a third of the book is actually just a reprinting of the Communist Manifesto, something I've never read. I've been curious about Marx, particularly once his name started circulating in popular culture again because of #BlackLivesMatter and their Marxist philosophy. While it's called the Communist Manifesto, it's really just a critique of an extremely stratified class system, one which we are certainly seeing widen in recent times because of late-stage capitalism, well past what Marx and Engels saw in the 1840s. It's also a statement of the power of the working class, as they are the ones who generate wealth for the elite. They explain how the working class needs to acknowledge and use their power to create a more equitable system for all. Both the Manifesto itself and Mieville's commentary on it were really striking at this immediate moment, when both the Writer's Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA are on strike, with very high-level celebrities supporting the movement and demanding that those who are not lucky enough to be in their positions be compensated and treated fairly because even they acknowledge that it is the billionaires who control the studios who are benefiting from the unfair compensation of the majority of the workers in the field. At this moment, there's also a looming threat of a UPS strike, which could really shake up the country as a whole. I'm totally here for this hot strike summer and am really glad I took on this read, so I could better understand the historical context of Marxism and workers taking up the power they have. Real talk: I hope higher ed is next.</p><p><br /></p><p>*16. Read a romance with bisexual representation: <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-invisible-life-of-addie-larue-9780765387561">The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue</a></i> by V. E. Schwab</p><p>3/20/23</p><p>This was a really lovely story. Some pieces were predictable, but also, there were enough surprises that it didn't feel like a trite or dragging love story. Even in the last chapter, I had no idea how the author could possibly tie up the loose ends and leave us with a satisfying ending, but they did. I particularly loved how Addie had a complicated relationship with The Dark. It reminded me of how dark places and times can have their own appeal, even if we truly want to reject them completely. I also really adored the magical realism of making an impossible wish, like being truly free from the expectations of others, and then needing to live with all of the consequences of such a thing. It felt so much like a story of desperately wanting to be seen and valued, which is so human.</p><p><br /></p><p>*17. Read a YA book by an Indigenous author & 22. Read any book from the Ignyte awards shortlist/longlist/winner list: <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/snake-falls-to-earth-9781646140923">A Snake Falls to Earth</a></i> by Darcie Little Badger</p><p>5/31/23</p><p>I'm officially into current YA lit. It took me a bit to get into this book, but it maintained my interest from the start. Then, the plot really took off, and I couldn't wait to see what happened next. I highly recommend it for young adult and fully adult readers. Nina and Oli's intertwined stories are so lovely and wholesome and relevant. It reminded me of the importance of holistic ways of thinking about our world and all the beings in it and how Indigenous ways of understanding could do so much to heal what we've broken--yet we still exclude and dismiss them. I'm eager to read more books by Little Badger, Indigenous writers, and YA authors!</p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-10718143593318089842023-12-31T20:40:00.002-06:002023-12-31T20:40:41.797-06:00#10 - Watch 3 More Movies From the AFI List<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQxaNSGKMbH4bHkAlmRtvc80C_99iLLkdO8Htt4yNi2DnilRvOaejoNE1fAF413l1ztZKw5zULd5DsL_k36R8Bg5admtHx9_xo89SXUyUggWG1xV0HNu6o3uA1gFjvopgLg0H_fSbkRhs_RcVQbnxFv6CqRKQBj7G9DFPtDKyF6Ad0PKVXIA1o6go_VFBS/s1200/1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1200" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQxaNSGKMbH4bHkAlmRtvc80C_99iLLkdO8Htt4yNi2DnilRvOaejoNE1fAF413l1ztZKw5zULd5DsL_k36R8Bg5admtHx9_xo89SXUyUggWG1xV0HNu6o3uA1gFjvopgLg0H_fSbkRhs_RcVQbnxFv6CqRKQBj7G9DFPtDKyF6Ad0PKVXIA1o6go_VFBS/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> #15 - <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/" style="font-style: italic;">2001: A Space Odyssey</a> (1968)<p></p><p>8/6/23</p><p>The Chicago Symphony Orchestra will be doing a movie/concert for 2001: A Space Odyssey laster this year, so I thought I'd watch it first to decide if I wanted to see it with the symphony playing the score. (I saw Star Wars: A New Hope this way a couple months ago, and it was so so fun.) </p><p>I have been meaning to watch this for a long time anyways, as Kubrick and spooky stuff is totally up my alley. So I was very happy to see it on HBO Max.</p><p>Welp. I didn't get it. At all.</p><p>Like, with everything going on with AI right now, the fact that Kubrick was able to imagine space travel with an AI in 1968 is pretty impressive. (Plus, they imagined this all happening in 1992.) </p><p>And the cinematography was incredible.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQPftyJfiRwLNB8U_anNUxFjZPJvqyyw2CbCoTAzloHYmOFqze_3P8w1Db7hNka8Ss5ON9bvFyaP2jDnSxymg2IKt2LsdZPVoiyFaONcpugclKiw31RRkCUjrIXWDJjNXgpZ5zU24c9FlOk0YTQz0DiYTJyVJJzGb6ZdKnsja15oWjZ09jyLWDrRjLz3m/s1440/p6125_v_v9_aa.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQPftyJfiRwLNB8U_anNUxFjZPJvqyyw2CbCoTAzloHYmOFqze_3P8w1Db7hNka8Ss5ON9bvFyaP2jDnSxymg2IKt2LsdZPVoiyFaONcpugclKiw31RRkCUjrIXWDJjNXgpZ5zU24c9FlOk0YTQz0DiYTJyVJJzGb6ZdKnsja15oWjZ09jyLWDrRjLz3m/s320/p6125_v_v9_aa.jpg" width="240" /></a>But, I didn't get it. I even looked it up, and I was like, oh, yeah, well, okay. So I don't understand how it's on the AFI list and won Oscars. </p><p>But. Here we are.</p><p>#18 - <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017925/">The General</a></i> (1926)</p><p>12/13/23</p><p>Why. Why is this on this list? I'm sure there's some reason, likely related to the year it was released, but I am so on the dislike side of indifferent that I'm not going to look it up. It's just about a Confederate dweeb who wants to join the Confederate Army and they won't let him but then he saves the day with his nerdy skills and luck, and then there's some slapstick and him just tossing around this woman he supposedly loves. And why is she even in the middle of the combat area? Eh. Whatever. For fun. I was actually looking forward to another silent film because I've actually enjoyed others on this list. This one? Not so much.</p><p>#9 - <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052357/">Vertigo</a></i> (1958)</p><p>12/31/23</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4JZjjAfu-tYrlMyhoGSaXcSjcKR-Iw3TxZQ91zIVxEW2QCqr_N5I8RIUuxg2Ay1PU133YbTGnxV6S8_8nd1IT8HuD_AsAFwziVKo3zvn1aCvPiWrXfkHkkygsgwBh8WKZ53MFyWX-FdbWFeoJKu8kduA-IG1Qta3OScgpkV2K-a8-AIAC1hHSD_DH_12/s4189/Vertigomovie_restoration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4189" data-original-width="2703" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn4JZjjAfu-tYrlMyhoGSaXcSjcKR-Iw3TxZQ91zIVxEW2QCqr_N5I8RIUuxg2Ay1PU133YbTGnxV6S8_8nd1IT8HuD_AsAFwziVKo3zvn1aCvPiWrXfkHkkygsgwBh8WKZ53MFyWX-FdbWFeoJKu8kduA-IG1Qta3OScgpkV2K-a8-AIAC1hHSD_DH_12/s320/Vertigomovie_restoration.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>Okay. This one. Yes. I get it. I suspected the twist, but then, when it's revealed to the viewer, it only intensifies the story. I could not figure out how the other characters were going to learn of the twist and what they'd do when they did. The cinematography was amazing. And the intensity kept getting amped up. I think this was the first Hitchcock film I've watched (somehow), and I'm pretty sure I'm going to add watching more to my list for next year. Fantastic.<br /><p></p><p></p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-82426177384699050512023-12-24T14:32:00.002-06:002023-12-24T14:32:12.289-06:00#9 - Watch 3 Films That Have Won the Best Film, Actor, or Actress Academy Awards<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVUd8b8eeSwU6JzbpuF0p-fSX6OQ_Q1AcjNTJKhVfaQ_xkOLnAyFqBN-BpTY4QtiwTBDG816Ec6SxRgtc9xtgZmqOEN-tGb5I5HTJJSY-o4Z72YZ8moz-ZIDfdF-QtZtSV9wicSvoYEpeTijlfCWI6dYK2iPCxSRDEmFrNLdeVGrlB_rgICytyHp2wrRLz/s370/Everything_Everywhere_All_at_Once.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVUd8b8eeSwU6JzbpuF0p-fSX6OQ_Q1AcjNTJKhVfaQ_xkOLnAyFqBN-BpTY4QtiwTBDG816Ec6SxRgtc9xtgZmqOEN-tGb5I5HTJJSY-o4Z72YZ8moz-ZIDfdF-QtZtSV9wicSvoYEpeTijlfCWI6dYK2iPCxSRDEmFrNLdeVGrlB_rgICytyHp2wrRLz/s320/Everything_Everywhere_All_at_Once.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>1. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6710474/" style="font-style: italic;">Everything Everywhere All at Once</a> (2022)<br /><p></p><p>8/23/23</p><p>I really wanted to love this. And I liked it. I guess I really liked it. But I had to start it 3 times before I could get through the first 30 minutes and keep going. I still can't quite figure out why though because (as pertains to this list item), the acting was incredible. Michelle Yeoh blew my mind. And it was fun. And funny. And exciting. And curious. And there were moments when I felt moved. Maybe I just need to watch it again because I really want to love it for some reason.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>2- <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109306/">Blue Sky</a></i> (1994)</p><p>12/14/23</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9LbEwYAVoOyl-1NfRZHqBlF2JKAgtymFJyBotMPCW9kU8OhxhGZGfvZSSG7xM9U_jXv_RrzlUg11lS_Birq_YAiamLjgyoBMCVlOvqkGIJbWKBUOoOV3o3sj101ayEL_4gyrTjSHfQjI71Y-eOvXaOS5KGULPMQgpgweezHfR-MNBJgrr10l3i1Vw5l2l/s1600/9b41cdbc718c687c459d83ddf75ad7a5727ae46d0caee129451f6acb0ddd7575.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9LbEwYAVoOyl-1NfRZHqBlF2JKAgtymFJyBotMPCW9kU8OhxhGZGfvZSSG7xM9U_jXv_RrzlUg11lS_Birq_YAiamLjgyoBMCVlOvqkGIJbWKBUOoOV3o3sj101ayEL_4gyrTjSHfQjI71Y-eOvXaOS5KGULPMQgpgweezHfR-MNBJgrr10l3i1Vw5l2l/s320/9b41cdbc718c687c459d83ddf75ad7a5727ae46d0caee129451f6acb0ddd7575.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Okay, so this film had some great themes, above them all caring for human life and the ethics of nuclear technology. It even showed the tension someone can have working for the military and being an expert and not supporting the military's goals in using a specific technology. And the value of family influence on reflecting on one's participation. <br /><p></p><p>And yes, Jessica Lange is great. I didn't watch all the films where the women were nominated for the Best Actress award. And also, I did not love this portrayal. It's so stereotypical bipolar woman. She's so dislikeable for much of the film, though there are moments where the makers seem to communicate, "See! She's also lovely and loving and you should care about her!" But those moments are so... basic. Like, I've loved someone with bipolar disorder, and if I'd invented stories about why, these stories would fit that bill.</p><p>So, Jessica Lange is great. The film has such promise. And then they bail on being powerful.</p><p>3 - <i>The</i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090203/" style="font-style: italic;"> Trip to Bountiful</a> (1985)</p><p>12/23/23</p><p>I guess I get why Geraldine Page won the Oscar for this. She was good. And it was refreshing to see someone older win. She was 65 at the time and played a very relatable character: someone who seems to be in the way by just existing and is scolded for doing too much and scolded when she's sad about being scolded. She's in a lose-lose situation, so it's refreshing to see her just run away. The near-end scene between her son and her was also quite lovely.</p><p>But it's also very clearly a stage play that's been adopted for film. It was easy to see how each scene would work on stage, with the set and other characters. Other than Page's performance, I'd assume this story would be much better on stage than it was on screen. The cinematography isn't very exciting. But also, maybe it's because most of the other performances were just okay that made Page the only interesting thing about the film.</p><p>So just like the previous film I watched, Geraldine Page was great. The story was compelling. But the film itself was just okay.</p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-81193648331454232712023-12-15T22:11:00.001-06:002024-01-04T15:30:12.783-06:003 - Read 35 Books<div style="text-align: left;">1 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/hard-times-for-these-times-9780192545152">Hard Times </a></i>by Charles Dickens<br />1/10/23, for a class</div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm in a grad program for English literature and publishing (yay for tuition benefits as an adjunct faculty member), and one of the requirements is to take a class on pre-1900 literature. Victorian literature was available this quarter, so I thought I'd knock it out. We started with Hard Times. In terms of Dickens, I think I've only ever read A Tale of Two Cities when in high school. I assumed Dickens was just dry and rambling, and while he certainly can ramble, I enjoyed Hard Times and am considering reading a little more Dickens in the future. I didn't realize how most of his work is a social commentary, mostly on class and industrialism. Hard Times, in particular, is a striking critique of the banking model of education, utilitarianism, and how industrialization dehumanizes people and their actual lives. It's certainly not a perfect book, as Dickens can be petty and mean, but it did make me re-evaluate my avoidance of pre-1900s literature, breaking my assumptions that it's not very applicable to current times.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">2 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/caste-9780593230251">Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents</a></i> by Isabel Wilkerson</div><div style="text-align: left;">1/15/23, for the DePaul President's Book Club</div><div style="text-align: left;">Wilkerson makes the case for there being a caste system in the United States and why it is important to dismantle it. It felt like a slightly different, very simplified framework amongst many other commentaries on social hierarchies. I don't know that it really added anything new or useful to conversations of oppression and injustice, particularly as it mostly describes two levels of caste, Black and white, without giving much attention to the many other races and ethnicities in the United States. She describes differences within caste, such as gender, and without saying it, talks about intersectional feminism, rather than caste. She connects India's caste system to U.S. history to Nazi Germany. Some connections are clear, such as how some populations learn and are forced to behave as if they are superior/inferior, but does not unpack the differences in motivations and accepted enforcement. She describes oppression (India), slavery (United States), and extermination (Germany), which are very different outcomes, even if they all involve dehumanization and suffering. She also dismisses class structures as enduring, saying, "If you can act your way out of it, then it is class, not caste" (p. 106). Saying class is all just "acting" is wildly dismissive of all of the ways class is enforced (e.g., social capital) and how it affects people of all races and ethnicities (because social systems are intersectional). Some of the personal stories she shares completely gloss over class, as she tells multiple stories about flying first class. Some of her metaphors and comparisons are strange. Also, much of her evidence is anecdotal and without sources. She talks about "alphas," applying the psychology of dogs to humans and giving an very detailed story about her own dog. When the examples are of her own social experiences, they are useful; however, she also tells stories for which she was not present, and it's unclear if these stories are made up or were relayed to her by someone who experienced them. In telling others' stories, particularly white people's stories, Wilkerson seems unaware of social hierarchies for white immigrants in U.S. history and how their standing has contributed to the reinforcement of U.S. social hierarchies. In one (maybe imagined?) conversation between three white women having dinner, she talked about how two women (of Irish descent and German descent yet many generations in) were "silenced" when the third women said, "We're Nordic." Just a bizarre anecdote that only seemed to serve to say how #45 preferred immigrants from Nordic countries. Again, she seems to add complexity to the hierarchy to support her claims but without accuracy, which muddies her point. I believe there are some interesting, useful ideas here, but Wilkerson's editor really needed to help her focus, make her arguments more explicit, find more evidence to back her claims, and develop a "what's next?" ending, as I'm just left feeling as if maybe there's a caste system in this country, and it's bad.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">3 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-long-way-to-a-small-angry-planet-wayfarers-1-9780062444134">The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet</a></i> by Becky Chambers</div><div style="text-align: left;">1/16/23, for Bingo Book Club</div><div style="text-align: left;">This book was sweet. I really like the characters and species Chambers developed and how she used them to describe really human experiences and emotions. My only complaint is that I wanted a little more plot, a little more at stake. Every time it seemed like something exciting and scary was going to happen, it didn't, until the very end. They're in space, so I wanted the characters to struggle a little more with their physical environment, not just emotional journeys. Regardless, I enjoyed it and would consider reading about The Wayfarer's further adventures.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">4 - <i>Avengers: Escalation!</i> by Marvel</div><div style="text-align: left;">1/17/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">I'd really like to get into reading comic books, but it's tough to know where to start. A few years back, I bought a box of random titles. This one was a lot of fighting, but there seemed to be some interesting backstory for two different storylines. I'm hoping to find the books just before and after to learn a bit more. It was also interesting that I bought these years ago, but this issue has Namor and the Talocan, recently introduced on screen in <i>Black Panther 2</i>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">5 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/unto-this-last-9781602060357">Unto This Last </a></i>by John Ruskin</div><div style="text-align: left;">2/6/23, assigned for a course in Victorian literature</div><div style="text-align: left;">Honestly, I don't know how much of this I understood. I read it for class, and we haven't discussed it yet. It definitely had some critiques of capitalism and models of compensation for labor, but it's also clearly written from a privileged viewpoint. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**6 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/cemetery-boys-9781250250469">Cemetary Boys</a> </i>by Aiden Thomas</div><div style="text-align: left;">3/6/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">This is the best book I've read in a long, long time. Thomas created both compelling characters and a compelling story. Each character is round, full, and incredibly human, with endearing moments and mistakes. It was one of those stories where it's clear so many of the characters have been through deeply hurtful experience in their past, but within the current story, their motivations are so caring and considerate. I say all that without even mentioning that it starts with a murder mystery that has twists and turns throughout the book. This book is inspiring me to dive a bit deeper in to recent YA literature because I loved this journey.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**7 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/going-after-cacciato-9780767904421">Going After Cacciato</a></i> by Tim O'Brien</div><div style="text-align: left;">3/19/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">This was my second reading of this book, and it's still one of my favorites. There's this gorgeous combination of really gritty emotions from people at work, magical realism, and a fantastical plot that feels like a daydream. O'Brien's characters are so unique and human. His descriptions of travel and place make them feel tangible. This novel, in particular, has an Abilene paradox together with really visceral yearnings for escape from an impossibly difficult situation. I would love to find someone else who has read it, so I could chat about the details!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">*8 - <a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-invisible-life-of-addie-larue-9780765387561"><i>The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue </i></a>by V. E. Schwab</div><div style="text-align: left;">3/20/23, audiobook</div><div style="text-align: left;">This was a really lovely story. Some pieces were predictable, but also, there were enough surprises that it didn't feel like a trite or dragging love story. Even in the last chapter, I had no idea how the author could possibly tie up the loose ends and leave us with a satisfying ending, but they did. I particularly loved how Addie had a complicated relationship with The Dark. It reminded me of how dark places and times can have their own appeal, even if we truly want to reject them completely. I also really adored the magical realism of making an impossible wish, like being truly free from the expectations of others, and then needing to live with all of the consequences of such a thing. It felt so much like a story of desperately wanting to be seen and valued, which is so human.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">9 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/before-we-were-yours-9780425284704">Before We Were Yours</a></i> by Lisa Wingate</div><div style="text-align: left;">3/22/23, for Bingo Book Club</div><div style="text-align: left;">This was fine. I mean, the story was interesting enough that I wanted to know what happened. It definitely reads like the author found out about this wild thing that happened in history and then crafted a story around that thing--because that's what happened. But because of that, the characters are a bit flat, and the emotions are not intense enough. I mean, with child trafficking, which is essentially what this is, there is severe trauma, which would definitely be generational trauma. And this is just kind of like learning about a "family secret." I liked how so much was left as unknown and not wrapped up in a pretty bow, but I also hated the romance subplot and felt like it was unnecessary, could have been completely left out. So... meh.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">10 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/dead-zone-9780451155757">The Dead Zone </a></i>by Stephen King</div><div style="text-align: left;">3/27/23, audiobook</div><div style="text-align: left;">I liked this book fine. I took a break in the middle to listen to something else, but I was interested enough to go back and finish it. It just felt long. Like I just wanted King's editor to cut out some of the unnecessary bits because the core story and premise were good. I also like it when characters, especially characters with a bit of a superpower, struggle with making ethical and moral decisions. It was cool that Johnny had a pretty straightforward goal in the first part but then had to decide what to do later, so it wasn't as if he just had things figured out. I also didn't see the ending coming, and I dug it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">*11 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/what-happened-to-you-9781250223180">What Happened to You?</a></i> by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry</div><div style="text-align: left;">3/31/23, audiobook, for the second time</div><div style="text-align: left;">I felt a little out of control in my mental and emotional reactions to things at the start of the year, so I relistened to <i>What Happened to You?</i> to remind myself that many of those reactions were due to triggers from past happenings. While I won't call those past happenings "trauma," especially as in the context of this book, they are talking about deep childhood trauma, which I do not have, I do feel like I've been experiencing trauma responses. My "lizard brain" recognizes a stimuli, and I react with panic, anger, sadness, etc., before my logical brain can step in to point out this is a different situation--a piece of processing I learned from this book. While I know there are likely better books on this topic, especially for those of us who do not have childhood trauma, hearing some validation about what my brain is doing and reminders that it is possible to self-regulate has helped me lean into some healthy habits to both prevent anxiety spirals and respond to them. I also like that in the audiobook, the two authors read independently and are sometimes in conversation. It's a pleasant listen, even though it's a hard one. They do jump right into describing some really traumatic things, without warning, so listen/read with caution!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**12 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-catcher-in-the-rye-9780316769488">The Catcher in the Rye</a></i> by J.D. Salinger</div><div style="text-align: left;">4/3/23, for the umpteeth time</div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The Catcher in the Rye</i> is one of my favorite books, and it's one I go to when I'm having a rough time. For some reason, both the consistency in Salinger's writing of Holden Caufield's voice and Holden's frustration with the world and how boring it can be really resonate with me. I'm always so impressed that a writer can create such a complete character who is both consistent, in voice and action, and still surprises the reader along the way. I also love the gentle exploration of sibling dynamics and how complicated people are. I'm sure I'll revisit it again in a couple years.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**13 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/leadership-for-a-better-world-9781119207597">Leadership for a Better World</a></i> by the National Clearinghouse for Leaders</div><div style="text-align: left;">4/21/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">I read a previous edition of this book when I taught Emerging Leaders at USD and really loved how it frames leadership in such an approachable way, with a focus on undergraduate students. I'm using it for my Chicago Quarter class, so I wanted to give it a deep read as I go into planning for next fall. This newer edition is great. It has me thinking about so many ways I can frame assignments to get students to think deeply about how they practice leadership and the influence they can have on campus, in their communities, and in the city.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">14 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-fellowship-of-the-ring-9780345339706">Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring</a></i> by J. R. Tolkien</div><div style="text-align: left;">5/1/23, audiobook</div><div style="text-align: left;">I was looking for an audiobook with a good story and have always wanted to read this series, so I started in with the first book. Honestly, I didn't love it. It was also way shorter than I anticipated--likely because the films are so flipping long. I have read <i>The Hobbit</i> more than once and adore it, so perhaps this is one of those strange instances of a fantasy novel that, even with a great narrator, just isn't that great in the audio version. It felt so slow, and I could really only picture the dramatic moments because I'd seen the film. They didn't seem to be described very well, with the exception of how creepy Golum is. It just felt like a bunch of folx scrambling around with no real goal while some dudes on horses were looking for them. And the dudes don't find them. So. Because I love <i>The Hobbit </i>so much though, I'm going to try actually reading the second and third books to see if perhaps that is a better experience. It would be super off brand for me to just not like this series, especially when I've watched the films more than once. Also, can anyone explain to me why it's Lord of the RingS--plural? I think the elf queen mentioned another ring, but I couldn't quite figure that part out.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">*15 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/transcendent-kingdom-9781984899767">Transcendent Kingdom</a></i> by Yaa Gyasi</div><div style="text-align: left;">5/7/23, for Bingo Book Club</div><div style="text-align: left;">I loved 95% of this book. It's beautifully written and treats the huge topics of addiction, immigration, racism, religion, and family dynamics with such care and nuance. I was fascinated that each of us in the book club seemed to think it was about something totally different. We noticed the same themes but seemed drawn to specific narratives over others. For me, the emotions related to loving someone with addiction were so realistic and honest that I had to double check to see if this was an autobiography because it just didn't feel like fiction. Gyasi's characters are so round and full and flawed. They make mistakes and feel guilt and shame, while as the reader I just wanted to hug them and tell them how human they are. The only thing I didn't like was the ending, which was a pretty consistent feeling from our book club. It felt like there just was no great way to wrap up such a human story because human stories don't wrap up nicely... but she tried to wrap it up nicely, and I don't think it needed a tidy bow to make it a worthwhile package. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">*16 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/snake-falls-to-earth-9781646140923">A Snake Falls to Earth</a></i> by Darcie Little Badger</div><div style="text-align: left;">5/31/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm now officially into current YA lit. It took me a bit to get into this book, but it maintained my interest from the start. Then, the plot really took off, and I couldn't wait to see what happened next. I highly recommend it for young adult and fully adult readers. Nina and Oli's intertwined stories are so lovely and wholesome and relevant. It reminded me of the importance of holistic ways of thinking about our world and all the beings in it and how Indigenous ways of understanding could do so much to heal what we've broken--yet we still exclude and dismiss them. I'm eager to read more books by Little Badger, Indigenous writers, and YA authors!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">17 - <a href="https://www.powells.com/book/one-hundred-years-of-solitude-9780060883287"><i>One Hundred Years of Solitude</i></a> by Gabriel García Márquez</div><div style="text-align: left;">6/10/23, for Bingo Book Club</div><div style="text-align: left;">I've heard such amazing things about this book, and I just... like, I<i> liked </i>it. But I didn't love it. I adored the flowery, twisting writing that made me pay attention to each line, and I have learned over the last few years that I'm a fan of magical realism, which this book is full of. Yet... I was lost so much of the time with all of the characters with such similar (or identical) names and the paragraphs that went on for pages. I understand there was a narrative about the cyclical nature of life and family and place, and that was lovely, but it was also just confusing. Often. I don't want to keep flipping back to a diagram of a family tree to follow a story. Also, the rape scenes were disturbingly pretty. Each one felt like "she said no but she meant yes and just couldn't say yes because it was adultery/incest/statutory/etc." I'll be very curious to hear the thoughts of my book club!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**18 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/lonesome-dove-9781439195260">Lonesome Dove</a></i> by Larry McMurty</div><div style="text-align: left;">6/11/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">I cannot remember the last time I fell so unexpectedly, deeply in love with a book. I added this book to my queue as part of one of the Book Riot 2023 challenges: Read one of your favorite author's books. While Kurt Vonnegut is my favorite author, Stephen King is up there and talks frequently about other authors. When I Googled King's favorite book, I was surprised to see it is Lonesome Dove. I really wasn't looking forward to it, especially when it arrived and was 858 pages. Then, I read the forward... and dreaded it even more. It took maybe 50 pages or so to get me hooked. The characters are incredible, from the main characters to the side characters to the villains. I understand why this book may have lost favor because it's definitely a "Cowboys and Indians" story, and there is <i>plenty </i>of racism and prejudice against Indigenous people. Yet, it is told through the perspective of cowboys, cattlemen, Texas Rangers, and a handful of people who lived among them, including sex workers, barmen, musicians, cooks, etc. It feels honest of the perspectives of the time, yet gives such depth and breadth in characters and experiences. While the main group certainly holds harmful prejudice against the Indigenous people of the West, McMurty also artfully demonstrated how both groups were taught to fear the other; how both had both violent and peaceful tendencies, depending on the individual or group; how the fears could cause injuries and deaths and how those involved often knew it was simply a misunderstanding, not evil--though there were truly evil characters of many races/ethnicities; how each group also had instances of showing each other peace and kindness; and how all were affected by the decimation of the buffalo population. McMurty presented each character, except the most violent ones, with humanity and wholeness, showing how they each had something special to offer the world and how they could each care for others in unexpected ways. I have not sobbed so much reading a book in years and years, and I did so multiple times because I grew to care so deeply for the characters. I was also very sad when I reached the last few pages and realized I was at the end of the tale. I still can't stop thinking about Gus, Deets, Lorena, and Newt. And Po. And Walbinger. Just wow.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**19 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/mythos-9781452178912">Mythos</a></i> by Stephen Fri</div><div style="text-align: left;">6/14/23, audiobook</div><div style="text-align: left;">I didn't realize I hadn't finished this book! Which is curious because it is such a fun listen. I already find the Greek myths fascinating: such incredible tales of how the world came to be, with lessons and poetic happenings throughout. On top of that, Fry tells the stories with such whimsy and gives such unique and fun voices to the "characters." (I think my favorite is Hermes.) Plus, his lovely accent and flow make this a really fun audiobook. It reminded me of a lighter version of Circe, which is my favorite audiobook. I will definitely listen to it again and may even read it someday. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">*20 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-house-on-mango-street-9780679734772">The House on Mango Street</a></i> by Sandra Cisneros</div><div style="text-align: left;">6/17/23, audiobook, recommended by Nick Franco</div><div style="text-align: left;">At just 2 hours and 18 minutes, this book packs a big, intricate story. It is as series of vignettes told by a young girl, Esperanza, coming of age in a Chicago neighborhood. She dislikes her neighborhood and yearns for her own house, somewhere else, and some of her stories make her reasons very clear. Other stories, however, are really lovely, showing the complexity of growing up and living in an impoverished area. It's a really beautiful, quick read.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**21 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-hate-u-give-9780062498533">The Hate You Give </a></i>by Angie Thomas</div><div style="text-align: left;">6/19/23, recommended by Evelyn Sommariva</div><div style="text-align: left;">I have been meaning to read <i>The Hate You Give</i> for awhile now and finally made it happen with a push through the <a href="https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2023/">Book Riot 2023 Read Harder Challenge</a> item: "Read a book that’s been challenged recently in your school district/library OR read one of the most-challenged/banned books of the year by a queer and/or BIPOC author." As far as I know, very few books are banned in the Chicago Public Library system (though I'm sure they get plenty of challenges), so I went with one of the most-challenged/banned books, and now I understand why this one is so challenged: because it's incredible. If you've ever struggled to understand systemic racism and the anger that has spurred both protests and riots over the assaults and murders of Black people at the hands of the police, this book provides a really powerful first-person narrative of the complexities and emotions following a murder by cop. This is yet another YA book I've loved this year, and I highly recommend it for young adults, mid adults, older adults, etc. If you have a preteen/teenager, encourage them to read it--and read it yourself. If you don't, also just read it. It also has a fantastic list of resources and "read next" lists that I'm definitely going to use, as I continue to my own work and consider the ways I engage in activism.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">22 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/he-bear-she-bear-9780394829975">He Bear She Bear </a></i>by Stan and Jan Berenstain</div><div style="text-align: left;">6/25/23, read aloud (to Ray Ray and Teddy) by Kathy Krone</div><div style="text-align: left;">My parents, now in their 70s/80s, live next door to their best friends... a 5-year-old twins Ray and Teddy. The boys (very voluntarily) visit my parents every day, often more than once, and even make their mom text my parents when they go on vacation. No one quite understands it, but it's pretty dang cute that these two are so connected to Miss Kathy and Mr. Jerry. My mom volunteers in the local library's little shop of donated books, so she's picked up kids' books, games, and puzzles to keep on the porch. For some reason, the boys' favorite book is <i>He Bear She Bear</i>. While I don't love the gender binary premise, the book is just about how he bears and she bears can have any interest, profession, skill, etc. So, I kinda love that these two boys like it so much, without any pushback about who can do what. So, that's lovely. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">23 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-stones-of-venice-9780306812866">The Stones of Venice</a></i> by John Ruskin</div><div style="text-align: left;">7/1/23, finished up from my class in Victorian Literature</div><div style="text-align: left;">Someone please grant me the confidence of a wealthy white man. Of any time period so far. And please grant me his connections too. Ruskin is just so sure of his own opinions... opinions on work that he doesn't do (i.e., art and architecture). The bits that were interesting are blurred by his weird assumptions about the way people live and his black & white ideas of what is "good" in terms of art. I only finished this because I'd read most of it for class and figured I'd finish it to help me with my reading goals.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">24 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/final-revival-of-opal-nev-9781982140175">The Final Revival of Opal and Nev</a> </i>by Dawnie Walton</div><div style="text-align: left;">7/15/23, audiobook</div><div style="text-align: left;">I (audio)read this for the Book Riot 2023 Read Harder Challenge item "Listen to an audiobook performed by a person of color of a book written by an author of color." I'm wondering if I might have liked this book better if I'd read it instead of listened to it. This is the second time I've listened to an audiobook with an ensemble cast, and I don't think I like that style. I find it really bumpy to either hear someone's name right before they're about to speak or to have to pay attention and remember the different voices to remember who is speaking. Weirdly, this book does both. So there was the bumpiness of hearing the name and also sometimes just jumping in without knowing who is speaking. And there are a LOT of characters. And some cameos. I tried to look up how many, and every source listed 7 names and then added "full cast." I can't tell if that means there were only 7 or if there are more than 7. What I did like is that the story itself felt so realistic that I, like many other readers, stopped to Google if it were a true story. It's not, but it feels like it could be. Walton weaves in real-life events and people into the telling of the story of this interracial rock duo, which is fascinating. I do think it would have made for a better novella or short story though. Everything seems to build up to this one event, which holds many family secrets, and the event itself is quite a scene. But then it goes on. And on. Like, there's a whole Part 3 after the climax of the story. And the events in Parts 1 and 3 just aren't that interesting. They're just people navigating a music career and life. So realistically that it was a bit boring because I feel like I've heard so many similar stories. I wish I'd liked it enough to try reading it to see if I enjoyed that more, but I just don't really want to put anymore time into this story.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">25 - <i><a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1990-a-spectre-haunting">Spectre, A Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto</a></i> by China Mieville</div><div style="text-align: left;">7/23/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">Awhile back, I signed up for Haymarket Book's book subscription, where subscribers are sent one book a month. Honestly, they sent a lot of really interesting reads... that I couldn't keep up with, so I discontinued my subscription (for now). Because it's a smaller publisher though, many of the books they've sent fit this Book Riot Read Harder Challenge item perfectly, as many have under 500 reviews on Goodreads. When I'd checked this one, it had only 125. While most of it was over my head, I am really glad I picked this one because about a third of the book is actually just a reprinting of the Communist Manifesto, something I've never read. I've been curious about Marx, particularly once his name started circulating in popular culture again because of #BlackLivesMatter and their Marxist philosophy. While it's called the Communist Manifesto, it's really just a critique of an extremely stratified class system, one which we are certainly seeing widen in recent times because of late-stage capitalism, well past what Marx and Engels saw in the 1840s. It's also a statement of the power of the working class, as they are the ones who generate wealth for the elite. They explain how the working class needs to acknowledge and use their power to create a more equitable system for all. Both the Manifesto itself and Mieville's commentary on it were really striking at this immediate moment, when both the Writer's Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA are on strike, with very high-level celebrities supporting the movement and demanding that those who are not lucky enough to be in their positions be compensated and treated fairly because even they acknowledge that it is the billionaires who control the studios who are benefiting from the unfair compensation of the majority of the workers in the field. At this moment, there's also a looming threat of a UPS strike, which could really shake up the country as a whole. I'm totally here for this hot strike summer and am really glad I took on this read, so I could better understand the historical context of Marxism and workers taking up the power they have. Real talk: I hope higher ed is next.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">26 - <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brother-Pictureback-Ratatouille-movie-tie/dp/0736424326/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1XO514S69RW0H&keywords=oh+brother+ratatouille&qid=1693001171&sprefix=oh+brother+ratatouill%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-2">Oh Brother</a></i> by Katherine Emmons</div><div style="text-align: left;">8/21/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">Shout out to Ray Ray and Teddy for helping me knock another book off my list. This certainly isn't a book I would have chosen on my own, but 5-year-old brothers like books about brothers, and this one was cute. It's just about Remy's brother and how he doesn't quite understand Remy's interest in cooking, especially cooking with humans, but he's still supportive. It's nice.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">27 - <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Anarchy-Matthew-Arnold/dp/1696712297/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1693770142&sr=8-1">Culture and Anarchy</a></i> by Matthew Arnold</div><div style="text-align: left;">8/25/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">I only finished this for my reading goal. I'd read a large chunk of it for my Victorian literature class. I do not quite understand why we read it though. In this book, Arnold creates all kinds of false binaries and is very black and white... all from the perspective of a wealthy white English man. He does all kinds of name dropping of other, I presume, wealthy white English men, though I didn't recognize any of their names. His insistence on "sweetness and light" reminds me a lot of calls for "civility" and toxic positivity, basically telling people that they shouldn't talk about awful things, which only serves those in privileged positions. And then the Hebriasm and Hellenism thing, splitting the world into logic and creative exploration. Just... why? And he never justifies the naming of them. I see how they can be helpful frames in some conversations, but it's just... meh. I was really hoping for some more anarchy, tbh.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">*28 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/running-man-9781982197100">The Running Man </a></i>by Richard Bachman (a.k.a., Stephen King)</div><div style="text-align: left;">8/26/23, audiobook</div><div style="text-align: left;">I thought I knew what this story was, and I wasn't all the way wrong, but it definitely surprised me all along the way. It was also shorter than I thought it would be, though drawing it out longer would have ruined the pace. I also find King's use of the hours counting down really added urgency and at different points seemed like points of hope and sometimes ominous. It's also quite different from many of his other horror stories, though there is certainly violence and cruelty. It was also interesting because it predates our era of reality TV, yet the setting is reality TV and, in particular, watching others suffer for entertainment. I don't watch much reality TV, but the few I do watch have an element of putting people through stressful, sometimes painful situations. So interesting that a book published in 1982 could have such interesting insights into modern media.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**29 - <i><a href="https://booklife.com/project/shut-up-and-feel-88097">Shut Up and Feel</a></i> by DJ Corchin</div><div style="text-align: left;">9/13/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">This past weekend, I volunteered with <a href="https://www.826chi.org/">826CHI</a> at <a href="https://printersrowlitfest.org/">Lit Fest</a>, and we happened to be sharing a tent with the author DJ Corchin. People of all ages kept picking up his books, laughing, and buying them. Each time, he offered to sign them with personalized messages. I had to see what the fuss was about. Shut Up and Feel is an adult picture book about feeling your damn feelings. It's really, really lovely.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">30 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/on-chesil-beach-9780385522403">On the Beach</a></i> by Ian McEwan</div><div style="text-align: left;">10/6/23, for Bingo Book Club</div><div style="text-align: left;">Teesha really put us through it with this book club choice. Woof. It reminded me of the film <i>Melancholia</i> except everyone is just kinda cheerful. It felt a bit heavier with everything happening in and around Gaza and Ukraine right now. The whole story follows survivors of a super nuclear world war. They're all in Australia and are pretty sure the rest of the world is dead, but what's left of the Australian and U.S. Navies do some exploring, especially because there's an inconsistent radio signal coming from new San Francisco. And so much of the world is standing, but all the people and animals are dead, and once the places become inhabitable again, in 20 years or so, all the remaining people and pretty much all of the animals will be dead. So. Kinda heavy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">31 - <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nightbitch-Novel-Rachel-Yoder/dp/0385546815">Nightbitch</a></i> by Rachel Yoder</div><div style="text-align: left;">11/7/23. for a book club</div><div style="text-align: left;">I read 99% of this book for the first meeting of a book club. Then, when I was just a few pages away from finishing the book, they changed the meeting to a time I couldn't make it. And I really wasn't into the book. So I put it down for awhile. And decided not to join the book club if these were the kinds of books we'd be reading. Then, I decided to just finish it. And like, I like some magical realism. I like some women reclaiming their bodies and selves. But this was just weird, mostly because the main character never has a name. She's just the mom or Nightbitch. I hoped maybe she'd get a name by the end, as she stood so boldly in the things she'd been learning and choices she'd been making for herself. But no. Just Nightbitch. And the bitch part didn't seem to be a reclaiming of the term. Maybe I didn't get it, but I still wouldn't recommend it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**32 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/hunger-games-01-9780439023528">The Hunger Games</a></i> by Suzanne Collins</div><div style="text-align: left;">11/16/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">I think this is my third read through of this series, this time to prep me for Hunger Games trivia for my birthday. I've watched the movies more times than I can count, and I forgot how good the books are. Like, yeah, the book is usually better than the movie, but for this series, the movies are <i>good</i>, and yet somehow the books are <i>better</i>, even though the movies are really, really well cast, and most of the changes make sense. If you've read the series, I recommend a reread. If you've only seen the films, I recommend a read. And if you've done neither, <i>why</i>? It's such a good series!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**33 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/catching-fire-9780439023498">Catching Fir</a></i>e by Suzanne Collins</div><div style="text-align: left;">12/13/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">I feel the same way about<i> Catching Fire</i> as I do about <i>The Hunger Games</i>. They are great movies, yet the books are so much better, something I forget because I have watched the movies countless times but only reread the series every now and then. I only got halfway through this one in time for Hunger Games trivia, but I still wanted to finish it up!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">*34 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/talking-to-strangers-9780316478526">Talking to Strangers </a></i>by Malcolm Gladwell</div><div style="text-align: left;">12/14/23, audiobook</div><div style="text-align: left;">This book was not at all what I expected. I thought, cool, Gladwell is going to teach me to be less socially awkward. I could really use some help with that. Nope. Not at all. It's about our assumptions about others and how they affect our interactions. It's about the default to truth, so we're not suspicious when we probably should be, and how our perceptions that someone's behaviors are misaligned with the situation make us suspicious when there's no need to be. He starts and ends with Sandra Bland, and along the way, talks about Amanda Knox, Bernie Madoff, and Ana Montes. He talks about people who were doing things wrong, so wrong that in hindsight, it seems really obvious, and why so many people got it wrong. And he talks about people who were innocent but faced extreme consequences because someone presumed them to be guilty. There were so many points when I was like, well, I don't agree with that, and Gladwell always circled back around to add nuance. It was super fascinating, especially as I think I'm someone who has pretty killer intuition but also defaults to assuming the best of others. I decided to be more trusting of my intuition several years back, when I knew something was off about a situation but let myself be gaslighted into acting like everything was okay--and then I got really hurt when the truth came out. This book as me thinking about when to trust my intuition and how I want to default to kindness with strangers because I believe it makes for a better world and that it's okay to pull back when I have concerns.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">*35 - <i>Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights</i> by Omar Barghouti</div><div style="text-align: left;">12/15/23</div><div style="text-align: left;">I've been trying to process my thoughts, feelings, and beliefs after the events in Israel on October 7, 2023, and the following events in Gaza and other parts of Palestine and some parts of Israel. While I mostly feel immense loss and helplessness, some of what I'm feeling is extreme regret that most of the world, specifically Western countries and especially the United States, is so very uninformed and miseducated about the historical context and tensions between Israel and Palestine. Personally, I don't think I thought much about Palestine or the Palestinians until I had a close Palestinian American friend, a kind soul who one day came to me furious because a coworker had asked his ethnicity, and when he told her Palestinian, she responded, "So aren't you really Israeli because Palestine doesn't exist anymore?" (I genuinely believe she was ignorant and clueless, not cruel, but impact matters.) Seeing how affected he was by this exchange jolted me into understanding this conflict was not in the past. It's current. It's still happening. That was 12 years ago. Since then, I've paid attention when "small" news stories crept into my timeline or were reported on NPR. I remember being particularly concerned about increasing Israeli settlements and the continued displacement of Palestinians a few years back. I knew then that not only is displacing a people wrong, continuing to do so is dangerous for everyone. So while I was shocked at the coordinated and successful attacks on October 7, I wasn't surprised. And I decided I had to learn more before I could be confident in my position. I was so very thankful that Haymarket Books offered (and is still, at the time of this writing, offering) three free books related to the Free Palestine movement (with an option to donate). This book is the first of the three I've read. While I don't feel like I learned a lot about the history of the region and the people, I learned a ton about the philosophy and history of activism against apartheid states, how the rest of the world can affect change in another country, and what worked in South Africa, a country that surely still has challenges yet has overcome international disapproval of its previous structures. This book was published in 2011, so much has happened in the last 12 years, and I am determined to learn more because tens of thousands of people have died, many more are suffering, and the best I can do to sum up how I'm feeling right now is this quote by John Dugard, South African law expert & former UN special rapporteur on human rights: "The West cannot expect the rest of the world to take issues it regards as important seriously if it persists in its present attitude to the [Israeli occupation]. For the rest of the world the issue of Palestine has become the litmus test for human rights. If the West fails to show concern for human rights in the [occupied Palestinian territory], the rest of the world will conclude that human rights are a tool employed by the West against regimes it dislikes and not an objective and universal instrument for the measurement of the treatment of people throughout the world." We need to be as critical of "our side" as we are of the other.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">*36 - <a href="https://www.powells.com/searchresults?keyword=yearbook+seth+rogan"><i>Yearbook</i></a> by Seth Rogen</div><div style="text-align: left;">12/16/23, audiobook</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I think Jamie recommended this one, and I had an Audible credit and needed to do some walking, so I downloaded it. I was so delighted with the entire book. Enough so that I am going to keep it on my re-listen list for times when I need something light. I would be walking with one air bud in, alone, giggling to myself. It's just a great collection of weird stories from Rogen's life, and he's so funny. It's also nice to listen to him playing himself, not a character of himself. Just a short, fun "read."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">37 - <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/white-tiger-9781416562603">White Tiger</a></i> by Aravind Adiga</div><div style="text-align: left;">12/24/23</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Over 10 years ago, one of my students' moms (who worked at the university) gave this book to me because she'd noticed I like to read and thought I'd like it. At the time, I probably got 20% through and then put it down. I think I read part of it, left it at work one day, and forgot about it because while I thought it was okay, I just wasn't that interested in it. I picked it back up for this Book Riot item, and honestly, it's just okay. I could have easily never finished it again.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-84287161587701178072023-12-15T13:51:00.013-06:002023-12-15T13:52:11.502-06:00#7 - Walk 52 Times<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXe-0lGsy9jsB6kCsKABO7ytO8gSVYTvBclQxk_fljuGjqPX0TD-L_Mhyphenhyphen741f0U6kqxRVuYCBY8ELWA-miGQF5hGJ834pKM5nMBN2hORnagDQ0MeZm4SWLVYXYheb4EVN0hPd1p2LRK7NGQNTYux63IvYCXAeRK36dwnG14IxxDfJq98ObGZYzAfkCykE/s1033/20230516_141116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1033" data-original-width="775" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXe-0lGsy9jsB6kCsKABO7ytO8gSVYTvBclQxk_fljuGjqPX0TD-L_Mhyphenhyphen741f0U6kqxRVuYCBY8ELWA-miGQF5hGJ834pKM5nMBN2hORnagDQ0MeZm4SWLVYXYheb4EVN0hPd1p2LRK7NGQNTYux63IvYCXAeRK36dwnG14IxxDfJq98ObGZYzAfkCykE/w300-h400/20230516_141116.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>This isn't the most exciting post on my blog, but having this goal really helped me get out of my apartment and getting my steps in! It seems like walking is now part of my routine, so I probably won't add this item to the list again next year.<p></p><p>1 - 1/2/23: 27 minutes in Uptown</p><p>2 - 1/16/23: 28 minutes in Andersonville</p><p>3 - 1/27/23: 48 minutes in Andersonville & Uptown<br />4 - 2/4/23: 35 minutes in Uptown</p><p>5 - 2/9/23: 23 minutes in Andersonville</p><p>6 - 2/13/23: 47 minutes in Edgewater & Rogers Park</p><p>7 - 2/19/23: 42 minutes</p><p>8 - 3/1/23: 41 minutes</p><p>9 - 3/8/23: 13 minutes to the lake</p><p>10 - 3/12/23: 89 minutes in Edgewater</p><p>11 - 3/15/23: 34 minutes in Uptown</p><p>12 - 3/24/23: 30 minutes in Uptown</p><p>13 - 3/29/23: 25 minutes in Uptown</p><p>14 - 4/3/23: 40 minutes in Edgewater</p><p>15 - 4/14/23: 42 minutes in Uptown</p><p>16 - 4/17/23: 29 minutes in Andersonville</p><p>17 - 5/3/23: 16 minutes in Uptown</p><p>18 - 5/10/23: 46 minutes in Andersonville</p><p>19 - 5/24/23: 60 minutes in Andersonville</p><p>20 - 5/26/23: 43 minutes in Uptown & Wrigleyville</p><p>21 - 5/28/23: 39 minutes in Uptown & Wrigleyville</p><p>22 - 5/31/23: 41 minutes in Andersonville</p><p>23 - 6/3/23: 116 minutes Lincoln Park to Uptown</p><p>24 - 6/6/23: 39 minutes in Uptown</p><p>25 - 6/7/23: 60 minutes in Uptown</p><p>26 - 6/20/23: 30 minutes in Edgewater</p><p>27 - 6/21/23: 26 minutes in Uptown</p><p>28 - 6/28/23: 13 minutes in North Center</p><p>29 - 7/5/23: 71 minutes Uptown to Roscoe Village</p><p>30 - 7/15/23: 73 minutes in Lincoln Park</p><p>31 - 7/16/23: ? minutes in Uptown with Stephanie Souvenir</p><p>32 - 7/22/23: 70 minutes in Andersonville</p><p>33 - 7/31/23: 40 minutes Uptown to North Center</p><p>34 - 8/21/23: 50 minutes in Pittsfield Township</p><p>35 - 8/31/23: 19 minutes in Lincoln Park</p><p>36 - 9/1/23: 45 minutes in Uptown</p><p>37 - 9/8/23: 70 minutes in Andersonville</p><p>38 - 9/23/23: 105 minutes Uptown to Lakeview & back</p><p>39 - 10/7/23: 38 minute in Uptown</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Oqt59pHbi9QKTfbqHUiG2vLnkgPGag-3tTVPuNWvk2gVWzABMkVTW9Hns9eq9RA-2RAK_NzMWnFVhNA5YziwVTfPy7a4sPoK2pw-dySjMtLdDtAXvbdOIKnFgY3ge5HK3N7yn4RmWGRxfUtbHEtg3A1GAMohWDbs3VZ9q-en_GFbzM_x0Lb3_dR8TvdG/s1033/20230726_173442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1033" data-original-width="775" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Oqt59pHbi9QKTfbqHUiG2vLnkgPGag-3tTVPuNWvk2gVWzABMkVTW9Hns9eq9RA-2RAK_NzMWnFVhNA5YziwVTfPy7a4sPoK2pw-dySjMtLdDtAXvbdOIKnFgY3ge5HK3N7yn4RmWGRxfUtbHEtg3A1GAMohWDbs3VZ9q-en_GFbzM_x0Lb3_dR8TvdG/w300-h400/20230726_173442.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>40 - 10/13/23: 31 minutes in Uptown<p></p><p>41 - 10/25/23: 58 minutes in Uptown</p><p>42 - 11/1/23: 111 minutes from Lincoln Park to Roscoe Village to North Center to Uptown</p><p>43 - 11/6/23: 16 minutes in Lincoln Park</p><p>44 - 11/8/23: 38 minutes Lincoln Park to Roscoe Village</p><p>45 - 11/11/23: 29 minutes in Uptown</p><p>46 - 11/13/23: 60 minutes Lincoln Park to Roscoe Village to Uptown</p><p>47 - 11/17/23: 58 minutes North Center to Uptown</p><p>48 - 11/27/23: 20 minutes in North Center</p><p>49 - 12/4/23: 86 minutes Uptown to North Center to Uptown</p><p>50 - 12/6/23: 35 minutes Lincoln Square to Uptown</p><p>51 - 12/11/23: 110 minutes Uptown to North Center to Uptown</p><p>52 - 12/14/23: 94 minutes Uptown to Wrigleyville to Uptown</p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-71575625523386790982023-12-01T17:19:00.004-06:002023-12-01T17:19:17.012-06:00#26 - See One of My Favorite Comedians Live<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN40vyqqgGtUK9rvUNGH2_a-0z_BIc8T0dk9PC4Byo-RCZs2_87G1UOPnUUawZQKn9X8YZCGzDOtxT3rpvn3uM7ZYmo-IjJ_HhCD7bE6eoFHgFXfbwieNBz5McjE8UBZuCRdFvpRXddf2ehnQosgRvg4KE870XBPC4LUnMB4if59a5K5OkPupOW0YusUTS/s4032/20231103_194934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN40vyqqgGtUK9rvUNGH2_a-0z_BIc8T0dk9PC4Byo-RCZs2_87G1UOPnUUawZQKn9X8YZCGzDOtxT3rpvn3uM7ZYmo-IjJ_HhCD7bE6eoFHgFXfbwieNBz5McjE8UBZuCRdFvpRXddf2ehnQosgRvg4KE870XBPC4LUnMB4if59a5K5OkPupOW0YusUTS/s320/20231103_194934.jpg" width="240" /></a>I can't quite remember when I first became a fan of <a href="https://www.nicolebyerwastaken.com/">Nicole Byer</a> because it was during isolation times of the pandemic, when time had no meaning. Watching <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6987788/">Nailed It </a></i>was so joyful. It's just such fun, and the stakes are always so low. It was perfect pandemic watching.</p><p>I started listening to her podcast <i><a href="https://teamcoco.com/podcasts/why-wont-you-date-me-with-nicole-byer">Why Won't You Date Me?</a></i> and while our dating habits are not similar, I do feel like we have the same vibe in finding so many men undateable. </p><p>That was one of the bits I really enjoyed when seeing her live, something I got to do in my own neighborhood at the <a href="https://www.jamusa.com/riviera-theatre/">Riviera Theater</a>. I also excited because Laura and Alan decided to join me.</p><p>I don't know what else to say because it's never entertaining to hear someone describe a comedy show they saw and you didn't. It was a really fun show with a very diverse crowd, and I just adore how she can be so present, comment on her own behavior while she's on stage, and interact with the audience in the moment.</p><p>I would definitely go see her again!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6aVcFoSF3wvRj8mUzXkbcgT3zmyZqxUJFW8OJh87BGOthoBwKIelWyQvth_iSDGEfPRodPlM2KT_6dDMCYBXe9NP3xmttFaQnCO5wn78NhHbNMrmDXcaoDFm3UJEJo3drUYaSVhYVtJ4ELACfce1DkpKfd-4VYmNiGnZJOnZdVuUeIKmPRBdYYxzCa6q3/s3648/20231103_205127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="2736" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6aVcFoSF3wvRj8mUzXkbcgT3zmyZqxUJFW8OJh87BGOthoBwKIelWyQvth_iSDGEfPRodPlM2KT_6dDMCYBXe9NP3xmttFaQnCO5wn78NhHbNMrmDXcaoDFm3UJEJo3drUYaSVhYVtJ4ELACfce1DkpKfd-4VYmNiGnZJOnZdVuUeIKmPRBdYYxzCa6q3/s320/20231103_205127.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-66461541358849563862023-09-14T20:13:00.001-05:002023-09-14T20:13:28.697-05:00#56 - See a Friend I Haven't Seen in at Least 3 YearsMost years I attend camp, I get to reconnect with someone! This year, it was my dear lovie Rachel! <div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqdTBObVgOVGkSQQUa5Z7bJTBnKa-Uu_zYcR62-i08_aEyVGSGfQPmGQ6ARhfcUqJh1NyP0j67O-iFsI9Cj6G4HouPbLtN0Nit1BDyhTRzHuBviMeM9j_r8xebCVaPdKJoGnPHaIpB6YwcsJFGqX0l2OCJB_JB3jITgBVLBOWsVxb178_i6Akt02f8XVwJ/s1440/IMG_20230821_170636_667.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqdTBObVgOVGkSQQUa5Z7bJTBnKa-Uu_zYcR62-i08_aEyVGSGfQPmGQ6ARhfcUqJh1NyP0j67O-iFsI9Cj6G4HouPbLtN0Nit1BDyhTRzHuBviMeM9j_r8xebCVaPdKJoGnPHaIpB6YwcsJFGqX0l2OCJB_JB3jITgBVLBOWsVxb178_i6Akt02f8XVwJ/w400-h400/IMG_20230821_170636_667.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of us. We've been coming to this place together for almost 40 years.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><div>Bonus: Not only did I get to spend time with Rachel, I got to meet her husband Carlos and their sweet, happy, good eater daughter Olivia!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.pointopines.com/">Camp</a> is one of the few places where I fully embrace that whoever is there that year is who was meant to be there that year and to join together in community. It takes quite a bit of effort in terms of distance, time, and cost, so with the exception of a few dependents, just showing up communicates that we each really, really want to be there. </div><div><br /></div><div>For me, I rarely leave Chicago in the summer (because it's legit the best), yet I feel no FOMO at camp. I'm just... there. And there's no where else I'd rather be when I am there--and sometimes when I'm not.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm so pleased Rachel and her family joined us this year, and I'm already looking forward to the next summer in this magical place with the most incredible community.</div></div>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-71709630565061658502023-08-22T19:41:00.003-05:002023-08-22T19:45:50.151-05:00#67 - Summit a New Mountain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegQgbJjG3Exj-wBsd_LZw_4yI45XI707gguljFgyDCxbPJulpweO8qznJypU-Qukxq-4KwCv-7yS59WQtsZFui2crzcQyZnyOAbdAHi1wmsN5o7HoaYMCDlfBZ1fgukXbpO33ueBcc2TSuEpuEYqCBLH6hTPW24kUIU_A5-XfMORpeqR31BhIW9_HRvKL/s2000/IMG_20230817_150519565_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegQgbJjG3Exj-wBsd_LZw_4yI45XI707gguljFgyDCxbPJulpweO8qznJypU-Qukxq-4KwCv-7yS59WQtsZFui2crzcQyZnyOAbdAHi1wmsN5o7HoaYMCDlfBZ1fgukXbpO33ueBcc2TSuEpuEYqCBLH6hTPW24kUIU_A5-XfMORpeqR31BhIW9_HRvKL/w400-h300/IMG_20230817_150519565_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXK0gOgYFJ54t-IcT3APVsPJ8W2Hzlu3iYoxdgiAphnQo14aVED_8ptq_cdLJ6ikWsvLivwdisCqyeB3R7ouFr03N76EzJYHWhLzGAcTgm2xBlx_9mrasbj0_wzxfkp_-Hz_vZvQHK6CxrqdEEiluxE03wdN9qYKID5M9ecf9JfKqPU5BtfpvIdHaBIb1D/s4032/20230817_160325.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXK0gOgYFJ54t-IcT3APVsPJ8W2Hzlu3iYoxdgiAphnQo14aVED_8ptq_cdLJ6ikWsvLivwdisCqyeB3R7ouFr03N76EzJYHWhLzGAcTgm2xBlx_9mrasbj0_wzxfkp_-Hz_vZvQHK6CxrqdEEiluxE03wdN9qYKID5M9ecf9JfKqPU5BtfpvIdHaBIb1D/s320/20230817_160325.jpg" width="320" /></a>I was lucky enough to attend the first ever<a href="https://www.pointopines.com/"> Point O Pines</a> Family Camp (which I'd previous attended as Camp Michigania - East for 35 years, so it was new but not new) in the <a href="https://visitadirondacks.com/about/adirondack-park">Adirondack State Park</a> in upstate New York. Every year, the staff plans a few hikes during the week, and this year, I joined a small group for a hike of Moxham Mountain, which I believe is a new one to me (though I haven't kept good records of what mountains we've hiked over the years).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbqF5_i9JidG3pC3aHcfc6SYxU46Ge0MSypy4E4_BFxGqw6gFnMZ6DoVYhZTOY6dHkDkTyo5KAns-RKLmrB2GVSgdziWHg9IGXKlmkzjwWBrkGha2kzi-Fhjw2IVaMaLmpYFIVgV3h4Gn0GAIWYlZH9IU5L1MEFdKcKEj8cFBpwjPIdSw82D5reKPK-lG4/s4032/20230817_160906.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbqF5_i9JidG3pC3aHcfc6SYxU46Ge0MSypy4E4_BFxGqw6gFnMZ6DoVYhZTOY6dHkDkTyo5KAns-RKLmrB2GVSgdziWHg9IGXKlmkzjwWBrkGha2kzi-Fhjw2IVaMaLmpYFIVgV3h4Gn0GAIWYlZH9IU5L1MEFdKcKEj8cFBpwjPIdSw82D5reKPK-lG4/s320/20230817_160906.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>The <a href="https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-york/moxham-mountain-trail">Moxham Mountain trail</a> is a 5.5-mile (total) out-and-back trail with an elevation gain of 1,338 feet. It wasn't a super challenging hike in terrain, but my Fit Bit tells me we hiked for 3 hours and 20 minutes, so it was pretty strenuous in that sense. It was also gorgeous... and the trail was filled with fungi, of which I snapped many pics with my Seek app and later won an award, teasing me for my very intense interest in learning what every mushroom, flower, and creature we passed was.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOwrVf_AAVvAxAPRPFHHo4fYICZjnMlTPjitMWRtL8-xTa3KEoKEQTk_O2IHxtGfWZEDlCCD6_r5CzXqYbzN5ph-IEStdKovscNRi8PfegJHOP10Srq7rjvdkg1rEvCVZiBD5qscNF63BhVgd9iThIyONY9ATsiIqw3Jx1w2H-NpFv27Un57i-pEaJ-ca6/s4032/0b423e6f-ad50-445b-ba34-cbd5f2345ea7.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOwrVf_AAVvAxAPRPFHHo4fYICZjnMlTPjitMWRtL8-xTa3KEoKEQTk_O2IHxtGfWZEDlCCD6_r5CzXqYbzN5ph-IEStdKovscNRi8PfegJHOP10Srq7rjvdkg1rEvCVZiBD5qscNF63BhVgd9iThIyONY9ATsiIqw3Jx1w2H-NpFv27Un57i-pEaJ-ca6/w150-h200/0b423e6f-ad50-445b-ba34-cbd5f2345ea7.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5LDYP47BjIz2OjC-MYRFfX--feajpPnJ2G_Tk4KDpGxxUq22uDH_HgnRKszE_eLTM9ZpUJnTEMx00gRfudrzg8q9vizSuRlicit3rF5Icg7pwCVrNLo0nV5XSOI8lrykW9gHzxZ9v2T0Vkv__fzuWVeeOaF7QyE47akrPZtEp_oLvPRoMTc3VojTMusv/s4032/20230817_142017.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5LDYP47BjIz2OjC-MYRFfX--feajpPnJ2G_Tk4KDpGxxUq22uDH_HgnRKszE_eLTM9ZpUJnTEMx00gRfudrzg8q9vizSuRlicit3rF5Icg7pwCVrNLo0nV5XSOI8lrykW9gHzxZ9v2T0Vkv__fzuWVeeOaF7QyE47akrPZtEp_oLvPRoMTc3VojTMusv/w150-h200/20230817_142017.jpg" width="150" /></a>I don't really have much else to share except that I thoroughly enjoyed the time in the trees and with friends!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-53937993271571185712023-08-10T20:52:00.004-05:002023-08-10T20:52:27.700-05:00#45 - Forage for Mushrooms<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6yK-zf-d4CCQHnF1n1g5yY4Vtp4j1QREFwKJbhDAOLvM44BxGbbNr6CJaP-j_ucnYwyiV07PK8TY6E7p-HGKmUc9LZEu-dSkvzCuTbPgMuylj1YZNx1HH9Ohmr_nTK1mec49fwFJw15X5evbkkq4OKT0C0foMsMe3aCOvhPv41npHVlTzpf4KHIupQTI/s4032/20230810_182252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6yK-zf-d4CCQHnF1n1g5yY4Vtp4j1QREFwKJbhDAOLvM44BxGbbNr6CJaP-j_ucnYwyiV07PK8TY6E7p-HGKmUc9LZEu-dSkvzCuTbPgMuylj1YZNx1HH9Ohmr_nTK1mec49fwFJw15X5evbkkq4OKT0C0foMsMe3aCOvhPv41npHVlTzpf4KHIupQTI/s320/20230810_182252.jpg" width="240" /></a>A few days ago, my friend Teddy sent me a picture of some mushrooms he'd foraged, and I thought, oh, I'll probably be at Teddy's house in about a week, so maybe he can take me to forage some mushrooms, so I can check this off my list and eat some delicious mushrooms.</p><p>I'll be at Teddy's in 2 days, but right now, I'm staying with my parents. Today, I found my dad working in the yard, and he says, "Hey, you've gotta see this."</p><p>He takes me near the back of their yard, and there's a tree ringed with mushrooms. I ran to get my phone to use the Seek app (which you can use to identify flora and fauna) to see if it would recognize them (as it often doesn't work well with fungi). It identified the fungi as golden oyster mushrooms.</p><p>So then, I went to my computer to see what I could learn about golden oyster mushrooms and any toxic look-a-likes. I confirmed they were, indeed, oyster mushrooms, likely golden oyster mushrooms, and it turns out, oyster mushrooms are delicious; golden oyster mushrooms are technically an invasive species, except that they don't seem to cause any harm and just feed on decomposing wood; and no look-a-likes are toxic--they just don't taste good.</p><p>I then went back to my dad and told him, "Well, good news: Those are golden oyster mushrooms, and we're going to eat them. Bad news: That tree they're growing around? It's dead."</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaM27jNlH5_ycyZ0FmFLNllwKIw3bkGT_tdvkb0hZLNdeNBiH9F9J3EGYmn-1jhBOKQeJFhT8ufjI2eceYUB_IyfnJtskQmN2f7HbWjwqskbR1YzrrVvU6xbAu6zaeNRXg8in15Z5jqb7i_pRF0cm3kDSNuSB4hJms3bEDCyocYbZumaWrgLq0mePCnF87/s4032/20230810_182512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaM27jNlH5_ycyZ0FmFLNllwKIw3bkGT_tdvkb0hZLNdeNBiH9F9J3EGYmn-1jhBOKQeJFhT8ufjI2eceYUB_IyfnJtskQmN2f7HbWjwqskbR1YzrrVvU6xbAu6zaeNRXg8in15Z5jqb7i_pRF0cm3kDSNuSB4hJms3bEDCyocYbZumaWrgLq0mePCnF87/s320/20230810_182512.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcWjVMRHeThWk7kt4C8tsQ7g9M9HQV3NGvphYDNMVfuucNTZHJi_6M94kdcH5lJYfjRnlxGZRj2hX3L3Rd--xxRdqzkxvNmJ-WlLXA6JQGBPQXb6mq8WemqEwQJru2IKO4KqirvE2-55WBXBxYhxeqFTQWNlV-U3heur9AdZMp3JMwjN-hlOn9GcBk1DHo/s4032/20230810_184041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcWjVMRHeThWk7kt4C8tsQ7g9M9HQV3NGvphYDNMVfuucNTZHJi_6M94kdcH5lJYfjRnlxGZRj2hX3L3Rd--xxRdqzkxvNmJ-WlLXA6JQGBPQXb6mq8WemqEwQJru2IKO4KqirvE2-55WBXBxYhxeqFTQWNlV-U3heur9AdZMp3JMwjN-hlOn9GcBk1DHo/s320/20230810_184041.jpg" width="240" /></a>So, when we fired up the grill for dinner, I went and cut a few off a few stems, went inside to wash them well (yes, I do usually actually wash my mushrooms, though I know some people say just to brush them. It really only adds like 1-2% more water to the mushroom, so not a huge deal, and these were covered in the type of tiny beetles that love oyster mushrooms, so I wanted to get them all off), and then sautéed them with some olive oil and salt.</p><p>They were delicious. And there are a ton more. I hope my parents actually eat them or they keep growing, so I can take a bunch back to Chicago with me on my way home!</p><p>What a surprise to be able to check this off my list today!</p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-13641585288456908782023-07-28T15:50:00.003-05:002023-07-28T15:54:18.905-05:00#14 - Eat Vegetarian for 14 Days in a Row<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisIQQn3uIXuSHAO12bEUYT3EkaRZOI2z1FnqEf9O4yZgaoGEamAgrQs4C-psuAafALjs2xme0bzAqKfPZZhj1diCYRuCgfeN4BsOa0m95fKEU2hxhuz1AIP9Z42sIGQnepDUVVNFKu4ys4eStYRt7x-9kgl9iXT4PorTd70kOMdwCLr6s8r1cokiVtRGNi/s4032/20230722_183540.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisIQQn3uIXuSHAO12bEUYT3EkaRZOI2z1FnqEf9O4yZgaoGEamAgrQs4C-psuAafALjs2xme0bzAqKfPZZhj1diCYRuCgfeN4BsOa0m95fKEU2hxhuz1AIP9Z42sIGQnepDUVVNFKu4ys4eStYRt7x-9kgl9iXT4PorTd70kOMdwCLr6s8r1cokiVtRGNi/s320/20230722_183540.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Tofu, broccoli, & shiitake stir fry</span></td></tr></tbody></table>It's been my intention to eat more and more plant based and pescatarian, for health and also for environmental reasons. I don't plan to ever go fully vegetarian or vegan or even pescatarian, but I'd like those to be my default options, with meat and even dairy being rarer in my diet. <p></p><p>In 2020, my parents joined me in doing 8 days of eating vegetarian, with one fully plant-based days. I really appreciated how just thinking a little about what I was eating and how to focus mostly on plant-based options changed some of my overall eating habits, as I learned some great new recipes and realized I can get enough protein and feel strong without eating meat.</p><p>In 2020, I made a full meal plan, mapping out what each meal would be each day, throwing in some recipes I wanted to try with some easier options (like store-bought ravioli). This time around, I realized I've already incorporated a lot of vegetarian eating in my regular schedule, so I didn't do much planning. </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheMOvXiGTRax7qu5RPOP039wDyb0XmHZDuaRRlOetvoYZfZquS5DxEqwDrJ8dlF9E_S8aMz5x2AfpiNL75o2E4SJnQcaQ3vTNYEEzaQvNgDSAnj1ZjBGkbMvkIEuwuaX5xS6Xedyid7IESOs4ZoHr44894t_-ryFms5eF7KWiDJ8I2VXK7Qfor-vuBNWTA/s4032/20230721_201908.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheMOvXiGTRax7qu5RPOP039wDyb0XmHZDuaRRlOetvoYZfZquS5DxEqwDrJ8dlF9E_S8aMz5x2AfpiNL75o2E4SJnQcaQ3vTNYEEzaQvNgDSAnj1ZjBGkbMvkIEuwuaX5xS6Xedyid7IESOs4ZoHr44894t_-ryFms5eF7KWiDJ8I2VXK7Qfor-vuBNWTA/s320/20230721_201908.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Lemony lentil soup</span></td></tr></tbody></table>I did want to stretch myself a bit, so I bought some Impossible burgers and chicken nuggets. I've always been leery of fake meat. It reminds me of that episode where Chris makes this super elaborate veggie burger and everyone loves it. Ron then serves a beef burger on a bun with no toppings, and everyone agrees the beef is better. Meat substitutes just feel like they're trying too hard to be meat and aren't succeeding in taste or flavor. I'd rather just eat other plant-based proteins, like tofu (which, yes, I do like), beans, cheese, etc. I've heard such good things about Impossible and Beyond meat, and my friend Jewel served us a nacho platter with Impossible meat a couple months back, and it was great, so I thought I'd give some other Impossible options a try.<p></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPTZ1FmgbVcYXIBeiFDxIarfeUxXBwgtXAMmcAtKETGmZPXP0h5K8BHXSGpRblkj4VdS9Qi0_UZCD5ShwTjsMjbcKBdbPN7HEvvqmH4vequWV9BOrG9th0EmccCZ13szByBrrw5pw1AE3U12LgQ65h9lyN7TbfXm_1Wg3lLobIc5KRjwtkdTQ8ksvAjDMV/s4032/20230714_132857.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPTZ1FmgbVcYXIBeiFDxIarfeUxXBwgtXAMmcAtKETGmZPXP0h5K8BHXSGpRblkj4VdS9Qi0_UZCD5ShwTjsMjbcKBdbPN7HEvvqmH4vequWV9BOrG9th0EmccCZ13szByBrrw5pw1AE3U12LgQ65h9lyN7TbfXm_1Wg3lLobIc5KRjwtkdTQ8ksvAjDMV/s320/20230714_132857.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Scrambled eggs & rainbow fingerlings</span></td></tr></tbody></table>I bought chicken nuggets because for some reason, chicken nuggets, chicken fingers, fried chicken, fried chicken sandwiches, all varieties of this food are my comfort food. I just love it. The first time I made the Impossible nuggets, I warmed them in the oven, and they were... okay. But then, my air fryer arrived, and I tried them air fried, and they were really good! They can't quite replace chicken fingers or fried chicken, but they definitely have the texture of a nugget! I'm definitely going to get them again.</p><p></p>And then there was the burger. The first one I made was with Swiss cheese, grilled onions, and mayo. It was really flipping good. I rarely buy burgers at all because I don't have a grill, but I see myself keeping a pack of these in my freezer at all times. So satisfying and tasty.<p></p><p>I'm pleased that I've found even more plant-based options to incorporate into my diet and will certainly keep a version of this item on my list for years to come!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcib1qoAyblWwyaLvv6djphybH94Zm7hL9q9kDB9mTIy9M_Rsb_kzWslzjYjWWImcJOUY5-pwm6I_LTWhvYMtydfEvM8elwnNBYDfLhIP7kBILALzFDS8qMcFbrEjrnPpIWxK730BX0r0xejTBZUUVSG7dxR-4RBHBh_J3xV5uoC6AHFo4etqJ_JIWonvA/s4032/20230721_161508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcib1qoAyblWwyaLvv6djphybH94Zm7hL9q9kDB9mTIy9M_Rsb_kzWslzjYjWWImcJOUY5-pwm6I_LTWhvYMtydfEvM8elwnNBYDfLhIP7kBILALzFDS8qMcFbrEjrnPpIWxK730BX0r0xejTBZUUVSG7dxR-4RBHBh_J3xV5uoC6AHFo4etqJ_JIWonvA/s320/20230721_161508.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Impossible burger!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-90258990393835636992023-05-11T20:54:00.004-05:002023-05-11T21:10:23.408-05:00#5 - Bike 300 Miles<p></p><p>Last year, I had a goal of biking 150 miles and hit that goal in early June. Since I hit it less than half way through the year and because I kept biking through November, I decided to double that for this year. </p><p>Welp. I hit my goal of 300 miles on May 8 this year , a full month earlier than half that distance last year. The trick was that I didn't stop biking in the winter. Whenever I had 30 minutes or less to bike, the temperature was over 30 degrees, and there was no snow/ice/rain/storms, I biked. Over 42 rides, I did 303 miles (average of 7.21 miles per ride).</p><p>Now that the weather is nice, I'll bike up to 45 minutes without even considering another mode of transportation. Biking is such a pleasant way to commute/get around the city, especially because I live right by the Lake Shore path, meaning I can bike trails, not have to deal with traffic, and get a gorgeous view (e.g., the photo on this post). </p><p>Because I hit this goal before summer starts and because my biking stamina and preference for getting around the city this way have increased, I think I'm going to double my goal to 600 miles next year!</p>1 - 1/3/23: 8.0 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park<p></p><p>2 - 1/4/23: 7.2 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (15.2 total)</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijfyzHXjhrvOe7laWTulvg0Cm_doHWw0N29TRGTAhPJDtjyOnQcvvEVM7oHkoCIXA0FYLQPyY4dBEqBeX9saFfEO6rurSZSCEsTELV8vwDsypVvG5RFP9q49kmFCAndQPywVr_AmEtmSzi8oelJWKfPjG8pe0gRbE0kDnq61SWrcljCduZOp9aCfkkag/s3024/IMG_20230411_154428_413.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijfyzHXjhrvOe7laWTulvg0Cm_doHWw0N29TRGTAhPJDtjyOnQcvvEVM7oHkoCIXA0FYLQPyY4dBEqBeX9saFfEO6rurSZSCEsTELV8vwDsypVvG5RFP9q49kmFCAndQPywVr_AmEtmSzi8oelJWKfPjG8pe0gRbE0kDnq61SWrcljCduZOp9aCfkkag/w400-h400/IMG_20230411_154428_413.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first day I had really gorgeous weather on my bike <br />commute this year (April).</td></tr></tbody></table>3 - 1/9/23: 11.2 miles Uptown to/from Wicker Park (26.4 total)<p></p><p>4 - 1/10/23: 7.2 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (33.6 total)</p><p>5 - 1/11/23: 8.2 miles Uptown to Wrigleyville to Lincoln Park to Uptown (41.8 total)</p><p>6 - 1/16/23: 5.8 miles Uptown to/from North Center (47.6 total)</p><p>7 - 1/23/23: 5.8 miles Uptown to/from North Center (53.4 total)</p><p>8 - 1/24/23: 5.0 miles Uptown to/from Albany Park (58.4 total)</p><p>9 - 1/25/23: 7.2 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (65.6 total)</p><p>10 - 2/6/23: 5.8 miles Uptown to/from North Center (71.4 total)</p><p>11 - 2/8/23: 15.8 miles Uptown to Lincoln Park to Lincoln Square to North Center to Uptown (87.2 total)</p><p>12 - 2/13/23: 5.9 miles Uptown to Edgewater to Uptown to North Center to Uptown (93.1 total)</p><p>13 - 2/14/23: 7 miles Uptown to Lincoln Park to Uptown (100.1 total)</p><p>14 - 2/19/23: 2.2 miles Uptown to Lakeview (102.3 total)</p><p>15 - 2/20/23: 5.2 miles Uptown to/from North Center (107.5 total)</p><p>16 - 2/21/23: 9.5 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (117 total)</p><p>17 - 2/27/23: 5.2 miles Uptown to/from North Center (122.2 total)</p><p>18 - 2/28/23: 10.3 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (132.5 total)</p><p>19 - 3/6/23: 5.2 miles Uptown to/from North Center (137.7 total)</p><p>20 - 3/7/23: 9.5 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (147.2 total)</p><p>21 - 3/11/23: 2.2 miles Uptown to Lakeview (149.4 total)</p><p>22 - 3/13/23: 4.6 miles Uptown to/from Boystown (154.0 total)</p><p>23 - 3/13/23: 5.2 miles Uptown to/from North Center (159.2 total)</p><p>24 - 3/15/23: 5.5 miles Uptown to/from Roscoe Village (164.7 total)</p><p>25 - 3/20/23: 5.2 miles Uptown to/from North Center (169.9 total)</p><p>26 - 3/21/23: 5.0 miles Uptown to/from North Center (174.9 total)</p><p>27 - 3/22/23: 5.4 miles Uptown to/from North Center (180.3 total)</p><p>28 - 3/27/23: 6.4 miles Uptown to/from Lakeview (186.7 total)</p><p>29 - 3/28/23: 10.6 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (197.3 total) </p><p>30 - 4/6/23: 9.3 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (206.6 total)</p><p>31 - 4/10/23: 5.8 miles Uptown to/from North Center (212.4 total)</p><p>32 - 4/11/23: 10.7 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (223.1 total)</p><p>33 - 4/12/23: 4.4 miles Uptown to/from Wrigleyville (227.5 total)</p><p>34 - 4/13/23: 12.2 miles Uptown to/from Logan Square (239.7 total)</p><p>35 - 4/17/23: 5.2 miles Uptown to/from North Center (244.9 total)</p><p>36 - 4/18/23: 10.7 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (252.6 total)</p><p>37 - 4/23/23: 5.0 miles Uptown to/from Wrigleyville (257.6 total)</p><p>38 - 4/24/23: 5.6 miles Uptown to/from North Center (263.2 total)</p><p>39 - 4/25/23: 10.3 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (273.5 total)</p><p>40 - 5/2/23: 12.7 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (286.2 total)</p><p>41 - 5/4/23: 11.6 miles Uptown to/from Lincoln Park (297.8 total)</p><p>42 - 5/8/23: 5.2 miles Uptown to/from North Center (303.0 total)</p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-37514222649121272042023-04-06T17:19:00.005-05:002023-04-06T17:19:47.179-05:00#41 - See Book of Mormon<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO53io-VwbspN2ezpTuSTnEyzPbpJ3u8V9uBznMaf05mn5XtsFU0-cVGjmgAuQbXSKhd5L_IlD1NUFsmV2WGlqvF-jvxPbh9aanzzrvxddulYYpC7dmmRg0xl-JOnVPZnPSUQlR4aiZ_p8DmfwUc-lJNMb1XYvNsfB9BH-Y8A1txhA1RjVZDnBFhl5Nw/s4032/20230405_151831.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO53io-VwbspN2ezpTuSTnEyzPbpJ3u8V9uBznMaf05mn5XtsFU0-cVGjmgAuQbXSKhd5L_IlD1NUFsmV2WGlqvF-jvxPbh9aanzzrvxddulYYpC7dmmRg0xl-JOnVPZnPSUQlR4aiZ_p8DmfwUc-lJNMb1XYvNsfB9BH-Y8A1txhA1RjVZDnBFhl5Nw/w300-h400/20230405_151831.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />Seeing<i> Book of Mormon</i> has been on my list of goals since 2012. I just couldn't ever manage to be in a city where it was playing when it was playing. I even considered heading to LA to see it (at K Rob's suggestion) when in San Diego but couldn't swing it at the time.<p></p><p>So with over 10 years of trying to make it happen, how it actually happened was that Steph texted me last week saying they'd bought $25 tickets for a matinee and asked if I wanted to join. Then, I forgot to buy my ticket, and the Universe was like, girl, you've been wanting to see this for over 10 years. It then had Danielle buy a ticket when she forgot she already had tickets for the next week, which meant I got her ticket and got to go!</p><p>Y'all.</p><p>It was so so so fun.</p><p>Like, wildly offensive in that South Park way, but even better than I expected. The story is funny. The songs are hilarious. The cast was great. </p><p>It was just a super joyful afternoon with former coworkers, and I even got to see Danielle afterwards at happy hour. </p><p>I highly recommend the show... unless you aren't into obscenities and cursing and general dark humor or sacrelige. Then... maybe pass on this one.</p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-69392891571717754542023-03-19T15:55:00.008-05:002023-03-19T15:55:48.526-05:00#28 - Do a Polar Plunge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggbTEi1am6p1Lb3G5nvV_QtS11puWn4Mg-KtQqEWNiOG8VB49vDrMbG6GSEpEGms9RXcZicM6zW4JpXFXvmvoj2f_X8vkZuSZ5RKfcxP4zl9MJ0QY1eiNhJFmdy3cspBgQCzwAimcP2vXOGRl-U682GvU0qBNP_dLRWNhkKC2YcPcJSb8IimDwp0Rtgw/s1440/IMG_20230306_190636_466.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggbTEi1am6p1Lb3G5nvV_QtS11puWn4Mg-KtQqEWNiOG8VB49vDrMbG6GSEpEGms9RXcZicM6zW4JpXFXvmvoj2f_X8vkZuSZ5RKfcxP4zl9MJ0QY1eiNhJFmdy3cspBgQCzwAimcP2vXOGRl-U682GvU0qBNP_dLRWNhkKC2YcPcJSb8IimDwp0Rtgw/w400-h400/IMG_20230306_190636_466.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>I haven't really had a strong desire but always a curiosity about polar plunges. I definitely haven't ever sought one out--including this one. Instead, I was hanging with Dan Burns and friends after the Superbowl, was invited, and played tough like, sure, yeah, no big deal, obviously I'll do it.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8HRcKecQWm_qQ13WL_clYdNdH4yvuXcnNouVlecfs-fOlmEvmP8PGFglSKwhLhfgsplzrDu-NUL9ljg4QUwDJjpc70fMj4b6Ie2ZHzormltHKkaerp-ME64YsPhPO8wlE2kocspY-ihRWBWG-OWi9cBato3AxnniCjRmQ8S_UbjUJtxdFO70QakLEMg/s411/IMG_20230306_190636_620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="411" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8HRcKecQWm_qQ13WL_clYdNdH4yvuXcnNouVlecfs-fOlmEvmP8PGFglSKwhLhfgsplzrDu-NUL9ljg4QUwDJjpc70fMj4b6Ie2ZHzormltHKkaerp-ME64YsPhPO8wlE2kocspY-ihRWBWG-OWi9cBato3AxnniCjRmQ8S_UbjUJtxdFO70QakLEMg/w320-h320/IMG_20230306_190636_620.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I got more nervous the closer the date got, but also, I became more committed as so many of my lovely friends donated to our team, or really, to the Chicago Special Olympics, an organization I've become more connected to now that I teach a course in adapted PE at DePaul.</p><p>We really lucked out on the weather. By that, I mean it was 41 degree and sunny. After months of Chicago winter, 40 feels almost like spring (not quite, but almost). I was amazed at the level of costuming and felt very under-festive. Our little team hung around and had some drinks for courage and then it was our turn to sprint into the water. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>We all agreed that we'd fully submerge, but then Danny told us that the submerging happens in like 1-2 feet of water, so you really have to flop down into it. I became less certain I'd do that.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVhgATHgTkOPL6JxX8e_8OfjLimn1ux8bUBU6xc6FyG3HNKSVQ69JuRGsbUkZKdxVIyG-Wg_S8zd8eMOK4BOXCogu-8owMeSJce9jAj009TmFcFojzMQXOVM_AocccFfzOU5aLIjBtzkEzXXpLZkt82_cWKg4UMEaQEI0h3SHtjdKjF-rzDs6pkaBSYA/s2400/SOC_RWH_RWH05579.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1601" data-original-width="2400" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVhgATHgTkOPL6JxX8e_8OfjLimn1ux8bUBU6xc6FyG3HNKSVQ69JuRGsbUkZKdxVIyG-Wg_S8zd8eMOK4BOXCogu-8owMeSJce9jAj009TmFcFojzMQXOVM_AocccFfzOU5aLIjBtzkEzXXpLZkt82_cWKg4UMEaQEI0h3SHtjdKjF-rzDs6pkaBSYA/s320/SOC_RWH_RWH05579.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">During</td></tr></tbody></table></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsx8c0sOEdxXtDvCdcRG8qhvi27Pj4uEe7WKoqNXlApGZJzAuL7JglfsunDEIGoyy-u1AYPGJWhEqC-5ca3VYNABUsCWNutX90m1PQXGdVT59_r1bgFQf_WGk2FoxljQ1zPDh9ibhSN-BfMjncPDNB5HgdFwTggWpgz8o4yOpmQk8KWruYp1-gahTyA/s480/IMG_20230306_190636_661.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsx8c0sOEdxXtDvCdcRG8qhvi27Pj4uEe7WKoqNXlApGZJzAuL7JglfsunDEIGoyy-u1AYPGJWhEqC-5ca3VYNABUsCWNutX90m1PQXGdVT59_r1bgFQf_WGk2FoxljQ1zPDh9ibhSN-BfMjncPDNB5HgdFwTggWpgz8o4yOpmQk8KWruYp1-gahTyA/s320/IMG_20230306_190636_661.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After</td></tr></tbody></table><p>But then we were in the water, cold and wet and looking for enough flopping room, and we all did a full submerge. I definitely wasn't glad I did that in the following 30 seconds, but once we got our towels and were walking back inside, everyone felt fine. </p><p>I will totally do it again and fully will regret it because it'll likely be a much more miserable day in terms of weather. But we had fun, so maybe it would be fun again?</p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-36034504248517130162022-12-23T11:34:00.001-06:002022-12-23T11:34:03.813-06:00#7 - Read 35 Books<div style="text-align: left;">I didn't make it, but I read some great ones! * means I recommend them. ** means I HIGHLY recommend them.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">1. <i><a href="https://www.comics.org/issue/59513/">Cable: Fanning the Flames</a></i> (37)<br />2/9/22</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**2. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/what-happened-to-you-9781250223180">What Happened to You? </a></i>by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry</div><div style="text-align: left;">2/X/22, audiobook</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />*3. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/dune-9780441172719">Dune</a></i> by Frank Herbert <br />3/9/22</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**4. <a href="https://www.powells.com/book/drive-your-plow-over-the-bones-of-the-dead-9780525541349"><i>Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead</i></a> by Olga Tokarczuk</div><div style="text-align: left;">3/18/22</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">5. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/unfuck-your-brain-9781621063049">Unfuck Your Brain</a></i> by Faith G. Harper, PhD</div><div style="text-align: left;">3/X/22, audiobook</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">6. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/black-cake-9780593358337">Black Cake</a></i> by Charmaine Wilkerson</div><div style="text-align: left;">5/15/22, for Bingo Book Club</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">7. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-guest-list-9780062868947">The Guest List</a></i> by Lucy Foley</div><div style="text-align: left;">6/7/22, audiobook</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**8. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/bourdain-9780062909107">Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography</a></i> by Laurie Woolever</div><div style="text-align: left;">7/9/22, gifted to me by Kathleen Krone</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">9. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/searchresults?keyword=the+friend">The Friend </a></i>by Sigrid Nunez</div><div style="text-align: left;">7/10/22, Bingo Book Club selection</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">10. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-midnight-library-9780525559474">The Midnight Library</a></i> by Matt Haig</div><div style="text-align: left;">7/26/22, Bingo Book Club selection</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">11. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/perfect-stranger-9781786492906">A Perfect Stranger</a></i> by Megan Miranda</div><div style="text-align: left;">8/22/22, recommended by Lexi Chaput</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">12. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/will-to-change-men-masculinity-love-9780743456081">The Will to Change</a></i> by bell hooks</div><div style="text-align: left;">8/30/22, recommended by Jessica Dickson</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">13. <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+firekeeper%27s+daughter&gclid=CjwKCAiA-dCcBhBQEiwAeWidtfe2v6MyXjW15Z8RfENGOQPteVOkn3q_zXb4GlwWNPKxiKxldJXV0xoCLb8QAvD_BwE&hvadid=499813359274&hvdev=c&hvlocint=9021743&hvlocphy=9070296&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=1569577331248535198&hvtargid=kwd-314857965986&hydadcr=22565_10355050&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_2y1nlzne2u_e">The Firekeeper's Daughter</a></i> by Angeline Boulley</div><div style="text-align: left;">8/22, Camp Michigania Book Club</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">14. <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Biography-Dominic-Pacyga/dp/0226644286/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=chicago+a+biography&qid=1670347279&sprefix=chicago+a+b%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-1">Chicago: A Biography</a></i> by Dominic A. Pacyga </div><div style="text-align: left;">10/10/22</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">15. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-shining-9780307743657">The Shining </a></i>by Stephen King</div><div style="text-align: left;">10/31/22, for Bingo Book Club, chosen by Zack Sephon</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**16. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/black-against-empire-the-history-politics-of-the-black-panther-party-9780520293281">Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party</a></i> by Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin</div><div style="text-align: left;">12/16/22, recommended by Jessica Dickson</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**17. <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/girl-woman-other-9780802156983">Woman, Girl, Other</a></i> by Bernardine Evaristo</div><div style="text-align: left;">12/22/22</div>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-36420491446199458712022-12-10T19:02:00.002-06:002022-12-10T19:07:05.506-06:00#50 - See a New Animal in the Wild<p>I kinda forgot that we're always going to see new animals in Costa Rica. <a href="https://mk52new.blogspot.com/2021/12/48-see-new-animal-in-wild.html">Last year, we saw all these</a>. Three years ago, we so more. On this trip, so far, I've seen these:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVoEOh8OeSmR9IMTkQt_UbiVJgE337O3DlyGe3NxgqIrV3kW80aOc_vUWSKIgXNwvTuCPbJhYSG3i-RIvZ7HjhkuyutcAbPzZom8ZcHNV2rMAKLPP_1ia4dOh6MYg3rM7NUlk1MeAKguug8O2cmA_U243_fKTNgGgdSogfeKifR42Y3Ga9uthlL4e-w/s4032/20221205_124507.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVoEOh8OeSmR9IMTkQt_UbiVJgE337O3DlyGe3NxgqIrV3kW80aOc_vUWSKIgXNwvTuCPbJhYSG3i-RIvZ7HjhkuyutcAbPzZom8ZcHNV2rMAKLPP_1ia4dOh6MYg3rM7NUlk1MeAKguug8O2cmA_U243_fKTNgGgdSogfeKifR42Y3Ga9uthlL4e-w/w300-h400/20221205_124507.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.costarica.com/wildlife/coatimundis#:~:text=The%20white%2Dnosed%20coatimundi%2C%20or,to%20dark%20brown%20in%20color.">Coatimundis</a>: Kind of like a Costa Rican raccoon. Except they also have raccoons.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3IJN1PBOckagGcbmlPCfvVHI8ImckHPbSMZxytI8GXutKtKtUIIGVjhJxcoCi4snMnbeXg6Z38OJ1KUwapvndfsJ6gg03ct-W0KrwfvEc1Dnftwpt4OUlwBY5NknVnpCNi5o6rTPs3LWlWZ3YniggXm9e5_Fm-b0CQeYo7UKsdCh25UJf7nPWTD6MDg/s4032/20221205_125842.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3IJN1PBOckagGcbmlPCfvVHI8ImckHPbSMZxytI8GXutKtKtUIIGVjhJxcoCi4snMnbeXg6Z38OJ1KUwapvndfsJ6gg03ct-W0KrwfvEc1Dnftwpt4OUlwBY5NknVnpCNi5o6rTPs3LWlWZ3YniggXm9e5_Fm-b0CQeYo7UKsdCh25UJf7nPWTD6MDg/w400-h300/20221205_125842.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Way back in there is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_American_agouti">Central American gouti</a>. It crossed our path too quickly to get a picture. We've since seen another one, but there was a baby howler monkey on her mama's back crossing a closeline, so... I didn't take a picture of the gouti, which is really just a big rodent.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCCj7lMt0ZlaX5uoYIWteU5sMMG5FpOdDPvqWfUI0jcN1-oF3U4eERp1kbrvK7mKnBjb-m4IN7Kwn0rgtEyfriQwQf2sbmssJMl1iCqXK5BT_bNWdrrQdjjS-Br3yR45kPK6ChHoLjzeITpbGRitpOSrXk_kkNrGUSQHg-yJZya7B0sr8AoHvUCLUfA/s4032/20221205_185613.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCCj7lMt0ZlaX5uoYIWteU5sMMG5FpOdDPvqWfUI0jcN1-oF3U4eERp1kbrvK7mKnBjb-m4IN7Kwn0rgtEyfriQwQf2sbmssJMl1iCqXK5BT_bNWdrrQdjjS-Br3yR45kPK6ChHoLjzeITpbGRitpOSrXk_kkNrGUSQHg-yJZya7B0sr8AoHvUCLUfA/w300-h400/20221205_185613.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fisher spider: This thing is dope. It uses its web like a slingshot to catch prey.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIHYjSjPFCnkWq_a0h9dqZVXNWUGN9jB_39XxT7L3joS1Z3O7RybkvOvAavygSeX29iKU5Q2czJZyqCPHNbX1XbipQfstJ09waCiA2Z9M0ske0LMFAeXV__e_oEVZ_AUinHOwfUwdhCWJ8-nZV0v2dvLhllokf5PD7wMCPh7zlfUiHrui5mn8gZsZGA/s4032/20221205_195407.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIHYjSjPFCnkWq_a0h9dqZVXNWUGN9jB_39XxT7L3joS1Z3O7RybkvOvAavygSeX29iKU5Q2czJZyqCPHNbX1XbipQfstJ09waCiA2Z9M0ske0LMFAeXV__e_oEVZ_AUinHOwfUwdhCWJ8-nZV0v2dvLhllokf5PD7wMCPh7zlfUiHrui5mn8gZsZGA/w300-h400/20221205_195407.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiger spider. Very big. Very creepy. Very cool.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT-JvT5bBAQdINg7F6WqtSv-dlPC5IyWBaMoQtKWxL4vhpWDNzbX06MNGQ6_Ro43KgSP6-hky7Z8CdEUqM_XNXvbjb-88p1x4z_r42A8MWuLD128F1YeLA1MdlRvXrFBHB-6SR6O6mOtNd-oD6GM-W5JZN6pC3LmPwR5iBLTrfubV5a-2urAQ8aPfWew/s4032/20221205_195602.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT-JvT5bBAQdINg7F6WqtSv-dlPC5IyWBaMoQtKWxL4vhpWDNzbX06MNGQ6_Ro43KgSP6-hky7Z8CdEUqM_XNXvbjb-88p1x4z_r42A8MWuLD128F1YeLA1MdlRvXrFBHB-6SR6O6mOtNd-oD6GM-W5JZN6pC3LmPwR5iBLTrfubV5a-2urAQ8aPfWew/s320/20221205_195602.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I couldn't quite snap a picture of the tarantula. I think she was a <a href="https://nicoyapeninsula.com/wildlife/spiders.php">tiger rump</a>, as she was black with reddish-orange markings. She was gorgeous and very not into our nonsense.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQiErwDlOzwnJDwjyYmRnlPhXm2ej5sLZsnqyvGuYaO_1j4kSAUJNynNpSrRaVUvzIMAIah9QhB4n_XqVAPfAWxWLTleOIOc38rll1V1VA862nVmxcEV4eeamnwSVg9DJmLWkf2CjRufQ-pXJRaYyX07bI55qAKyp6jrLEbJ0v0Tcwdy1uXmW167cANQ/s4032/20221210_170244.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQiErwDlOzwnJDwjyYmRnlPhXm2ej5sLZsnqyvGuYaO_1j4kSAUJNynNpSrRaVUvzIMAIah9QhB4n_XqVAPfAWxWLTleOIOc38rll1V1VA862nVmxcEV4eeamnwSVg9DJmLWkf2CjRufQ-pXJRaYyX07bI55qAKyp6jrLEbJ0v0Tcwdy1uXmW167cANQ/w300-h400/20221210_170244.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This toad that I saved from the pool. My <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app">Seek app</a> says it's some kind of Beaked Toad, but it wouldn't narrow down the species.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">It's also possible we saw a <a href="https://www.natuwa.com/portfolio/el-kinkajou-en-costa-rica/#:~:text=Este%20animal%20arbor%C3%ADcola%20conocido%20como,si%20hay%20casas%20u%20hoteles.">kinkajou</a> and porcupine, as our guide says we did, but it was so dark that I don't feel like I can claim it.</div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-81865397679469585832022-12-10T15:36:00.001-06:002022-12-10T15:36:06.846-06:00#46 - Pay Something Off<p>I paid off my Care Credit card, which I'd been using for emergency pet costs. No more interest running on this one!</p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-72079053841221139042022-12-10T15:11:00.004-06:002022-12-10T15:11:40.482-06:00#32 - See One of My Favorite Bands Live<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1M4DUqdCXx1_swvQQZXXNEhxTnD1FuRwXPdWR4MJbsEjHv2Q4kZZV0N5CeDfH8m-OssxZuZ8vH4KvP5sVfIIBjFDtT9HBFsM2-aFzuo48UsoaVsH6iDlxXOf6BrFnyzA4iLPk-pzVB4EvttL7HvPwwpkjvpNFFgwQHBimenRR9lhxa3imQb8xGHmoMg/s4032/20221028_221755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1M4DUqdCXx1_swvQQZXXNEhxTnD1FuRwXPdWR4MJbsEjHv2Q4kZZV0N5CeDfH8m-OssxZuZ8vH4KvP5sVfIIBjFDtT9HBFsM2-aFzuo48UsoaVsH6iDlxXOf6BrFnyzA4iLPk-pzVB4EvttL7HvPwwpkjvpNFFgwQHBimenRR9lhxa3imQb8xGHmoMg/w300-h400/20221028_221755.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><p><br /></p>I cannot explain why, but I really love Panic! at the Disco. I know the band has gone through some controversial changes, but I still enjoy their music. <shrug><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSeX_c2odLmck3bk5tcPQJvBGsHxjMcEM2ZqJK8C_iK919pRgs2QulWDdqO3581sqyGRmxz-sG-VwxVtbQ7MysG9S4pODuFJLrs6LF2sZxCSxInRxVF3Y-ijA8MjOfWAR0ztT8yOCZMoSVURfC86DvnaMEvrygioGqjjAWpuSdqwPVTfMso3J1SJEUkw/s3648/20221028_203619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSeX_c2odLmck3bk5tcPQJvBGsHxjMcEM2ZqJK8C_iK919pRgs2QulWDdqO3581sqyGRmxz-sG-VwxVtbQ7MysG9S4pODuFJLrs6LF2sZxCSxInRxVF3Y-ijA8MjOfWAR0ztT8yOCZMoSVURfC86DvnaMEvrygioGqjjAWpuSdqwPVTfMso3J1SJEUkw/s320/20221028_203619.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I'm super thankful that Laura and Missy grabbed some last-minute, cheap tickets with me to see them at the United Center and put on some Halloween-ish outfits for the show. <p></p><p>They played all the hits and only a few from their new album. <br /><br />It was fun.</p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-49785357082134649832022-12-10T14:25:00.000-06:002022-12-10T14:25:00.417-06:00#31 - See One of My Favorite Comedians Live<p>Oh dang! I didn't even realize I did this one! </p><p>I've been a <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2355635/?ref_=tt_cl_t_6">Ben Schwartz</a> fan since <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1266020/"><i>Parks & Rec</i></a>, but my fandom deepened in the pandemic with <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12027034/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Middleditch & Schwartz</a></i>, <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9612516/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Space Force,</a></i> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12614214/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Afterparty</a>. Schwartz's work is just wildly fun, playful, and smart. </p><p>Because I became such a fan, I was so excited when Instagram let me know he was coming to Chicago for a show with "friends." I had no idea what that meant (well, I guessed it was probably long-form improv), but I jumped at buying two floor tickets at the Chicago Theater.</p><p>It took me longer to find someone to go with me, but eventually, my reliable adventure buddy Stephanie Souvenir agreed to come along.</p><p>It was, indeed, long-form improv. Schwartz's friends for the Chicago show were <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3490846/">Jessica McKenna</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1472589/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Colton Dunn</a> (of <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4477976/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Superstore</a></i>), and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3358633/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Drew Tarver</a> (of <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8310612/?ref_=nm_knf_t_1">The Other Two</a></i>, which I love).</p><p>One unique part of this show was that they did not allow recording of any kind, even pictures. Ben told us this was a time to be present and witness a show that would be only for us in that room, no one else. I kinda loved that we got to share a unique experience together.</p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_duYXxJJYUlzyBqKWojCAY2CU7ZJlOmWc23MIQ_1lswp2YUdYXVvw65Nq63Gr4ygmol9cVEzziACAEN_f2alOX5rkltrPkL9iNjiElHGnehKOYygWc1vvdnS2A6eNH93xbd4KEiYtzdKJ3tqm7tkhD_fWhSA0ZP80XH-f17Wb7eSuPuDP7ts-aSceUw/s4032/20220924_211457.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_duYXxJJYUlzyBqKWojCAY2CU7ZJlOmWc23MIQ_1lswp2YUdYXVvw65Nq63Gr4ygmol9cVEzziACAEN_f2alOX5rkltrPkL9iNjiElHGnehKOYygWc1vvdnS2A6eNH93xbd4KEiYtzdKJ3tqm7tkhD_fWhSA0ZP80XH-f17Wb7eSuPuDP7ts-aSceUw/w400-h300/20220924_211457.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End of the show snap. I promise I didn't break the rules.</td></tr></tbody></table>Because of that rule, I won't share details of the show itself, but I am going to describe a little bit about how it works (in case you haven't seen <i>Middleditch & Schwartz</i>). For long-form improv, the performers interview people in the audience until they find a "meaty" story with enough fun details to improv a show based on the conversation. They probably talked to 4-6 people in our audience before having a 5-10 minute convo with a small group near the front to hear about a recent experience of theirs in the city.</p><p>Then, the performers gave us an hour-long improv show based only on things that came up in that conversation or from the improv itself, just four of them rotating, moving, playing off each other. </p><p>It was a ton of fun, and I would definitely go again with such high-quality performers. Great time!<br /></p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-25323754647592023912022-12-10T13:47:00.001-06:002022-12-10T14:50:35.736-06:00#15 - Practice Yoga 52 Times (fail)<p>I really failed at this one!</p><p>1 - 1/1/22 (15 minutes)</p><p>2 - 1/4/22 (20 minutes)</p><p>3 - 2/18/22 (5 minutes)</p><p>4 - 2/25/22 (10 minutes)</p><p>5 - 3/6/22 (15 minutes)</p><p>6 - 3/25/22 (10 minutes)</p><p>7 - 4/17/22 (5 minutes)</p><p>8 - 4/23/22 (10 minutes)</p><p>9 - 6/18/22 (5 minutes)</p><p>10 - 6/21/22 (10 minutes)</p><p>11 - 6/28/22 (15 minutes)</p><p>12 - 7/10/22 (20 minutes)</p><p>13 - 7/13/22 (20 minutes)</p><p>14 - 8/27/22 (5 minutes)</p><p>15 - 9/6/22 (5 minutes)</p><p>16 - 9/10/22 (5 minutes)</p><p>17 - 9/25/22 (5 minuts)</p><p><br /></p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-27312075714878800572022-12-10T13:11:00.003-06:002022-12-10T14:50:46.054-06:00#5 - Complete the 2022 Book Riot Reading Challenge (fail)<p>I really didn't do well on <a href="https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2022/">the list this year</a>, only getting 4 done with 3 books. but maybe next year!</p><p>1. Read a biography of an author you admire: <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/bourdain-9780062909107">Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography</a></i> by Laurie Woolever, 7/9/22, gifted to me by Kathleen Krone</p><p>2. Read a book set in a bookstore.</p><p>3. Read any book from the Women’s Prize shortlist/longlist/winner list.</p><p>4. Read a book in any genre by a POC that’s about joy and not trauma.</p><p>5. Read an anthology featuring diverse voices: <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/bourdain-9780062909107">Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography</a></i> by Laurie Woolever, 7/9/22, gifted to me by Kathleen Krone</p><p>6. Read a nonfiction YA comic.</p><p>7. Read a romance where at least one of the protagonists is over 40.</p><p>8. Read a classic written by a POC.</p><p>9. Read the book that’s been on your TBR the longest.</p><p>10. Read a political thriller by a marginalized author (BIPOC, or LGBTQIA+).</p><p>11. Read a book with an asexual and/or aromantic main character.</p><p>12. Read an entire poetry collection.</p><p>13. Read an adventure story by a BIPOC author.</p><p>14. Read a book whose movie or TV adaptation you’ve seen (but haven’t read the book): <i><a href="https://www.powells.com/book/the-shining-9780307743657">The Shining </a></i>by Stephen King, 10/31/22, for Bingo Book Club, chosen by Zack Sephon</p><p>15. Read a new-to-you literary magazine (print or digital).</p><p>16. Read a book recommended by a friend with different reading tastes.</p><p>17. Read a memoir written by someone who is trans or nonbinary.</p><p>18. Read a “Best _ Writing of the year” book for a topic and year of your choice.</p><p>19. Read a horror novel by a BIPOC author.</p><p>20. Read an award-winning book from the year you were born.</p><p>21. Read a queer retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, folklore, or myth.</p><p>22. Read a history about a period you know little about.</p><p>23. Read a book by a disabled author.</p><p>24. Pick a challenge from any of the previous years’ challenges to repeat! 2021: Read a book set in the Midwest: <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+firekeeper%27s+daughter&gclid=CjwKCAiA-dCcBhBQEiwAeWidtfe2v6MyXjW15Z8RfENGOQPteVOkn3q_zXb4GlwWNPKxiKxldJXV0xoCLb8QAvD_BwE&hvadid=499813359274&hvdev=c&hvlocint=9021743&hvlocphy=9070296&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=1569577331248535198&hvtargid=kwd-314857965986&hydadcr=22565_10355050&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_2y1nlzne2u_e">The Firekeeper's Daughter</a></i> by Angeline Boulley, 8/22, Camp Michigania Book Club</p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3182141518232613690.post-63820734307574654412022-12-08T23:25:00.004-06:002022-12-10T13:13:52.947-06:00#13 - Watch 3 More Movies From the AFI List<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3t9HuMLObfN0oR4IebGrrGHju8KmriFPXcjix68NyajKwvL-lU0DZ7PvGO5bJ30rnp2jDHQx3g_LI9KnByFSIJwgPP8goli8DZNJN3Ym_ClAXQUrjbp7ykovLh7Os9hvwUOfWDaMGMuoBiNPNJAmpN3Lki5ZkPZIcWEFudoKnjqwP6WEKcD_ZvS_oGA=s2936" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2936" data-original-width="1937" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3t9HuMLObfN0oR4IebGrrGHju8KmriFPXcjix68NyajKwvL-lU0DZ7PvGO5bJ30rnp2jDHQx3g_LI9KnByFSIJwgPP8goli8DZNJN3Ym_ClAXQUrjbp7ykovLh7Os9hvwUOfWDaMGMuoBiNPNJAmpN3Lki5ZkPZIcWEFudoKnjqwP6WEKcD_ZvS_oGA=w132-h200" width="132" /></a></div><div>I'm very thankful for the American Film Institute for putting together this list because it has definitely gotten me to view some films I never would have even considered. That said, from the three I watched this year: 1 meh, 1 great, and 1 wtf. I'm even using the 10th anniversary updated list. I do not understand why some of these films are considered great--the best, even--and I just don't care enough about them to look more into it. These are supposed to be the best films, and I'm not so sure they are.</div><div><br /></div>5. <i>Singing in the Rain</i> (1952)<p></p><p>#5 on the list? Of all time? I don't get it. The dancing is great. The cinematography and effects, considering the year it was made, are incredible. The acting is decent. But the story. Meh. It's literally two successful men, one of their girlfriends--who would like to be an actress, and some other administrators bullying a successful woman because they don't like the sound of her voice. Pass.</p><p>11. <i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LW-RYqVzpa22pRJj_F7AiAmavKyIn1WopRvFCwdM2FO4494g8gbYxVZutzeGoBX3kdLq5AIlaXWzYM7f3AMLF79Ilb5cY4YFv2Z1pQja8p5gLqIUz4yNRDYe9D5yloBToHFNbv06XdpGyh8F9T8l8IdQTDmyteGT8-21KRn54Qwf7wuof_d1Sh0utQ/s3452/City_Lights_(1931_theatrical_poster_-_retouched).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3452" data-original-width="2301" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LW-RYqVzpa22pRJj_F7AiAmavKyIn1WopRvFCwdM2FO4494g8gbYxVZutzeGoBX3kdLq5AIlaXWzYM7f3AMLF79Ilb5cY4YFv2Z1pQja8p5gLqIUz4yNRDYe9D5yloBToHFNbv06XdpGyh8F9T8l8IdQTDmyteGT8-21KRn54Qwf7wuof_d1Sh0utQ/w133-h200/City_Lights_(1931_theatrical_poster_-_retouched).jpg" width="133" /></a>City Lights</i> (1931)</p><p>Honestly, this film was hilarious. The plot was a bit tired and nonsensical, but clearly, the plot was not the purpose of this film. It was all about the physical comedy of Charlie Chaplin. I'm not generally into slapstick, but wow, Chaplin is incredible. My favorite was the boxing scene. Brilliant choreography and performances.</p><p><br /></p><p>12. <i>The Searchers </i>(1956)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfchnBa00MFnKcIFTUvpfD25bwUhNBJji7fYdDGtwJyTqnRbaBnsacWpY_kQgPhSb1SjEkenldZ-Wt5-bXsqFJdkoNvZsEACGLXorrZNJ5g1jbNOpRs5-RzVOJu_l6oZjs-JHcdZtO3Do2MRg2aHcmufzLZ83DlAn60pzmWpjmVN0-VSJS3m0wajhfw/s3000/f880a16c-e277-4f99-96b8-efa5a84b1bf5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="2000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfchnBa00MFnKcIFTUvpfD25bwUhNBJji7fYdDGtwJyTqnRbaBnsacWpY_kQgPhSb1SjEkenldZ-Wt5-bXsqFJdkoNvZsEACGLXorrZNJ5g1jbNOpRs5-RzVOJu_l6oZjs-JHcdZtO3Do2MRg2aHcmufzLZ83DlAn60pzmWpjmVN0-VSJS3m0wajhfw/w133-h200/f880a16c-e277-4f99-96b8-efa5a84b1bf5.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Why? Why is this on the UPDATED list? It's just a Western with renegade cowboy types (including John Wayne himself) chasing super duper stereotypical portrayals of Indigenous people in the Southwest United States. Obvi, the Indigenous people, who are called all kinds of derogatory names in the film, are the bad guys, just raping and murdering and kidnapping and selling women as wives. And the little girl they're trying to find... her perspective was inconsistent and it was completely unclear why she changed her mind--I'm assuming it's because she's a lady person who is completely unreasonable and illogical. And the supposed romance? Girl, ew. Move on. That guy sucks. What do you even like about him? I mean, the other guy sucks too, but at least he's around. And the acting wasn't good either. It was just cheesy<br /> Western and posturing. Ick. <p></p><p><br /></p>mkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11726779492183053302noreply@blogger.com0