Bleak

I am completely hooked on the Inspector Gamache series.  I like the literary references, the motley band of characters, and the looming threat of the inspector's history.  Book three, The Cruelest Month, did not disappoint.  However, it was big on the gloom, and I do wish I had not read it during an extraordinarily gloomy March in Ohio. 

Nada

Did I just wait to long to check this one out?  'Cause Muriel's Wedding did not delight me at all despite my fondness for Toni Collette and all things Australian.  3/10.

Unfit

This NPR piece on disability benefits is really enlightening.

Celestial

A really lovely article on beauty.

Clouds

I have been under a seriously blue cloud lately.  I think it’s caused by a combination of the stupid sunless weather here in Ohio and a lack of quality sleep.  It’s manifested in feeling so kicked in the gut over the state of things – particularly bad news tied to children.  I know part of it is just being super sensitive about my baby, but goddamn I bruise pretty easily these days. 

I recently saw a post by an old friend about a little girl from my hometown in need of a liver transplant.  She didn't get it in time.  God damn it.  Read this if you can handle the insane sadness.  If you can't, then I suggest avoiding it.  That baby had the sweetest face.

If you aren't currently an organ donor, please sign up.  Stories like this don't need to have such endings. 

I felt so angry over this and helpless today.  I don't even know the family, but it just sucked so hard.  I'm already registered as an organ donor, but I did decide to sign up to join the bone marrow donor pool.  I've meant to do it forever, and the process is insanely easy. 

I cannot fathom the loss so many families face.  I just want to do what little I can to help lessen the chance of more folks going through this so pointlessly. 

Beginnings

This photo looks like the beginning of a story I would want to hear.

Found via A Disaster in Domestication.

Not enough

The Invisible War is so hard to watch.  It tells the story of women in the military who've been the victims of sexual assault.  It made me see red.  It broke my heart.  It was horrifying. 

Since the film was released, some positive changes have happened but not enough.  Not nearly enough.  8/10.

Natty dresser

I'm a fan of a well-written obit and this one is amazing. 

I also have a serious soft spot for obits featuring photos of the elderly deceased from when they were young.

Tugs at your heart

Senior dogs across America makes my heart melt a bit.  Dogs are made of awesome and old dogs are the bestest.

Infuriating

We're Not Broke is a documentary taking a hard look at the tax breaks and loopholes allowed for corporations.  It's seriously infuriating.  The courts give companies the rights of a citizen, and the legislative branch allows them to get away with welching on what they owe.  Crazy-making! 6/10.

Cause its true

WTF Plus makes me laugh.

Intricate

Beatrice Coron - you could lose yourself in her pieces.

Revery

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.

The revery alone will do,
If bees are few


(Emily Dickinson poem sent to me by my mum on the first day of spring - not that its been very spring-ish in central Ohio lately.)

Rambly

I've been really interested in the history of Bellevue Hospital after having it mentioned in a couple of recent reads.  After doing some looking about, I found Twelve Patients which tells the hospital's story through a chapter each about very different people who walk through the doors. 

Sadly, the author is obviously not a writer.  He can't seem to leave out a detail - even the astoundingly unessential ones.  I wish he would have had a better editor for these stories.  3/10.

Tootsie

This Dark Red Chocolat Rouge wine tasted like merlot with a tootsie roll melted into it.  Not my thing, but strangely not awful.  It was gifted to me by a coworker who likes the total opposite sort of wine from me, and decided that this fell into the "dry as hell" category.  It didn't, but it was interesting and very sweet of him.

Soft

I made this fabric ball for the babe.  It wasn't insanely hard like I thought it might be.  Pattern here.

Cute and apt

Ask

Amanda Palmer's TED talk is worth listening to.

Bleak and gorgeous

Fox is a picture book that I loved loved loved.  It's haunting and lyrical.  It's bleak and gorgeous.  It's pretty much perfect for me.  Maybe not so perfect for reading to little kids but since my babe just smiles at whatever is said, I don't think it was taken to heart.  10/10.

Crisis memoir

After reading and absolutely loving Tiny Beautiful Things, I offered up Wild as a possible book club read, and the ladies in my club agreed to it.  It's Strayed's memoir about losing her mother, having her life go to shit, and deciding to hike the Pacific Crest Trail alone.  I typically don't love the mid-life crisis memoir, but I did like this book.  She's terribly honest and she writes in a way that sticks you hard.  There are a few images from the book that I may never shake.  7/10

- This book really put me in the mind of Krakauer's Into the Wild and Into Thin Air a bit.

Berate

I have tried so many apps to capture my to do lists.  I love making lists.  I love crossing stuff off.  There are about a bazillion apps out there to help me with this.  Carrot, however, adds humor and judgement.  If I neglect my to do list for too long, the app starts berating me.  If I kick ass and get a bunch of stuff done, I get little funny rewards. 

 



 

 

Striking

This fox graffiti art is amazing.

Transformation

A few weeks ago in a fit of winter blues, I took myself off to the Franklin Park Conservatory to see Aurora Robson's exhibit and bask in plants and warmth.  She transforms waste into beautiful organic sculptures - somewhat Chihuly-like but better in its own way.  It was stunning. 

I shall want with the pure blue force

A friend lent me this collection of poetry when I had the realization that I didn't have to just read children's books to the baby.  All I needed was words that flowed somewhat rhythmically and kept my interest, and the babe would enjoy it too.  Another America offers each poem in both English and Spanish.  Many of the poems dealt with violence and were devastating.  (Those I avoided reading aloud.)  Others were touching observations on life.  One poem filled me with glee - Baby Blues - because it is just spot on perfection.  7/10.