Grab the Lapels

Sunday Lowdown #236

THIS WEEK IN REFLECTION

I survived summer school! You guys, I thought I was going to die! Okay, I need to calm down, I’m using a lot of exclamation points. I’m positive I did not realize the stress of these classes, but I’m thinking all the skin problems should have been an indicator. But I got through it all, and to celebrate, I set myself up with The Plan To Catch Up On All The Horror.

You see, there are three horror movies in theaters right now, and this summer I’ve been watching, at most, one horror movie per week. That’s a tragedy, especially given that I usually watch around three per week during the fall and spring semesters. So, today, Nick and I went on a date and watched Meg 2: The Trench. Tomorrow, it’s Talk to Me, and Wednesday it’s Dracula on a Boat The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Spooky time! *finger guns* And now I get to stay up as late as I want for four whole days!

On Wednesday I have was having a crap day, so I pivoted and looked up a local women’s shelter. Their website says they always need blankets, so I grabbed the comforters left from my garage sale last weekend and took them to the place. I ran into a former coworker, whom I don’t know well but am always really happy to see. I told her directly, “Look, I don’t have any flesh friends, so I would like your phone number, which I am going to text within a week.” And she gave it to me. Who knew making friends could be so easy? We have a lunch date in three days.

I may also switch from volunteering with hospice to the women’s shelter. Although hospice work is important to help caregivers get a break to attend their own medical appointments or socialize, I feel like I could be doing more good than sitting with patients who are sleeping. I may even become the Thursday cook at the women’s shelter during breaks and next summer.

This post is so very (and unusually) late (there is only one hour of Sunday left) because last night Nick found a free table saw on Cragistlist, and it was only 30 minutes away. We get in the car where the Google robot map lady tells me it’s 40 minutes away, and we need to take 12, which is a stretch of road that, during this particular weekend, ever year, has the country’s longest garage sale. It starts near us (west side of the state) and goes all the way to Detroit. So, basically, we’re dodging people whipping their cars off the side of the road if a sale looks good, giving little warning to anyone around them. You also get the people who cross the road like a deer: unaware and yet looking terrified and blank faced. Hooraaaaaaay. I swerved for what I thought was a flock of bicycles but turned out to be a bunch of reflectors.

After we arrive at Mr. Table Saw’s house, it took them 45 minutes to disassemble the thing. Be aware that I am sitting in my parked Prius right next two or three of those American-Sized Trucks (you know the ones…) and I’m wondering if Mr. Table Saw thinks we’re a couple of idiots. Believe it or not, we’ve never not been able to cram something into my hatchback, so suck it, big trucks! (Sorry, Biscuit).

You guys……that contraption rattled the entire way home. It was so unnerving I stopped at a party store (such a Michigan establishment: beer, cigarettes, dairy products) for Ben & Jerry’s just so I could sit in peace for a while. We got home around 10:30, which is when I promptly fell asleep after not sleeping well the previous two nights.

This Toadman does recycling
Mushrooms I found. Perfectly normal-sized hammer for scale.

#20BOOKSOFSUMMER

Since not all of my books are appropriate to review on Grab the Lapels (i.e., I have several authors who identify as men on my list), I’ll give you a couple of sentences of each that I read.

I believe it was Karissa @ Karissa Reads Books who pointed out that she would like to a hear a little bit about what other books I’m reading, so I may keep up this section after #20BooksofSummer is over.

This week: I finished loads of books because school is over.

The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis — if God exists, why does he want us to feel pain? Can’t he make it stop or get a human’s attention another way? I wasn’t convinced by Lewis’s argument, especially when he gets into the justification for why animals, which can’t be Christian, feel pain. #13 in the 20 Books of Summer Challenge

Ultimate Questions by Nils Ch. Rauhut — yes, this covers all the big, basic philosophy questions, like is there a God, and are my mind and body separate things, and how to be moral. However, each section was small enough that I never fully understood the various theories and branches of those theories, which always showed when I had an exam for which I needed to apply a concept to a term. #14 in the 20 Books of Summer Challenge.

Getting Involved with God by Ellen Davis — I couldn’t wrap my head around how this book was organized. She jumps right into the first chapter like we’ve met before. I did appreciate that she acknowledged that most churches don’t teach the Psalms in which people are mad at God. #15 in the 20 Books of Summer Challenge

Questions to All Your Answers by Roger Olson — now, this is a text I liked. Olson establishes what is reflective Christianity versus “folk religion,” which is basically all the things watered-down religious people say that could fit on a bumper sticker or Facebook post. Instead of addressing tough faith questions, they land somewhere easy, like the problem of money. If God and Jesus said give all your money to the poor, why do you still have a savings account? How do Christians answer? #16 of 20 Books of Summer Challenge.

The Bible — did I read the whole whole Bible? No, we didn’t have time for that in class; however, I read a lot of it, and I’ll be taking Old Testament class and New Testament class next summer. I enjoyed the way the OT was like a family drama with magical realism. I got all wrapped up in the battle stuff that I now better understand why folks were so excited by the Hunger Games series. The NT seemed to be saying, “Well, we’ve changed our minds,” so now I’m confused about how Christians reconcile their OT from their NT. Also, the NT is really repetitive. #17 in the 20 Books of Summer Challenge.

*I used Bible Gateway’s NIV Bible.

Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes — if you start any deep thinking with trying to confirm whether you have hands, but you believe God truly exists because somehow the concept just appeared in your head and that’s good enough for you, your ideas are not for me. #18 in the 20 Books of Summer Challenge.

And, one not for school, I whipped through Sipping Dom Perignon Through a Straw by Eddie Ndopu. It’s about a disability rights activist who was accepted into the master’s program at Oxford only to face financial stonewalling when the school realized the life of a disabled person is not the same as an “upright,” as Ndpou calls them. Excellent narrative-driven read with probing questions about financial responsibility and disability. #19 of 20 Books of Summer

THIS WEEK’S BLOG POST

It was interesting to listen to an audiobook about a subculture I didn’t even know existed in the U.S. and then share that with you. I hope I always came off as an outsider, an observer, and not judgmental of Bat Fat Black Girl by Sesali Bowen.

NEXT WEEK’S BLOG POST

I thought Your Dog is in the Bar by Celia Rensch Day was a memoir, but it was a diary. Did I put it down? No. Did I read over 500 pages of it? Yes. And whose dog is in the bar?? Review Wednesday.

BOOKS I BOUGHT

Books I paid for (that are not textbooks) since January 2023: totalling $39.05

BOOKS ADDED TO THE TBR PILE

23 comments

  1. Well done on getting through summer school. And all that philosophy reading is HARD! I read A History of Western Philosophy when I was in my last year at school and had the odd experience of understanding everything as I read the chapter then finding it slipping away from me again and being left none the wiser! Iris Murdoch, my favourite author, was a philosopher too but I struggle with her work in that area, while fortunately having been to enough conferences on her to vaguely understand the central ideas as they relate to her novels.

    I’ve added Sipping Dom Perignon to my wishlist and hope to pick it up when it’s in paperback. And no, I didn’t think you were at all judgemental in your review of Bad Fat Black Girl, merely curious. That’s how it came across to me, though.

    Enjoy your horror films!

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  2. I kept looking last night for your post, and it didn’t appear! I hoped you were alright. Then I read it at lunchtime while I was waiting for Mr Gums somewhere and didn’t get to comment. But, here I am now … Congratulations on surviving the summer classes. Horror would not be my way of celebrating but each to their own, so enjoy.

    Skin. My eczema has been pretty bad over the last few months, but since we put the house on the market (meaning it was now in the hands of the agents) it started to get better. Now I just have pale pink splotches not angry itchy red ones. Methinks is was partly stress and partly allergy to dust (while I was cleaning!) Oh, and our house sold on the weekend so DONE and DUSTED. You and I have both just come to the end of something hard and stressful.

    “Flesh friends”! I haven’t heard that before. I usually use f2f friends, but that’s probably so yesterday.

    Love your Table Saw story, but I feel for you re the trip home. We recently drove home from Melbourne – nearly 7 hours over two days (because we don’t like to push ourselves). We had loaded up the car with two desks – two desk tops and four two-drawer filing cabinets – and as soon as we set off this infernal beeping started. We worked out it was a warning that we hadn’t done up the rear seatbelt! We have carried many things in the same way over the last few months, and have never had this happen. But, the desks had people-type weight so the car thought there was a person there. There was no way we could remove all the bits, which had been loaded at the story, so we had to put up. It would go through its warning routine and then stop. Bliss! But whenever we stopped OR, worse still, went over a bump, it would start up again. It was awful, but we survived.

    Enjoy the rest of your summer.

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    • Hahahahhahha, okay that story about the filing cabinets is hilarious. I never would have guessed! Too bad you couldn’t just buckle the furniture in 😀

      I think I’ve mentioned before that if I’m ever late on my Sunday Lowdown, it’s because I’m off having a good time. Nick and I kept busy Sunday, relishing in the joy of being together without me pointing to the time and saying we should get home so I can read more Descartes. It was truly lovely. Then, I was in bed at 11PM on Sunday writing the Lowdown, hoping no one was fretting!

      I’m so glad you sold your house quickly. My grandma is also selling her house, and it looks like someone will buy it soon. She’s been, as she says, “ratting” through her house, getting rid of things, so if her house doesn’t sell, she said, it’s the cleanest it’s been in years.

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      • Hilarious now … not so much then!

        Yes you have mentioned that so I wasn’t fretting exactly but was glad to see your post nonetheless.

        Your grandma has the right attitude. “Ratting” through the house. Love it. Much more evocative than decluttering.

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  3. I’m afraid I’m only fit to be an ethereal friend – not that my body has ever approached ethereal – I didn’t notice Sunday Lowdown were late until I was taking a break from work on Monday. Sorry! Your toad looks like it could build a mansion under those mushrooms.
    For once we have a writer in common, Descartes, though I don’t remember anything about him except cogito, ergo, sum. I’m guessing the Douglas Adams is non-fiction.

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    • Nick and I were surprised to find the Douglas Adams in a used book store. We didn’t know he wrote about the environment, but there you go.

      Yes, Descartes said, “I think, therefore, I am,” but what I hadn’t realized was he took that expression so much further, saying he wasn’t sure if he had a body, but he thinks, therefore, he exists. And that because he can think and the concept of God is just in his head (as if no one taught him religion as a boy), then God exists, too. I was….disappointed.

      Those mushrooms are MONSTROUSLY large. We saw them walking home from a mini adventure. Some heathen put up plywood, spray painted yard sale signs on the corner of our road and screwed them into the electric pole — and they’ve been there for a month, just looking trashy as can be and blocking the view to cross the road. So, we went down to the corner with tools and freed the trash.

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  4. I think CS Lewis subsequently rethought some of his ideas in The Problem of Pain when he published A Grief Observed, though it’s been so long since I’ve read The Problem of Pain that I can’t really recall – it’s not one of his books that I feel any particular need to revisit.

    Well done on making a new friend! I hope you enjoy your lunch. And well done for surviving summer school! Do you start your medical interpreting classes in the upcoming term? I’m looking forward to hearing about those.

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    • Yes, I heard that C.S. Lewis felt…. I don’t want to say silly, not haughty, but something after his wife died and he wondered why he felt such great pain if he was a devoted Christian.

      Actually, my new university, Bethel, doesn’t have a specific medical interpreting class. It all goes together in Interpreting I, II, and III. I’ll let you know when we get to medical units, though. I’m excited as well.

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      • I think he was experiencing the inadequacy of theory actually applied to practice. One of the things I remember from A Grief Observed is that he said he didn’t doubt God’s power or existence, only His love. He winds up in a better place by the end of the book, but it reminds me strongly of some of the psalms, those which are filled with grief and incomprehension. It’s a very moving book – it also addresses some of the sexism that was embedded in his earlier books. (This sounds like I’m slagging off his early work, and I’m not – I love a lot of those books and have found them really helpful – but I think this is interesting for adding context to them).

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  5. Great job putting yourself out there and asking to hang out. You’re really good at trying to make connections, it seems to me. And bravo on the Women’s shelter. It makes sense that one of the best ways to feel better is to help someone else.

    Those mushrooms are insane!

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  6. The answer to ‘how do you reconcile the old testament and the new testament’ for a lot of Christians is just to cherry-pick and harp on the rules that suit themselves best and condemn everyone else who isn’t living up to those rules. This is a big reason I am not religious anymore. It’s hard to take a religion where many of the followers can’t follow the basic tenet of “be kind to others”.

    Huzzah for getting the saw into your car! Big trucks annoy the heck out of me because too many people get them just to have a big truck. They’re useful if you’re a farmer or a rancher, but if you’re just Some Guy driving around the city, you don’t need a big truck.

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    • Those trucks do not fit into parking spaces.

      There was one guy in my class who really is trying to follow EVERYTHING the Bible says. He had thoughts about the U.S. being a pagan country because we have the statue of Liberty, which is apparently a goddess of some kind, what is on money, etc. I mean, he’s really going for it.

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  7. Congratulations on finishing your summer classes! Enjoy staying up late and watching all the horror movies for 4 days! Woot!

    As for fitting things in cars. I had a Saturn 4-door sedan once and managed to fit a queen sized bed and mattress in it from Ikea. Take that big trucks!

    Those are gigantic mushrooms!

    Love your mini-reviews! And I see your volcano book is leading your TBR down a fiery path 🙂 Also, yay Wendell Berry!

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    • Oh my gosh, yes, the volcano books opened so many doors, but I like your phrasing — leading your TBR down a fiery path — way better! Stefanie, that is fantastic. 🤣

      It turns out I’m not very good at staying up super late, except to write blog posts in bed, but it’s still fun, hehe.

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  8. Your mention of ‘flesh friends’ to that woman made me LOL. You can tell you watch a lot of horror. I’m actually really curious about the voyage of demeter movie, the ad came up for it on my goodreads account of all things, so I watched the trailer. It looks good!

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    • Okay, now I realize how creepy “flesh friends” sounds. Felicia, if you’re reading this, it just means face-to-face!

      The Last Voyage of the Demeter is ONE chapter from Dracula, but no one ever does much with it in movies, so now there is a whole movie about that trip. If you’ve read the book, you know how it goes, but there is still space in the plot for something unexpected to happen. I enjoyed it, especially the music.

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  9. Yay for the end of summer school!

    You know I never watch horror movies but I kind of so want to see Dracula on a Boat. I’ve always been fascinated by the story of Dracula.

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    • It’s based on one chapter from the novel in which Dracula has his “things” moved from Romania to England, and the boat just sort of glides into port, with everyone aboard dead or missing, I can’t remember which. I mean, they’re dead, but are there bodies?

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