Grab the Lapels

Sunday Lowdown #243

THIS WEEK IN REFLECTION

School has always feels slow to me, whether I’m having a intellectually stimulating, awesome time, or if it’s a drag because they’re making me take something I don’t want to study. And yet this semester I’m looking at the calendar and see that fall break starts in three days. Surprise! Unlike spring break, which is typically a week long in most American colleges, my school takes off Thursday and Friday for fall break. As Biscuit would say, better than a sharp stick in the eye. That is the perfect amount of time for me to basically get ahead on my homework, but not vacation. Well, speaking of that rascally Biscuit, she and my dad are coming next weekend!

It’s like he knows winter is coming and is asking to be let inside.

Every weekend in September has been booked, and yesterday (Saturday, September 30th) was no different. The week was fairly par for the course other than a flu shot and a Toadman sighting, but then Friday night I made the two hour drive down to stay the night with a classmate at her parents’ house. I think I had my own suite, and their fuzzy dog was amazing. Then, early in the morning, she and I rode another 30 minutes south to the Indiana School for the Deaf where the annual Indiana Chapter of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf was held.

Topics included thinking about places where we either avoided or caused inequity, what role we play in the interpreting process depending on the situation, and working with and learning from BIPOC Deaf interpreters and clients. Then, we headed over to the Indianapolis Deaf Club and socialized by using questions on a screen, like “What is something hearing interpreters think is new that Deaf people should know?”. There were over thirty Deaf people who came to hang out with us, which was really cool! And for those who don’t know, there are Deaf interpreters, too. If you’re curious, read more.

Things wrapped up at the Deaf Club after 7:30, so I then had the 30 minute drive back to my classmate’s house to drop her off then another two hours to get home. This was aided by 3 Diet Cokes, 1 Diet Mt. Dew, and a large gas station coffee.

IT DIDN’T MAKE IT TO GRAB THE LAPELS

I’ve gone back and forth on whether to review The Drift by C.J. Tudor but decided against it. While the premise kept me on my toes, and I was wondering how three different “locked room” scenarios could pan out, especially when there is a pandemic that turns you into a sort of zombie and pretty much everyone is now infected, the ending felt like that meme in which three copies of Spiderman are all pointing at each other.

THIS WEEK’S BLOG POST

All your comments made me realize just how hard it is to categorize Billie Letts’s novels. While Made in the U.S.A. wasn’t right for me, it is impressive to find a writer who surprises you every time. Also, I never commented on how clever the title is. What happens to the children in the novel is so depraved, and that title suggests it’s just another day in America, that we did and do these terrible things to children, and we allow it.

NEXT WEEK’S BLOG POST

You should have expected this: next week’s novel is a horror book! Eat Your Heart Out by Kelly DeVos is a YA novel about wealthy teens sent to a fat camp (er, resort) where an outbreak that seems very zombie-ish happens. What will they do? Will the characters fall into predictable horror movie tropes? Find out Wednesday.

BOOKS I BOUGHT

Books I paid for (that are not textbooks) since January 2023: totaling $43.28

BOOKS ADDED TO THE TBR PILE

None

Bonus spooky picture of our corn field:

36 comments

    • The problems I had with The Drift would spoil the ending, but I also think the fact that I listened to the audiobook, which had three voice narrators, which caused problems in believability later, was an issue for me.

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  2. Why should I – expect a horror novel review I mean – it’s not Halloween yet! Haha! Does this mean we should expect horror novel reviews for the next few weeks.

    That night time drive you did after a full-on event is a bit scary. I’m glad you got home safely.

    Also, you “think” you had a suite? Doncha know?

    I enjoyed your posts as usual, and I look forward to Biscuit and your father’s visit. BTW My mother used to say “better than a poke in the eye”!

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    • Let’s be fair, I review spooky books all year. No, they won’t all be horror for the rest of October. My next review is a nun-themed mystery novel!

      Night time driving is okay, but being tired is the scary bit. As for whether I had a suite, I don’t know because I suppose I don’t know the true definition of a suite!

      What is it with moms and getting poked in the eye, LOL.

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    • The twist was my least favorite part. I enjoyed that they were all trapped in different ways, and they wanted to escape, but given the setting they’re all infected anyway. I asked myself, “What is the point?” That was the aspect that spoke to me.

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  4. I was wondering how long toads live, but Wikipedia didn’t say. But I did come up with some questions: Is Toadman an American spadefoot toad? and do you have a pond for him to mate in? Toads apparently return to their ‘home’ pond but somehow avoid mating with their siblings.

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  5. Hooray Toadman! You were just mentioning you hadn’t seen him for a while, weren’t you! Also love the corn field picture and your trip to the Deaf School was fascinating to read about, thank you.

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  6. Oooh, can’t wait for your review of Eat Your Heart Out. 😀
    And yay, Toadman! Always happy to see a Toadman update. ❤
    Glad you had such a great experience with the Deaf Club/school event. That's awesome.
    Love the spooky corn field pic. I can't believe you have a whole ass corn field at your house. How cool! Between creepy corn fields and toady familiars, you're pretty much living the spooky lady dream over there. lol

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  7. So great to see Toadman! He must have known I was wondering about him 😉 You conference sounds great but between all the driving and all the people I just thought how exhausting! I see you added no titles to your TBR this week. Are you feeling ok? 😉

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    • Interestingly, the entire conference is silent because everyone is signing, which actually makes me feel less worn down by people. I think it’s really the noise and talking that sap my energy. I didn’t add any new books because I didn’t read any reviews that struck me just so. Plus, I think several folks had posts that were not reviews, so there’s that!

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  9. The cornfield picture is very spooky, love it! Did ya have to pee real bad after drinking all that pop and coffee? Just reading about it made my bladder hurt LOL

    I love Biscuit’s saying, that’s going to ‘stick’ with me for awhile hahahah

    Too bad about The Drift. Your spiderman meme description is perfect hahah

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    • Her other saying was, “Well, he could be using drugs.” This was in reference to goofy things my brother would do, such as buying a box of blond hair dye to do his tips like everyone else back in the day, except he has black hair and he just dumped the dye on top of his head and made a big gold blond blob…right before senior pictures.

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