WHAT I ENJOYED THIS WEEK . . .
- I mailed Michael Miller my copy of Sympathy for the Devil by Holly Lisle because he teaches theology, and I’m wondering what sorts of shenanigans his students will learn if he incorporates Lisle’s book into a lesson. Apparently, me volunteering to mail the book to Michael made his whole week, so I’m stoked that it’s so easy to affect other people positively.
- Speaking of mail, my Huntsville mail arrived from Morgan and Amanda! It took forever because Alabama also has snow, but unlike the Midwest, they have no preparedness/budget for plows and salt, so everything shut down and travel was banned. Hence, my poor package sat, all alone, in the Alabama post office for a week. But now, he’s here!
- The very next day, there was more mail. I was a little concerned, because Meg, also from Huntsville, sent me a text with a photo of what she was sending me. It looked like a picture that Art the Clown had autographed. Well, Meg, it turns out, is CHAOTIC GOOD, which means she’s a liar for happy reasons. I opened my mail and found what I can only describe as a whole-ass Blue-Ray of Terrifier 2, and that was what she had autographed.
- Another new recipe
- A food delivery robot seen in the wild (just click to enlarge)
- A heart-shaped plant Nick got me
- A meme of someone funny adding to The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK
- I’ve officially gone from “I think there are folks out there who like me and enjoy my personality” to “Wow, people think about me specifically, what I like and am passionate about, and when they see things connected to me, they want to show me they care.” I’m not just talking about the Art the Clown mail this week, but from Ashleigh gifting plants to me at Christmas and sharing her plant wisdom, or Dani sending me a card with cacti on it (one of my favorite plants) and teaching me more about disability, to Bill telling me how he and Millie chatted about me and sending along her advice, to Sue writing affectionate words via email or in her comments, to the people in my cohort giving me a hug or a phone call to discuss what’s going on with us, and to all the other bloggers who have said, “I saw something today that made me think of you” or “I had an experience today that went well thanks to something I learned from you.” My mom sends me good morning gifs, and my husband loves me all the ways. Wow. What is the atheist word for “blessed”? After much Googling, I have landed on “prestigious.”
- While reading Villette by Charlotte Bronte and translating contemporary Christian songs, I’m realizing I have no clue what so many words that I use really mean. Like, dictionary meaning. And why do some have multiple meanings?? Piqued, meaning stimulate interest, but ALSO MEANING feeling irritated or resentful. Those are not the same things!
WHAT I WATCHED THIS WEEK
- Nothing. Not a single movie.
- Lots of Cake Boss episodes — which will be removed from Tubi in 14 days!
- A couple of episodes of The PJs
GROUP ACTIVITIES THIS WEEK
- Music Bingo Date Night. I won nothing! I came so close several times, though.
- Chapel interpreting. I was responsible for three songs and the announcements. They played two of the songs, and I did not hear the announcements. 🥲
- The LGBTQ+ book club, hosted by Charis Books, had a meeting to discuss Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby. My review will be coming soon.
REACTIONS TO MY REVIEW
Reactions to my review of Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur:
There were a small number of comments, but the general consensus was that Chung’s book sounds interesting/was on folks’ TBR piles already, but they are not excited to go out and pick the collection up, possibly because it is a collection.
FORTHCOMING WEDNESDAY REVIEW
SHOPPING AT THE LIBRARY PHOTO
Grab the Lapels 
I, too, have been waiting for a lot of weather-delayed mail. Though I fail to see how a few days of bad weather kept a certain package in Kansas City for two weeks… I have Hornby’s Ten Years in the Tub, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. And you just reminded me that I need to see if Death on the Nile is available at my library.
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The only problem with shopping at the library is eventually they want those books back. I didn’t put any of them on my TBR because I’m grabbing them randomly, so if I put it on a TBR like StoryGraph, it will just be lost to me.
In Alabama, they made it illegal to drive for a few days.
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Oh I see World of Wonders on your library shopping pile, it’s a wonderful book!
Ah Melanie, you are such a lovely person, and yes, you are loved.
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Thank you, Stefanie! I get a kick out of how often I think of you, what you’re up to, your determined attitude, and also how I can reduce my impact on the planet (WWSD–What Would Stefanie Do).
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You made me feel all mushy inside 🙂
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So glad you are finally realised that we love and care about you, and that we are interested in what you do and in your wellbeing. You are such a warm, open-hearted and, yes, funny person.
Now, what else was I going to say? The reason I’m unlikely to read last week’s book is not because it was a collection because I love collections, but just because of time and I already loaded TBI commitments. Just saying.
That’s amazing about the mail being held up. I thought the postal service mantra was that the mail will get through, but I suppose that’s not considered so important these days with all our social communications. Parcels can wait I guess!
That recipe looks delicious though it looks more like summer food for us right now rather than winter food for you!
Anyhow, have a great week, Melanie .
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I definitely know when someone loves me, but often seems temporary. Like, “Oh, Sue loves me right now because she sent me an email.” This week it dawned on me that love is continuous, and there is a lot of it for me. It was a strange realization that I was happy to have.
I know you have a lot of books on your TBR, so I’m never going to push you to read anything. You also seem to think you need to stop adding to your TBR because you’re going to kick the bucket here in short order. At least have a book in your hand when the bucket is kicked, eh?
I think that mantra about the postal service applied to back in the day when they had horses still. I have no clue what the traction on a horse is like, but those USPS trucks are old as dirt and not likely to do well.
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Well I’m do glad you realise love is not a tap you turn on and off. You’d have to do something truly egregious for me to turn off the tap.
I will try to kick the bucket with book in hand… Way to go!!!
Yes, you are probably right about its vomiting ng from the days of horses. It’s certainly not taken seriously now.
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That addition to The Vampire Lestat is hilarious! Reminds me of the doofuses on YouTube that my son watches.
I will second the recommendation for Ten Years in the Tub… I LOVED it.
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And doesn’t that YouTube comment fit perfectly? So funny.
I’ll hurry up and start Ten Years before the library demands that book back!
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I’m excited for your review of the Brittney Spears novel even though I already talked to you about it. When talking about books, there is always something we forget to say (or at least I do), so I’m interested in any tidbits I don’t already know about what you thought of things.
You are an amazing person Melanie, and I am SO happy to call you my friend. ❤ Even if I don't text you every day, I think about something related to you that often. Whether like you said, I see something you like that makes me think of you or something you have taught me over the years or to look at things in a different perspective because you pointed it out. My life is richer for knowing you. 🙂
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Also, I’m super jealous of your Art autograph and the movie on Bluray! VERY cool. 😀
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It’s very funny to be working on homework, look up, and see Art in the photo giving me that look. It makes me laugh a little every time.
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That’s a great way to keep your day from getting too serious.
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Isn’t it funny how things will pop up in our heads related to our friends? Every so often, ever since New Year, this thought pops up in my head: “Wow, janky dog really isn’t big.” I don’t know why. It just does. Or the story about Rob trying to catch that one item and sort of juggling it so it didn’t hit the ground. That one makes me heart happy.
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Haha, both are quite good. Lmao. He is just a little guy! Lots of people have thought that he was much bigger than he actually is. My aunt was asking me once if I could handle even walking him on a leash, and I was like, “He weighs 50 lbs, of course I can.” She was surprised, she pictured much bigger. I was just telling my coworker that I pay to dog sit sometimes about how shocked you were at how small he is. 😛
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I’m not sure I’m willing to let the christians keep ‘blessed’, it’s a useful word to the rest of us too.
Also, my rarely suppressed inner pedant wants to know if a you tube chanel smells better than the others.
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Wait, wait wait….you want to keep the word “blessed” even though it’s for/from Christianity? It came from the German word meaning “to consecrate,” according to the internet. Hmmm. Okay, tell me more. I’m curious.
Smells better…I’m not sure what you mean.
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Looks like a great week! Fun mail always makes my day too! I’m glad you’re feeling loved by those around you, both physically close by and further away.
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Glad you had such a good week! And I look forward to hearing what you think of Villette – I have only read it once, about 15 years ago now, but it made a very strong impression on me (much more so than Jane Eyre) and I keep thinking I must revisit it.
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So far, I find it oddly similar to today, and awfully in places. I’m about halfway through and reading it with my mom.
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The picture of that clown is terrifying! Although I suppose that’s the point? haha
You’ve got some great books in that stack. I’m curious to see what you think of the Jen Gunter book about periods. She’s touring Canada right now, and I read her first book and found it very informative. She’s quite funny too.
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I couldn’t believe The Vagina Bible did not cover periods, but later I realized that book was FOCUSED on specifically the vagina and nothing else.
Whenever I am frustrated with homework, I look up and see Art the Clown doing that smile, and I feel happy all over again. 😂
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