In addition to my Family Feud habit (I’m trying to get my DVR source to record Jeopardy, which I used to play against my dad when I was in high school, both of us sitting on our couch with calculators and arguing about when it was legal to start speaking the answer), I’ve been watching: Westworld Crazy Ex-Girlfriend *These are two shows that have zero in common, except for the extremely important quality of knowing exactly what they’re doing and… Read more »
Posts By: Claire
Immuno
I’m the seven dwarves of mild sickness today: sneezy, sniffly, sleepy, hazy, dopey, snotty, and…okay, even with redundancy (I guess I could get really redundant and add snuffly or snoozy) I can’t come up with seven truly legitimate offerings. Should have gone with “The four horsemen of mild illness.” I don’t think I’ve ever had the flu. This year and last year I got the flu shot, but I don’t think I’ve ever had it regardless, even as a child…. Read more »
Appliance
Our stove had a gas leak and has to be replaced. Many things in our apartment seem to be going, whether they’re taking their cues from the atmosphere of the times and deciding enough’s enough or if they were just, you know, all purchased around the same year and are running out of, um…GAS. Our landlord texted me the phone number for a plumber, which initially baffled me. Wisdom from Dad: “Plumbers also do gas.” This fascinates me. It would… Read more »
Travel Insurance
I’ve read many bizarre things over the past few weeks–it’s hard not to–but this explanation (a loose term) of what’s included and excluded in trip insurance might be the weirdest. Some choice bits: “Losses Not Covered We will not pay for loss arising from: defective materials or craftsmanship; or normal wear and tear, gradual deterioration, inherent vice; or rodents, animals, insects or vermin; or mysterious disappearance; or electrical current, including electric arcing that damages or destroys electrical devices or appliances.”… Read more »
Week One
I don’t have anything original to say, just to note that it’s a dark, apocalyptic-feeling time.
January
January always feels very bright, pale blue to me. Almost white. I wouldn’t call that unusual, though I do wonder if people in the southern hemisphere have different color associations for our winter months. When I lived in Bangkok I still thought of January as pale blue and February as darker blue, even though seasons were much less dramatic (and never anything other than hot)…but I think that’s a product of having those associations deepened over 20 years and fixed permanently… Read more »
Other People’s Problems
Overheard… In the post office: Elderly woman, complaining to post officer: “You cant just shove things that say “don’t bend” into a mailbox. I practically broke my fingers.” Post officer: <mumble mumble, unintelligible behind glass> Elderly woman: “Stop spouting your bubbaloo to my face. You’re a professional worker. That’s the problem with this post office–everyone just does whatever they want.” Post officer: “I wasn’t the person who put that mail in your mailbox, ma’am.” Elderly woman: “I’m not complaining about you…. Read more »
Books read in 2016, Part 3
White Nights in Split Town City, by Annie Dewitt: By a friend and former classmate–this is brief, horrifying, mesmerizing, and wonderfully written. The Assistants, by Camille Perri: I am not sure I understand the fervor over this. Actually, I’m sure I do not. The Woman in Cabin 10, by Ruth Ware: This is really cleverly plotted, a fast read, and completely enjoyable. A Child Called It, by Dave Pelzer: When I finished this (it’s very short), having had it sort of… Read more »
Books read in 2016, Part 2
I am lazy with my annotations, or I have less to say about these…but comments on a few of them: The Argonauts, by Maggie Nelson Virus Hunter, by CJ Peters The Lightkeepers, by Abby Geni Hunting the 1918 Flu, by Kirsty Duncan The City of Mirrors, by Justin Cronin: This was a behemoth but went very fast, as you might imagine. Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health, by Laurie Jarrett: This was also a behemoth and went… Read more »
Books Read in 2016 (an annotated list), Part 1
Books Read in 2016 – Part 1 Infested, by Brooke Borel: I put this on hold at the library after seeing it in the Morbid Anatomy Museum gift shop. Having had bed bugs, it was hard to see the book’s jacket (which is very…realistic, and almost trompe l’oeil with its critters) on top of my covers. The Only Ones, by Carola Dibbell: One of my favorites of the year and of the literary-post-apocalypse genre (and I’ve read pretty much ALL of those). The… Read more »
