Goooooaaaaaaallllll(s).

I may not be killing it on the "publish something here 3 times/week" goal, but I am writing other important work-related things more than three times a week. For a job that is supposed to be heavily numbers-based, I am counting that as a win. But I will keep trying on Goal #1.

As mentioned, I did not care for my book group's January book. I ended up appreciating it more after the discussion, but I still don't like or recommend it.

February was my month to lead the discussion. (Yes, I declared Goal #2 knowing that I was already 1/3 of the way there. What of it?) It was a fun/interesting read and a fun discussion, especially because someone brought their friend who had been a stewardess back when they called them stewardesses, and boy, did she have some stories to tell. 

On Monday night, I finished the book for March - a heavy, somewhat meandering read. I can see why Wally Lamb endorsed it.

Goal #2 - check.

Last weekend I buckled down and rooted through the chest freezer for all the frozen tomatoes from 2022-2023. Turns out, there were only a handful of gallon freezer bags left - two that were already roasted and three that were frozen cherry tomatoes. (Yes, you can just freeze cherry tomatoes. They have to be used in sauces or stews, but they are totally freeze-able.)

So, I pulled out my favorite tomato soup recipe, roasted the cherry tomatoes, threw them in with the already roasted tomatoes and other ingredients, and in two hours we had grilled cheese with tomato soup, and about 5 cups of soup leftover to freeze.

Goal #3 - check.

And I still have a month to go. [Pats self on back.]

Mind melding.

In an eerie series of pop culture-related events, I have recently had the following experiences.

Experience #1: For the last three weeks, I've been composing a post in my head titled "We didn't start the fire." The gist was a summary of the literal dumpster fire of our current world and country, my admiration for Sarah Marshall committing to learning every word to the Billy Joel song, and some sort of summary of how we all must persevere because what else is there...?

I thought the concept of the post was kinda clever. I was actually pretty excited about writing it. But I went down too many internet rabbit holes looking for a link to prove that I had once heard Sarah Marshall say she had committed to learning every word to "We Didn't Start the Fire." I never actually found internet proof, but by the time I resurfaced, I had given up on persevering because holy shit, y'all looked around lately? So thank you, kind person, for doing my job for me. I only wish I'd seen this three weeks ago - I could've saved myself a lot of time. 

Experience #2: One of my favorite podcasts is NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour. Approximately 95% of the time, I have no idea what or who they are talking about (I'm old, we don't have a TV, our local movie theater leans toward Jesus movies, etc., etc.), but this is one of my favorite podcasts for a few reasons:

• The podcasts are short enough that I can listen to an entire episode on one leg of my commute. 
• There is always so much camaraderie, laughter, and casual, friendly banter amongst the hosts. 
• They occasionally introduce me to new pop culture or validate my thoughts on pop culture things I am familiar with and did not really enjoy.
• But really, it's the first bullet that lands them as one of my favorite podcasts. A 33 minute commute isn't a joke, folks. 

My ride home tonight featured a pop culture "Hill You Will Die On" theme. Candice presented a verrrrrry complicated and amusing hill involving Timothée Chalamet, Tom Cruise, and the road to success. Stephen and Glen presented hills about certain songs needing to be retired forever (agree) and boss battles in video games adding nothing (no comment). And then Aisha presented her hill, and dear lord did it speak to me.

For over twenty years, I have theorized that music venues need to section off areas for the following:

• Short people. (They get the front. I'd honestly pay a dollar or two more for this, much like tall people have to pay for extra leg room on airplanes.)
• Tall people. (They get the middle.)
• People who don't care about the band and are just there because their friend/partner/spouse dragged them along. (They get the back.)
• People who want to talk to their friends the whole time. (They get the waaaaay back.)

This is due, in large part, to the PROVEN FACT that 95% of the time I go to a concert, the tallest person in the room makes their way across the floor to stand directly in front of me. It's laughable how predictable it is, at this point. 

So anyway, I'm driving home thinking this would be a cool thing to think about for a blog post to meet my writing goals (ahem don't look at me like that), and all that kept popping into my head as my "hill" was my theory above. And then Aisha nailed. So, thank you Aisha, for doing my job for me.

In like a lion.

So much for a less doozy-filled 2026.

I have had to write and re-write this post several times over the last week, because the lion just keeps roaring.

I think that for now, I will just provide a link to this song and wish you all a happy Sunday.

An ode to the Trio.

Every December, our book club gets together to recommend the next year of books. We each bring 1-2 and do a mini "book report," and then get a certain number of playing cards to put on the books we'd most like to read.

January usually gets the short straw because we meet on the first Wednesday, and tend to pick the quickest read as the first book. This year was no different - the group chose Mornings Without Mii by Mayumi Inaba. I am usually all about Japanese books about cats, but I absolutely cannot recommend this book. I disliked it so much that I don't even want to talk about it on Wednesday. 

But I will go, and I will talk about it, and to get my mind off it between now and then I present three tributes to our furballs. 

BABs (bad-ass bernie):

you barrel through the cat door

like cosmo kramer

hank, or hank the tank:

timid but affectionate,

solid as a rock

old man sir simon:

slowing down as the years pass

still such a presence

New year, who dis?

(I cannot tell a lie - I stole that title from Carson Ellis's substack published one year ago yesterday. It still makes me laugh.)

Last year was a doozy and I'm still working on regaining focus, patience, and hope. To help with this process, I've decided to work on creative endeavors, one of which is this long-neglected blog. I'm not sure I will have marvelously interesting things to say most of the time... but that's never stopped me before. 

I've also decided to revive ye olde quarterly goals. So! First quarter 2026, here we go:

• Publish something here 3 times/week.
• Finish every book club book.
• Do something with the backlog of tomatoes in our freezer.
• Anything on The List. (Remember The List?)

Wishing you a less doozy-filled 2026!

The winter of our discontent, week nine.

Two weeks to go in this goal. Doing things is easy. Remembering to write them down is not so easy.

SUNDAY: sent the weekly round-up of activism-related activities to our local Dems group.

MONDAY: looooong work day. My jobs count as "something active" but I'm sure I squeezed something else in, too.

TUESDAY: city council meeting - as usual, part informative, part Parks and Recreation.

WEDNESDAY: attended a meeting to brainstorm ideas on homeless solutions around the county. It was an interesting group who had lots of energy, especially around a planned city effort to clean out various camps around town. I'm frustrated with the city's reactive approach but not sure what to do about it at this point. This group can help.

THURSDAY: attended a Women in Politics panel discussion where questions ranged from "how do you start a campaign?" to "what gender issues have you faced in local office?" OK, honestly I was co-host of the event, and I was petrified that turnout would be dismal like the last event, but we had a packed house and six amazing speakers. And? I got to put a Buffy quote on the whiteboard. Can't beat that with a stick.

pretty sure none of the panelists knew what this was about...

thanks, notorious RBG

FRIDAY: rested up for a very busy Saturday. Self-care totally counts, people.

SATURDAY: along with a handful of others, handed out trash bags to homeless folks who were being forced to relocate so that they could move their things easily and keep them dry in the process. Also helped salvage 26 bags of clothing and sleeping bags that would otherwise be tossed into the landfill during the city cleanup the following week. Later, attended a celebration of Cesar Chavez's birthday where my 80-year old friend and mentor spoke about her time helping Chavez on the picket line. Very inspiring! Ended the day with a private screening of Iron Jawed Angels at a local theater.

I continue to be impressed with the progressive actions that take place on a daily basis here in Coos County. Can't say I expected this at all.

Onward...

The winter of our discontent, week eight.

This time, only a week-late weekly wrap-up of "something actives"... Really need to start documenting this daily! My brain ain't what it used to be.

SUNDAY: coordinated a poster for an upcoming Dems event and other Dems-related stuff.

MONDAY: probably got mad several times throughout the day. Staying enraged counts, right? Also put in a full day on my second job which definitely counts as "something active."

TUESDAY: did some Dems stuff, then decorated postcards for the Ides of Trump.

best part: writing "SOB"

on Mitch McConnell's address

WEDNESDAY: attended an early-morning teleforum with local legislators, did some outreach for my non-profit organization on my day off, then mailed Ides of Trump postcards and went to Science Pub night at the local brewery. BECAUSE SCIENCE.

THURSDAY: attended my first "Huddle" meeting. "Huddles" come from the Women's March - they've suggested 10 actions in 100 days through local "huddles." Learned about some cool, thought-provoking articles and movies at this meeting.

FRIDAY: self-care night! Wine, homemade pizza, cats, and HBOGO with my partner in crime. A very necessary "something active" in these trying times.

SATURDAY: Donated to Kids Helping Kids, where three rock bands with members aged 5-16 played a benefit show to help homeless kids around Coos County. How awesome are they?!

I mean, seriously - 

what were YOU doing when you were 11?

Onward...

The winter of our discontent, week seven.

Here's a verrrrrrrry belated weekly wrap-up of "something actives"... Man, am I glad this is only a three-month goal.

SUNDAY: did some work for the Dems including emailing a list of upcoming activities to our mailing list. Small effort, but it counts.

MONDAY: I have no idea. I probably got really mad about all the weekend hubbub, signed some online petitions (for whatever that's worth), and then took a break. I really need a break right now.

TUESDAY: caught up on Daily Show episodes during my gym run. That totally counts. Also, attended a local non-profit roundup to see what other folks in the area are doing. These are really helpful because even though I'm not particularly interested in volunteering with, for example, the South Coast Preppers or the Bandon bus line (which, yes, is a nonprofit!), I can refer other people who may be interested.

WEDNESDAY: did not participate in the Day Without a Woman rally. I decided that it was geared toward the privileged and the unintended consequences were too great. (And also, I had to work. Oh, the irony.) But I did make a conscious effort to put my rallying efforts into tangible activities with actual goals. Time is too precious and standing on a corner every day/week/month loses its impact after a while. I think deciding how to focus your activism actions counts as activism. Don't you?

THURSDAY: attended our local seed community meeting (no big ag!) where the founders of Adaptive Seeds gave a presentation. So cool to hear their travel stories as well as their vision for bringing seed saving back!

FRIDAY: called my senators to remind them that amidst everything else they are fighting for, Planned Parenthood is a critical resource for women all across the country, particularly women of color. I shared my experience last year (it was the most comfortable, empathetic exam I've had in 20+ years of exams). I had to leave messages for both but at least I left my voice.

SATURDAY: attended a local Indivisible meeting and signed up to help with voter registration drives. Then, went to a tree-grafting workshop sponsored by our local seed community (no big ag!). And, ended the day supporting the arts at our local non-profit movie theater who hosted a Grease sing-a-long prefaced by a 40-minute live re-enactment from our local drag queens.

cleft graft technique - who knew?

"Beauty School Dropout" -
best Frenchie EVER

(Actually, to be honest, I ended *my* day deciding that I would never, ever watch that movie again because it's such a misogynistic horror show... Catchy songs, but totally shitty terrible message at the end. I am sure others would argue that she takes the power. But must she take the power in high heels, tight pants, and fuzzy hair? Why can't she take the power in her comfy poodle skirt? There were so many young girls in the audience that night who may have gotten the wrong impression. I've known this forever, and still I have gone to sing-a-longs, but this will be my last Grease sing-a-long.)

Onward...

The winter of our discontent, week EIGHTY BAZILLION.

What's that, you say? It's week six, not week EIGHTY BAZILLION? It sure does feel like week EIGHTY BAZILLION.

Here's a belated weekly wrap-up of "something actives"...

SUNDAY: finished Snowden. (Team: Patriot.)

MONDAY: apparently agreed to a Board position with a local homeless non-profit. (Wasn't there a note to self somewhere to stop agreeing to stuff?)

TUESDAY: signed various online petitions, for whatever those are worth, and attended our local Democratic party meeting.

WEDNESDAY: encouraged my friend's young daughters to travel as much as they can. Travel promotes cultural competence, compassion and empathy towards others, and general appreciation of diversity. This country needs those things now more than ever.

THURSDAY: attended an advocacy day at the Capitol for affordable housing bills. It was a fascinating learning experience. I cannot fathom how our local legislators get anything done, and I'm sure it's a thousand times more crazy for national legislators.

 the calm between the chaos

FRIDAY: encouraged a few dissatisfied people to contact their appropriate elected officials to voice their concerns and gave them a starting point.

SATURDAY: mailed "thank you" postcards to Representative Blumenauer (for his "Resist." statement), Governor Brown (because she is awesome), and Florida Representative Val Demings (who I heard speak out against Trump on NPR).

Onward...

The winter of our discontent, week 5.

Here is this week's weekly wrap-up of "something actives"...

SUNDAY: attended town hall with Senator Wyden. Some rah rah political talk, but good to hear the actions he's taking, especially with regards to Russia. A surprisingly good turnout too, and lots of young folks asking thoughtful questions.

good show, Coos County

MONDAY: attended the county Democrats fundraiser and sold lots of buttons.

I also modeled hats for sale

TUESDAY: attended the city council meeting. (Parks & Rec, people, Parks & Rec.)

WEDNESDAY: I don't remember. But I've been on a petition signing kick lately - pretty much anything that comes into my inbox gets a signature. I know it's useless but sometimes it makes me feel better. So I'm sure I did some of that on Wednesday.

THURSDAY: attended a Board meeting for a local homeless non-profit and agreed to donate a few bookkeeping hours a month. Also gave a presentation at the library on WWOOFing, and ended with encouraging folks to support the local food movement. (No big ag!)

FRIDAY: bought a lot of Oregon Coast postcards to be mailed over the next few weeks. Our local Walgreens has them discounted for $0.09 each!

I thought they'd be crap for the price, but they're so pretty!

SATURDAY: attended a non-profit volunteer fair (for networking, not because I need anything else to do right now) and recruited someone's help for a "women in politics" talk that's coming up in March.

Onward...

The winter of our discontent, Week 4.

Here is this week's weekly wrap-up of "something actives"...

And an aside. The less news I read, and the less I call national senators and representatives who already agree with my protests on larger scale issues, and the more small concrete local actions I take, the less depressed I am. Go figure.

SUNDAY: supported art and local business by attending a screening of the Oscar nominated animated shorts at our local independent movie theater, then eating delicious Thai food at a small independent restaurant. Also (finally) planted garden seeds - no big ag!

growth after just one week!
gardening is cool

MONDAY: finally closed my Chase account, woohoo! Next up is ING. Wondering if your bank is supporting DAPL? The short answer: yes, all the big banks are supporting DAPL. The longer answer: this is the full list. Look. I know it's hard to think about pulling money out of interest-bearing accounts and putting it into credit unions instead. (Well, it's not really hard for me to think about that, given that I see about $50 in interest a year.) But if you must keep your money in big banks, at least donate your interest earned. It's free money that other people need more than you do.

Another aside: I was kind of bummed that the Chase dude didn't ask why I wanted to close my account. It probably had something to do with the paltry amount I was withdrawing, but I still made a point of asking him whether many people were closing accounts these days. He said, rather indifferently, "Nope," and when I mentioned the movement to pull out of big banks in favor of credit unions, he glanced at me and said, "Nope, haven't heard of that." I really couldn't tell if he just didn't give a shit about his job, or if he was advised not to comment on that from the higher-ups.

While I was there I also cancelled my Amazon Visa under Chase. I had to do this over the phone, and when the guy asked me why I was closing my account I was happy to tell him. He didn't care either. Meh.

TUESDAY: attended training for a new temporary job which will aid advocacy efforts for intellectually and developmentally disabled folks in my local community. Very excited to start this project and hear what these folks have to say!

WEDNESDAY: attended local speaker event on the impact of the Trump administration on health care (prognosis: unknown but terrifying). Also sent my monthly donation to the Wyoming-Casper chapter of Planned Parenthood, chosen because it's the only PP in Wyoming and because Wyoming was one of the reddest states during the election.

THURSDAY: volunteered to help with a Women in Politics panel discussion next month...

Final aside: Must. Stop. Volunteering. For. Shit.

FRIDAY: supported more local art - The Vagina Monologues at the local playhouse! Not something I would expect to see in Coos Bay. This town just keeps surprising me.

SATURDAY: assembled buttons for the upcoming Dems fundraiser, then worked on my WWOOF presentation for several hours - no big ag!

I take no credit for the designs -

I was just the manual labor

Onward...

The winter of our discontent, Week 3.

Better late than never, here is this week's weekly wrap-up of "something actives"...

SUNDAY: more Dems stuff. Much more to come.

MONDAY: called Senators Merkley and Wyden to say thanks. Actually got through to a real person at Senator Wyden's office - how nice to talk to a human being!

TUESDAY: attended our local city council meeting. (In case you're wondering, yes, Parks & Recreation is pretty spot on.)

WEDNESDAY: set up some volunteer recruitment methods for my nonprofit job. (Yes, I got paid to do that. Still counts.)

THURSDAY: attended a local seed swap meeting - no big ag! no farms, no food! Also, wrote letter to REI about their US Bank connection and reached out to my local community college staff about ESL tutoring.

FRIDAY: stopped myself from punching someone in the face at the gym when he insisted that FOX news was "the only real news out there." (That counts, right?)

SATURDAY: worked on the WWOOFing presentation I'll be giving for the local community (no big ag!).

Onward...

The winter of our discontent, Week 2.

Here is this week's weekly wrap-up of "something actives"... I also got really mad a lot, but that's not really an action.

SUNDAY: attended a coordination lunch with some local activists and then headed straight to a "living room conversations" meeting with some locals, including three people very closely tied to politics here on the southern coast. I am constantly grateful that this community is so easy to insert yourself into, and I am often so honored to be in the company of such inspiring women.

MONDAY: called Senator Patty Murray (our closest senator on the Education Committee) to urge her not to approve DeVos for Secretary of Education, left a love note on Governor Kate Brown's Facebook page in response to all the haters, then did lots more coordination with the local Dems.

TUESDAY: signed up to attend an a day of activism in Salem on behalf of affordable housing. Listened to this amazing podcast on poverty in the US during my run. (And lots more coordination with the local Dems - this should probably go without saying at this point.)

WEDNESDAY: called Senators Merkley and Wyden to thank them for being on our side (but to keep fighting the good fight and delay Sessions/Price/Mnuchin and oppose Gorsuch). Then unplugged and went here...

the end

THURSDAY: called the Senate Committee on Homeland Security to voice my concerns about Bannon's appointment to the National Security Council. I had to leave a message, which I'm sure will never get heard, but it was still kind of fun to say "I oppose the existence of this man, let alone his existence in the White House in any kind of appointed position" into an official voice mailbox.

(I also egged on Patrick in his quest to calm the Facebook hate directed at Governor Brown for expanding protection for immigrants and refugees in Oregon. That counts, right?)

FRIDAY: attended the weekly long-time activists lunch meeting and brainstormed button-making ideas with one of them afterward.

SATURDAY: the very, very beginning of Dems web site updates. Also? FILED MY TAXES. Ahem.

I stayed away from the Muslim ban action this week, other than suggesting that our local activist group contact the only mosque within 150 miles to see if they need anything from us. Obviously, I was horrified by this EO, and I was glad to see the outpouring of support for this community, but I'm really starting to think that some of 45's actions are smoke and mirrors that distract us from something even more horrific going on under the surface.

(And also? Where were all these people for Black Lives Matter? For Standing Rock? I have grave concerns about the message this is sending to US citizens who have been fighting for equality for decades now, without the help of white folks.)

Onward...

The winter of our discontent: 1Q goals.

I am officially reinstating quarterly goals. Yes, yes, 1Q2017 is starting a little late, and yes, I'm easing back into it so these aren't particularly challenging goals, but here we go:

• Write more. Of anything. (But hopefully, write more of this alleged book I keep talking about.)
• Run more. We are training for the Avenue of the Giants half marathon in May, so we've joined a gym and I'm enjoying the routine. 
• Do something active in response to this horrific administration every day. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
• Subgoal. I totally agree with this, so these actions will be small, concrete, focused, and whenever possible, fun.

I'm going to post a weekly wrap-up of "something actives" to keep myself honest. Here is the first installment...

Sunday: Listened in on an Indivisible conference call with 25K other people around the country and posted a summary to our local activist group. Also, explained to my brother that I didn't need a t-shirt from the Women's March on Washington to prove I was there - my daily actions from here out would prove that I was there.

Monday: sent postcards to all my local reps from all three airports where I had layovers. Here are two of my favorites.

Chicago: My Kind of Town, Kate Brown: Our Kind of GOVERNOR!

and Earl Blumenauer's in honor of this

Tuesday: attended a local Democrats meet & greet.

Wednesday: wrote two blog posts about my DC trip, which included reading dozens of hilarious "best protest sign" blogs from around the country and the world - I haven't laughed that much since 5pm PST on November 8, 2016.

 I stole these...

... from the internet

Thursday: caught up on emails from progressives around the area.

Friday: updated our local Democratic party Facebook page. Also attended a weekly lunch meeting of long-time activists. These folks are a bit jaded, having been through this with the farm workers' movement, and Vietnam, and Reagan, and Bush/Bush Jr., and Occupy (see: "I can't believe we still have to protest this shit"), but they are rallying once again. Just sitting with them for an hour, I learn so much local context and anecdotal history for the fight that is to come for the next four years.

Saturday: more updates to the Dems Facebook page and coordination on some upcoming events sponsored by the Dems. Then I interviewed a guy who's planning a really interesting sustainability project here in town. BECAUSE SCIENCE.

Onward...

2015 reading challenge: quarter four.

"You have read 32 of 24 books - 133%!" I'd say the 2015 Goodreads challenge is complete, thanks to three more months of housesitting and a few really nice personal and public libraries.

Here are 4Q results... A "*" means you should TOTALLY read this book.

• Summer House with Swimming Pool (Herman Koch) - if The Dinner (which I loved) was a train wreck, this one was a nuclear holocaust... which I did not love at all.
  
  
• A Long Way Down (Nick Hornby) - my friend put this in her "free" box this summer so I snagged it thinking it would be a fun, easy read. I did laugh out loud quite a few times but hated all the characters by the end of the story. Maybe that was the point?
  
  
• * And the Mountains Echoed (Khaled Hosseini) - I tried to read The Kite Runner several times and kept putting it aside. I'm glad I read this one instead.
  
  
• Postcards (Annie Proulx) - a novel about the non-romantic side of farming? By the author of The Shipping News? Sign me up! Unfortunately, I struggled to finish this one. The characters weren't particularly engaging and story dragged a bit too much for my taste.
  
  
• I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections (Nora Ephron) - I finished it in about an hour. I enjoyed it but I remember nothing (other than "oh yeah she's the one who wrote "When Harry Met Sally").
  
  
• Yak Butter and Black Tea: A Journey into Tibet (Wade Brackenbury) - I hope to never read another self-indulgent piece by an egotistical western traveler who invades a secluded community and then whines that no one is willing to feed or house him.
  
  
• There's Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say (Paula Poundstone) - I like this lady a lot, but I think I'll stick to listening to her on WWDTM.
  
  
• Angry Optimist (Lisa Rogak) - an interesting view into the man we all think we know, but her writing style really bugged me.
  
  
• * The Year of the Goat: 40,000 Miles and the Quest for the Perfect Cheese (Margaret Hathaway) - so relevant to our past three years! So inspiring, life- and memoir-writing-wise! So glad Patrick found this at the library!
  
  
• Crazy Enough (Storm Large) - I saw (and loved) her PCS show several years ago. However, I knew that her show was pretty tame in comparison to her real life, and honestly, if I'd run across this memoir in Portland I would've ignored it. Finding it in a Canadian library during my memoir-writing phase meant it was a must-read. Part uncomfortable, part WAY TMI, part heartwrenching - glad I found it.
  
  

I'm well into two books to kick off next year's challenge. What's on your 2016 reading list?

2015 reading challenge: quarter three.

Housesitting in Portland, with its glorious Multnomah County Library system - very conducive to reading!

Here are 3Q results... A "*" means you should TOTALLY read this book.

• * The Dinner (Herman Koch) - if you like train wreck novels, have I got a book for you! I couldn't put it down and I don't care to know what that says about me.
  
  
• Slightly Out of Focus (Robert Capa) - an interesting account of a famous war photographer's WWII experiences. I think I would've appreciated it more if he had not been famous; the situations he was able to get himself into were definitely not the norm and I think it would've been more interesting to hear from the "everyday" photographer.
  
  
• * Dawn (Elie Wiesel) - it feels odd to say that I enjoyed a book about an executioner and his victim, but hey, this is Elie Wiesel. Hoping to find the third book in the series before we leave Portland.
  
  
• * The Air We Breathe (Andrea Barrett) - another one of those fiction-based-on-historical-events tales, this is the story of early 19th century war, romance, and tuberculosis patients in the Adirondack Mountains.  The end dragged quite a bit for my taste but overall I enjoyed the story itself (again, as much as one can enjoy a story about war and TB) as well as how it was written.
  
  
• Freedom (Jonathan Franzen) - I must've been in a very different head space when I read - and immensely enjoyed - The Corrections, because I was very done with every single one of the Freedom characters about 30 pages into the book. If I weren't FUNemployed I probably would have given up pretty early on, and in the end I wished I had just given up because I'll never get those precious FUNemployed hours back.
  
  
• Actors Anonymous (James Franco) - I am just going to paste this Goodreads review posted by Casey because I cannot possibly say it any better: "This James Franco book was really very James Franco. It was the most James Franco sort of James Franco book I have ever read. You can tell that the author, James Franco, really loves James Franco. If you enjoyed my commentary about this James Franco book by James Franco you might like to read Actor's Anonymous by James Franco. James Franco."
  
  
• Eating Animals (Jonathan Safran Foer) - part preaching to the choir, part guilt-inducing for all the bacon I've eaten this summer, and part thought-provoking in terms of whether and how we will be raising farm animals if we ever get to that point. I recommend it to anyone who still eats grocery store meat... but I don't think any of you do that anymore.
  
  
• * Possibilities (Herbie Hancock) - a really engaging look into the evolution of jazz (and the behind-the-scenes lives of jazz musicians) over the decades. How did I live to be 40 without knowing this man's entire repertoire of contributions to music? Shameful! Also, I probably shouldn't admit this, but I never really got the big deal behind Rockit until I read this book. 
  
  
• * Palisades Park (Alan Brennert) - I snagged this at the library because I loved Moloka'i and I'm still on a fiction-based-on-reality kick. I finished the last half of this in one sitting because the characters and the story were so accessible and enthralling. I'm not a big LA Law fan but I'll read a Brennert book any old day...
  
  
• The Taste of Tomorrow (Josh Schonwald) - the first third (!) of the book is about lettuce. Yes, LETTUCE. Then there's a significant amount of anti-GMO bashing followed by a look at in vitro meat development, some preaching for land-based fish farming and finally an exploration of nanotechnology. I did walk away with some questions about my own understanding (and critique) of GMO foods, but generally speaking I found this to be a pretty hoity-toity, long-winded, name-dropping diatribe on the "future" of food. And 2035 (the year he keeps referencing) isn't really the "future"... it's pretty much already here. So meh.

One more to go for the 2015 Goodreads challenge, and three months of housesitting ahead of me... Better start thinking of another goal.

Wednesday five.

Today I ran across this blog post from a fellow Portland blogger. It appealed to my goal-making overachieving observant self, but I really had to think about my reply to her question at the end of her post.

Who am I now? Who have I been in the past? Who am I, consistently? 

After much deliberation (probably too much deliberation - word #6: OCD! - if that counts as a word), my five words were "learn, help, create, connect, explore."

Probably in that order, too - those are the words that guide how I live every day of my life, at least these days. I'm bored when I'm not learning, I'm frustrated when I'm not helping, I'm disappointed when I'm not creating, I'm lonely when I'm not connecting, and I'm stalled when I'm not exploring.

I deplore all of those feelings, so I try to employ those verbs in my everyday life to make it more enjoyable.

What are your five words? And why? (Word #7: curious!)

2015 reading challenge: quarter two.

Camping - well, the way we do camping - is not as conducive to reading as one might think. By the time we rolled in, set up, made dinner and settled down, it was almost dark. Hiking days were usually too long and I was too tired at the end of the day.

I'm still ahead of schedule for my Goodreads 2015 reading challenge though. Here are 2Q results... A "*" means you should TOTALLY read this book.

• * Indian Killer (Sherman Alexie) - Interesting mental prep for heading across the southern US and seeing so many examples of the white man taking things that didn't belong to him. It's not my favorite of Alexie's work but it was definitely memorable (and sadly, still relevant over 15 years later).
  
  
• The Witch of Portobello (Paulo Coelho) - I loved The Alchemist so I was excited to find this at one of our farm gigs. The story is told through many voices and Coelho does a really good job pulling everything together - I just didn't really care for the main character and in the end I just wanted to finish the book.
  
  
• * Eats, Shoots & Leaves (Lynn Truss) - A fantastic, funny, easy read for this self-proclaimed grammar/editing nazi. I still don't know how to properly use a ; though.
  
  
• Australian Short Stories (Karryn Goldsworthy) - We found this in Alice Springs and schlepped it around for months; I finally got through it on the camping trip. (See? Did I use that ; right?) I enjoyed most of the stories but I definitely think spending 3 months there helped me to appreciate them.
  
  
• Rose Madder (Stephen King) - one of his best jobs at storytelling and one of his best portrayals of women, and then he had to ruin it with a goofy supernatural ending. Luckily, I found this in Kanab, UT for $0.50 so I wasn't too upset about it.
  
  

For the next ten weeks I'm back in Portland where the library rocks but the heat is baking my brain. We'll see how 3Q goes...

2015 reading challenge: quarter one.

I signed up for Goodreads' 2015 reading challenge and will be posting results here.  To avoid a ginormous list like this at the end of the year, I'll try to do this on a quarterly basis.

So!  Here are 1Q results...  A "*" means you should TOTALLY read this book.

• The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Haruki Murikami) - as noted on the other list, I wanted to love this but I didn't, it was just too weird.
  
  
• You Suck: A Love Story (Christopher Moore) - a quick, amusing read.
  
  
• * Anthill (Edward O. Wilson) - Wilson is a biologist, not a novelist, and this really shows in the stark differences between parts one, two, and three of the novel.  Part one read like a Mark Twain story, part two was an absolutely FASCINATING view of life from an ant's perspective, and part three reverted to Dan Brown tactics.  If you read nothing else, read part two.  You'll never look at ants the same again.  (You'll still kill them when they invade your kitchen every spring, but you'll never look at them the same again.)
  
  
• * Food Rules: An Eater's Manual (Michael Pollan) - this really shouldn't count toward my reading goal.  It really shouldn't.  But I'm counting it.
  
  
• We Are Water (Wally Lamb) - sigh.  You know how sometimes, you do that ill-advised thing of watching an entire season of Dexter on a rainy Saturday, then you feel really sick about humanity afterward, and then you totally forget about it the next day? That's what every Wally Lamb novel has felt like to me...  I don't want my rainy Saturday back as much as I did after reading the others, so there's that.
  
  
• Hoot (Carl Hiaasen) - a friend recommended Hiaasen and this young adult novel just happened to be in the book exchange at our farmstay.  It was fun, quick, completely unbelievable and yet totally predictable at the same time.  I enjoyed it and I'll definitely be checking out some of his adult fiction.
  
  
• * My Story (Ingrid Bergman) - I LOVE THIS LADY.  That is all.
  
  
• * Mokoka'i (Alan Brennert) - another one for the "sorta true stories" file, since it's based on real events and several real people.  A young native girl is sent to a leper colony in Hawaii in the early 1900s.  This is her story of how she copes throughout the next seven decades.  I honestly could not put it down.
  
  

I'm still three books ahead of my goal so I'm taking a little hiatus to catch up on some movies.  Pee-wee's Big Adventure counts as research for our upcoming road trip, right?

Book-o-rama.

I loves me some goals. (But you know that already.)

It's been a while since I did quarterly goals. It's now 2015 and I just keep pushing out the completion date for these, at least until we are back in the Pacific Northwest. They all still apply and I still practice them on a fairly regular basis, so it's all good.

But the strangely addictive Goodreads put out a 2015 Reading Challenge. And I loves me some challenges. (But you also know that already.)  So I signed up to read 24 books this year. I'm at 8% of my goal already - hooray for lazy afternoons after a hard day at the farm!

In light of this exciting new goal, I was inspired to give a rundown of the books I have read over the past 650 days of our trip. We were really fortunate to pass through dozens of hostels, guesthouses, and WWOOF accomodations offering book exchanges so I found some real gems I probably would never have picked up otherwise.

So without further ado...  I didn't track every single book I read over the past few years on my Goodreads list, but if they aren't listed here they are probably forgettable to me.  An * means I really, highly recommend checking it out.

Literally literature

• * The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) - completely mesmerizing.  Can't believe I didn't read this sooner.
• The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Haruki Murakami) - I really wanted to love this but it just got too weird.  I'll try another of his novels when I run across it, but in the meantime I recommend I Am a Cat (Natsume Soseki) instead.
• * The Wonderful World of Oz (Frank L Baum) - one of those books I re-read every few years, along with A Wrinkle in Time and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  I  always see something new in the story.
• The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka) - probably would've appreciated this more 20 years ago, but it was definitely engaging.
• * Dracula (Bram Stoker) - any story about vampires is a good story, no matter how many times I've read it already.
• * What the Body Remembers (Shauna Singh Baldwin) - beautifully written.  The first book I read in ages that I actually couldn't put down.
• Please Don't Kill the Freshman (Zoe Trope) - ehhh... very Portland, very high school, very tedious.  I didn't quite finish it.
• * Tales of the Unexpected (Roald Dahl) - perfectly dark and twisted!   And I have a whole new appreciation for Royal Jelly now that I've worked with bees.  Anyone who loves Hemingway's short stories will love these too.
• * The White Tiger (Aravind Adiga) - edgy, fast-paced, very well written.  I really liked this one.
• * Last Man in Tower (Aravind Adiga) - and I liked this one even more, especially because the plot translates to almost anywhere in the world right now.
• Great House (Nicole Krauss) - I need to remember that I like her ex-husband's novels much more than I like hers...  As with History of Love, I ended up skimming the last several chapters due to lack of interest coupled with a need for closure.

Beach chair books

• The Fault in Our Stars (John Green) - I finished it in, like, a day, and then promptly forgot about it.
• Everything by Kathy Reichs - to be honest, I am ashamed to admit how many of her stupid books I have read on this trip.  If her characters were vampires I would probably suck these up like I did the Twilight series and the True Blood series... but after one too many "OMG SERIOUSLY WHO TALKS LIKE THAT?" exclamations, I finally had to call it in Hawaii.  I will never pick another one of her books up.  (Unless, yunno, it's just sitting right there and I'm on a beach somewhere.)
• You Suck (A Love Story) (Christopher Moore) - definitely teenage vampire pulp fiction.  A quick, fun read and I loved all the references to familiar San Francisco places and things.   
• The Gunslinger (Stephen King) - an oldie but a goodie.

True stories

• * No Picnic on Mt Kenya: A Daring Escape, A Perilous Climb (Felice Benuzzi) - the title really sums up the plot.  A really engaging read that I enjoyed very much.
• * Riding the Iron Rooster (Paul Theroux) - Theroux is my favorite travel writer, my hero in that sense.  This is the story of that year in the '80s that he spent riding the rails in China. I wanted to re-read it as soon as I finished it.
• * Booby Trap (Allison Bially) - anyone who knows Allison will love this book.  
• Point to Point Navigation (Gore Vidal) - I had no idea he knew so many famous people. I had no idea I would be so enthralled by stories about famous people. I later tried to read Palimsest but barely made it through a few chapters.
• * Daughter of the Killing Fields (Theary C Seng) - stunningly heartbreaking. And then we actually went to Cambodia and my heart broke again and again.  One of those only-available-locally books, so next time you're in SE Asia definitely pick it up.
• * Night (Elie Wiesel) - stunningly heartbreaking. And then we actually went to Auschwitz-Birkenau and my heart broke again and again.  Must find Dawn and Day.
• Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise (Ruth Reichl) - a fascinating look into the life of a food critic.  This book made me never want to eat in a hoity-toity restaurant ever again.
• * Me: Stories of My Life (Katharine Hepburn) - written as you'd imagine her talking.  She was an amazing lady.  Just look at all these awesome things she said...
• The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom (Jonathan Haidt) - Interesting thoughts mixed with too many words, too many examples, too many external sources.  He had me... Then he lost me with all the fluff... Then he quoted a bunch of studies from Flow and Influence (which I've read) and he really lost me with the simple regurgitation of ideas.  I liked the Geography of Bliss (Eric Weiner) a lot more.

Sorta true stories (where I got on a roll reading stories about true terribly depressing historical events set in fictional settings)

• * Burial Rites (Hannah Kent) - a beautifully written but terribly depressing story of an Icelandic woman charged with murder who lives her last days with the local sherrif and his very begrudging family.  
• * Year of Wonders (Geraldine Brooks) - an enthralling but terribly depressing account of a woman who saves her local village from the Black Plague.  
• * The Lazarus Project (Aleksandar Hemon) - a thoughtful (yep, and terribly depressing) tale of a writer exploring the questionable murder charges of an immigrant from the prior century.  Honestly, I never could figure out if this was based on an actual historic event but it had the same feel as the two above.

Our next life (where I sifted through thousands of permaculture and design books at our last Tasmania host's house - these are some of my favorites)

• * The Resilient Farm and Homestead (Ben Falk) - definitely the most accessible book on permaculture that I've come across, plus the author is in Vermont so a lot of the climate tips will be similar to Oregon.  I hardly ever get inspired to buy books anymore but I really want to buy this when we get back.
• * A Place of My Own: The Education of an Amateur Builder (Michael Pollan) - anything this guy writes is golden.
• * Mini Farming: Self Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre (Brett Markham) - another really accessible book, very relevant to how we want to start small.
• A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Christopher Alexander) - lots of  interesting design theory, much of it was over my head but I still enjoyed perusing the concepts.
• And then these just had lots of pretty pictures and good design ideas:
• Sticks Stones Mud Houses: Natural Living (Nigel Noyes)
• Small Spaces (Terence Conran)
• Building of Earth and Straw Structural Design for Rammed Earth and Strawbale Architecture (Bruce King)
• The Beauty of Straw Bale Homes (Athena Swentzell Steen)

So that's my 2013-2014 summary.  What's on your plate to read this year?