Today, I took in:
“Lawns” by Mona Simpson in 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories
an episode of Inspector Morse (might as well see the source for Endeavour)
I made:
preliminary birthday plans
Taking and Making: March 21
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Tag Archives: Books
Taking and Making: March 16
Today, I took in:
an essay in Nasty Women, edited by Samhita Mukhopadhyay and Kate Harding
I made:
a Sunrise, Sunset post
Taking and Making: March 12
Today, I took in:
the rest of The Sellout — really excellent, check it out
an episode of the new season of Endeavour
I made:
a return to volunteering with the kids, which was fun but tiring
a fix on a passage in one of the songs we’re doing in choir that I’ve been messing up for weeks; fixing it felt good
Taking and Making: March 5
Today, I took in:
a couple essays from Nasty Women, edited by Samhita Mukhopadhyay and Kate Harding
I made:
a great effort to choir practice despite my injury — worth it!
Taking and Making: February 26
Today, I took in:
Joyce Carol Oates’ “By the River,” Donald Barthelme’s “The School,” and Stanley Elkin’s “The Conventional Wisdom” in 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories
an episode of Person of Interest
I made:
not much, it was a chilly day and I mostly did work and tried to stay warm
Taking and Making: February 23
Today, I took in:
a few chapters of The Sellout
I made:
an excellent karaoke night with my choir
Taking and Making: February 22
Today, I took in:
“Some Notes on Attunement” by Zadie Smith
some of The Sellout
the last three episodes of this season of Grace and Frankie
I made:
a blog post on The Underground Railroad for Black History Month
Black History Month: The Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad is an absolute pageturner; I read it in three days. The most immediately recognizable “oh that’s different” thing about this novel is that it posits that there is an actual, physical railroad ferrying slaves to freedom underneath the earth during the first half of the 19th century. But for me, the most notable thing about this novel is its approach to historical truth: everything written here is true, just not in the time that Whitehead writes about it.
“Now that she had run away and seen a bit of the country, Cora wasn’t sure the [Declaration of Independence] described anything real at all. America was a ghost in the darkness, like her.”
Taking and Making: February 21
Today, I took in:
the rest of The Underground Railroad (review forthcoming!)
the Handel Hendrix House in Mayfair — Hendrix lived at 23 Brook Street for a couple years during the height of his fame, and Handel lived the latter half of his life at 25 Brook Street
I made:
a rash decision to accept a large canvas print of Sydney Harbor, which a colleague was throwing out unless it found a good home — the living room is now a bit more international
Taking and Making: February 20
Today, I took in:
several chapters in The Underground Railroad
the last few episodes in Season 3 of Person of Interest — those Nolan brothers sure know how to craft suspense
I made:
not much outside of work projects
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