Wednesday Whatever and Worry

 Eye see you

           Eye couldn't escape

Now what?

           JF

Enjoyed a walk last Saturday in Chisholm Park. Always good to look up and capture fleeting moments. 

On another note today, wish Ray good luck - it's knee replacement time from an ancient ACL tear back from his soccer playing young adult days. It's day surgery - doctors will do the deed and then kick him out the door. Here I am, the caretaker....yikes!  Magic healing potions are needed.  Hurry please

Monday Book Review - The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

 I had my name on the library  list  for this book and was very happy when my turn came. I read The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris in one weekend. Well written with rich characters, this book has some surprising edges. 

Nella Rogers, age 26, is the only Black girl at Wagner Books. In comes Harlem born, Hazel May McCall - a confident charming black woman who seems to become the office darling. Then Nella receives some anonymous notes - Leave Wagner Now. Hmm. 

cover blurb - But as Nella begins to spiral, obsess, and ultimately uncover sinister forces at play, she risks losing much more than her career.

Propulsive, darkly funny, and endlessly surprising, The Other Black Girl is a whip-smart commentary on diversity in the workplace. 

Code switching. Competitive vibes.  (cover blurb) This book will resonate with anyone who's felt manipulated or outmaneuvered, threatened or overlooked. This is a novel that questions the silence we trade for success. Is that sacrifice worth it?

Riveting  - the author made this reader think a lot. 

Bonus Sunday Post - Ice, Ice Baby

Wednesday February 2nd the Groundhog saw his shadow. Six more weeks of winter. Hooray. 

And then it began sleeting around 6 pm. 

We awoke to 1/4" of ice.  Dreary,  bleak, and  bitter cold in the 20s F.  Sleet gave way to some snow - always treacherous when topping an ice sheet. 

This fellow's not going anywhere.  Yes,  I put on a coat and slid my way about on the patio to snap some photos. 

"I didn't sign on for this gig," says our gator

 No waterfall here. Pipes were drained in the fall. It's slick!

Texas shuts down with ice. Impossible to drive on.  No newspaper, no mail, no  nothing.

Our power stayed on (hooray) and we hunkered down. 

Matrix (by Lauren Groff) - it's a book, not the movie

 

cover blurb:  she rides out of the forest alone, seventeen years old, in the cold march drizzle, marie who comes from France

1158 - a bedraggled Marie, banished from Queen Eleanor's court, is now in England at a much maligned abbey.  Poor, starving nuns. No resources. 

Matrix by Lauren Groff is a weird little book with a very old flavor to it. Spare and yet rich - this book is a "defiant and timely exploration of the raw power of female creativity in a corrupted world." (cover blurb)

Marie is an ungainly giantess of her day, no beauty, yet cunning, smart, resourceful. She is strong-willed and soon learns to manipulate what she can to get food, secure the abbey, conquer diseases, and use her faith and visions to instill strength. This book is not long and Groff leaps through the years -covering plagues, blight, and salvation. 

p. 117 Without the first matrix (Eve, House of Death), there could be no salvatrix (Mary, House of Life), the greatest matrix of all. 

p.177 There is a fine polish of near morning upon the abbey....

p.226 Collapse is the constant state of humanity...civilization after civilization foundering to dust, until the final death of the children of Eve with the apocalypse, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the seven angels, the seven bowls. 

I liked Marie, the various nuns - some cranky, some wily, some mad, and the style of Matrix. I almost felt I should be reading it on dusty old parchment while drinking from a chalice. Kudos to Lauren Groff. 

Funny Phoebe Friday - Book Review

Comedian, writer, producer, and actress - Phoebe Robinson does it all and her latest book, Please Don't Sit On My Bed in Your Outside Clothes, is timely, funny, serious, and perfect social commentary. 
 

cover blurb - Turns out me looking like a bootleg Diana Ross on this book's cover is not enough to entice folks to read it. 

We've all been through a trying time, which is why I wrote something to make you laugh until you pee a little, feel until you want  to rage a little, and think until you want  to go back to laughing a little. 

Yep. That sums it up. She's got a wide variety - quarantining with her white British boyfriend, Black Lives Matter, a decision to not have kids, her time with Michelle Obama, black hair, and running multiple companies. I laughed out loud a lot. I also gleaned truths and learned a bit about another perspective. 

p. 104 On how she hates unnecessary Zoom meetings and believes in email:  So in the future, when you want to set a Zoom, ask yourself, Could this be an email? If the answer is "yes", then b*#ch, clickety-clack, click click on your keyboard like a Delta Airlines employee trying to rebook you on a flight and keep it moving.  

 Just that little example gives you an idea of the tone and teensy observations that are SO true. I got this book from the library and enjoyed it immensely. I'll look for her stand-up specials. Phoebe Robinson is cool, hot, gifted, and hysterical. 

Movie Review Madness - Parallel Mothers

 Parallel Mothers directed by Pedro Almodovar has lots of Oscar buzz. It's a product of Spain and I saw it with subtitles. Good to stretch the brain sometimes, and this was an excellent film. 

Janis (Penelope Cruz) and Ana (Milena Smit) are thrown together in a maternity ward. Janis is an older unwed mother courtesy of trysts with Arturo (Israel Elejalde), but she is happy with this choice. Ana is very young, scared, and lacking parental support. Her mother's an actress concerned with her career. Her father kicked out due to the pregnancy.  

Baby girls are born and both women bond because the babies have some issues and are being held for observations. When released, Janis makes sure Ana has her phone number to stay in touch. 

Life goes on, but things get complicated. Arturo questions if the baby is his. Janis begins to question it too. A genetic test opens up more questions. Meanwhile, Janis runs into Ana at a nearby coffee shop. Ana is working there, moved out from her mothers, changed her hair, and there's more news. 

I can't say more, except that life does throw curveballs. Excellent acting. Twists to the plot. And just that rich foreign flavor thanks to Cruz and Almodovar. 

Wednesday Whatever - Lake Brownwood State Park

Two weeks ago, Ray and I went to San Saba to hang with Aunt Pat. Fortunately that Friday proved cool (40s) but sunny and nice. Time to hit a state park. Lake Brownwood is 1-1/2 hours away. 

This is the Grand Staircase off the Lakeside Trail. It's a grand piece of construction from the Civilian Conservation Corp (1946-1950s). We are fortunate to enjoy their hard work. 

Ray got to the bottom first. It was not a race.  But you can see how pretty the lake and area are even in January.  We had the place to ourselves (a benefit of retirement!)

Here I am, happy as a clam after a picnic lunch. Almost ready for our short hike. 

I have a Texas State Park Pass and we hope to take advantage of the variety of parks/lakes throughout the state. 

Enjoy your own "backyard"!