High on July

Welcome to Crone Life! Overheated greetings from the soggy mid-Hudson Valley, where we have survived four days of a heat dome (99F+ temps) and a terrifying thunderstorm that knocked out power to tens of thousands of people, many of whom are still without internet access and a/c. Luckily, our power returned in two hours.The temperature dropped 20 degrees with the storm, so we opened all the windows and doors and managed to fall asleep without the fans. The sound of fireworks, rumbling like distant artillery, was actually kind of soporific. I am grateful for our good fortune, especially since many people won’t get power back till Tuesday.

It’s supposed to rain constantly for the rest of the week, which initially upset me because it’s the first week of my four-week vacation. But I perked back up when I realized it allows me to get stuff done around the house and make plans and be a sloth and not feel guilty about not getting out and doing things. Also, I can go to the movies during the day without feeling like an utter slob. Win-win-win!

I’ve been ignoring America 250 and the Taylor-Travis wedding. The photo above is from the church I grew up attending and was married in. Consider it a comment, of sorts.

The Bewitching, Silvia Moreno-Garcia. So good and dark. I like Gothic novels that aren’t just atmosphere. A few dropped threads but not enough to matter.

Certain Dark Things, Silvia Moreno-Garcia. DNF. Sounded better (vampires in the CDMX subway system!) than it was.

The Book of Ile-Rien: The Element of Fire & The Death of the Necromancer, Martha Wells. The Ile-Rien novels are just so good. The world and characters are complex and fully realized. It feels like this should be a series of 10 instead of only two. I have re-read them many times. You should too.

Fear & Fury: The Reagan 80s, the Bernie Goetz shootings, and the rebirth of White rage, Heather Ann Thompson. Well-researched and -written. DNF because the reminder of how awful white people can be was one I didn’t need.

Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss. A vulnerable teen, an archeological dig and a father obsessed with bog bodies. This made me so angry. Recommended, but only if you’re on excellent terms with the men in your life. Gotta read more by her.

A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, Raj Patel and Jason W. Moore. Capitalism depends on making things cheap, like life, health, nature and women’s labor. DNF—I wasn’t learning anything new.

The Radiant Dark, Alexandra Oliva. Several generations of a family have emotional and professional connections to an interstellar message from aliens. Seemed a tad too autobiographical to me.

Homebound, Portia Elan. In the 1980s, a young woman’s dawning understanding of her sexuality and the death of her uncle from AIDS leads to the creation of a text-based computer game whose consequences echo far into the future. Then there’s another narrative about a boat. It takes a while for it all to join up. Maybe-sentient robots also make an appearance. I enjoyed the different parts.

Broken Harbor, Tana French. Economic crisis, family history and mental illness come together in the investigation of a grim murder. Part of the Dublin Murder Squad series, possibly my favorite (this was a re-read).

Pool House, Mary H.K. Choi. I loved her first novel. The others I’ve read have been disappointing in terms of plot, as was this one. There’s still a lot to like–-her writing is stylish and the callouts amusing–-if you don’t mind the lack of resolution.

Wolf Worm, T. Kingfisher. Creepy bugs, extramarital affairs and an abusive husband. One of her Southern Gothics, but not the best.

Why Nothing Works, Marc J. Dunkelman. DNF, because I wasn’t learning anything new. I often have this issue with nonfiction.

Percussia. Harp, flute, six-string violin and percussion .One of the members teaches percussion in the Music department where I work and is a really nice guy. He’s toured with Philip Glass and Stephen Reich. I was thrilled to get to see him perform. Should you get a chance, you should see them too.

Ben Brown, Homecoming. A multimedia experience combining improvised percussion, recorded music, video and still photos. Ben Brown is a massage therapist and sound practitioner. The venue was a lovely church in downtown Newburgh. Brown and collaborators are performing the work again in Brooklyn on 7/24.

Rivals (Hulu). The rich people of Rutshire are behaving badly. Set in the 1980s and seemed so true to the era I had to double-check it wasn’t filmed then. I liked it but watching it on Hulu meant too many commercials and I didn’t like it enough for that. But if you have Disney + and need to be distracted by froufrou frocks, sexual shenanigans and big hair, I say go for it.

THE WORLD CUP. We’re in the knock-out rounds now and shit is getting real.

The Partially-Examined Life podcast: I originally listened to this because my fave John Ganz appeared on it to discuss Habermas’ The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity: 12 Lectures, and continued because they said so many delightfully mean and snarky things about Hegel, the things I wished I could have said out loud during college philosophy class discussions except everyone else was taking everything so seriously. This podcast is for you if you feel the same way. They’ve been going for a few years so there’s plenty to catch up on.

Via eBay:

2 striped linen ¾-sleeve t-shirts, label says Poetry,1 one yellow/beige/white, the other bright blue/dark blue/white.

Black leather Naturalizer ballet flats, in a wide width. I bought these out of desperation because I didn’t have any shoes that seemed suitable for a memorial service. They turned out to be perfect. But I needn’t have worried, because the daughter and granddaughters of the deceased dressed to honor her love of fashion, so really I could have worn anything. Still, I’m sure the black flats will come in handy.

Dark brown/off white zebra print linen t-shirt from Tahari (seen in top photo)

Charcoal gray and white stripe Ralph Lauren men’s poplin pajama bottoms.

I have forbidden myself to buy any more men’s pj bottoms (I have 4 pair) or printed linen tees (I have five now, plus five plain ones). I am still trolling the resale sites longingly though. I have so many clothes. So many. In fact one of my projects for my ever-shorter-seeming 4-week holiday is to post a bunch of my own stuff on those sites and see if I can make some room.

Jane Iredale Just Kissed lip and cheek stain in Forever Pink. I buy one of these every year and it takes about a year to wear it down to a nub. Last year I went rogue and bought one in Forever Red, which is almost used up so I’ll have to buy one of those the next time these go on sale. I try to restrain myself, but I really want one of each color. They’re very waxy, so I’ve never tried to use them as a cheek stain, but reviews are positive.

We also replaced mattresses (ours and our son’s) but we just bought cheap ones (though recommended by Wirecutter!) from Home Depot, which absolutely straight out lies about delivery times. If you need something the next day, do not believe them when they say they’ll get it there. [the mattresses were on sale over Memorial Day weekend, so they were even cheaper]. Excited about taking the old ones to the town dump on free day.

The hot weather didn’t seem to bother her. She would spend the whole day outside (returning at intervals to the cool basement, which has a cat-window) and come inside in the evening to sprawl on an end table in the living room while we watched World Cup matches.