The list of things wrong with 2025 is a deep hole with no bottom. The awfulness of it has been kind of all consuming for me, and I’ve lately recognized, and must repeatedly remind myself, that it’s hard to rescue yourself from drowning if you keep diving back into the pool. So no, I have … Continue reading Books that brought me joy in 2025
Parasite
When Elon Musk announced that DOGE was going to rid us of “the parasite class” once and for all, I understood that he was talking about me. When he X’d later that Stalin and Hitler hadn’t killed any Jews, it was all the work of civil servants, I understood that he was talking about me. … Continue reading Parasite
The calm inside the storm
The day of the election I avoided news and social media as much as possible. The morning after I opened my phone long enough to read a headline and then closed it again. Since then I’ve been studiously avoiding news. I only stop in to my regular media sources long enough to play my crosswords … Continue reading The calm inside the storm
Brain Fade
One of the hard lessons you learn when you struggle with mental illness is that your brain is not a reliable witness. That's really true for everyone I think, but it's extra true when you grapple with a mood disorder. You believe, and see evidence all around you, that everyone hates you or that you're … Continue reading Brain Fade
Burdensome Crap
People tell me that I’m strong, but I really don’t feel strong. I feel like a pile of leaves, cowering from the next gust of wind. I feel like a sandcastle, bracing for the tide. And it’s not like you might think, that I fear that the tide will destroy me. It’s that I long … Continue reading Burdensome Crap
La gallina y el huevo Part 3: Chickens, eggs, roosts and back pain
There was a book I read many years ago about a young woman who impulsively decided to go travel to China one summer break from college. She went with another young woman she knew from college with whom she had a superficially close friendship. They headed out with not much of a plan, and a … Continue reading La gallina y el huevo Part 3: Chickens, eggs, roosts and back pain
La gallina y el heuvo Part 2
Is there anything worse than someone talking about being in pain? It’s ok to BE in pain, but silently. The silence makes the pain noble. But the talking about it is tedium. It’s weakness. I’m willing to believe this may entirely be my own projection, fueled by self-loathing, because the truth is, I’m in pain … Continue reading La gallina y el heuvo Part 2
La gallina y el heuvo Part 1
The trip came up a few years ago. My friend, who I shall dub Molly for the purposes of writing about a real person publicly without alienating them forever, was approaching a milestone birthday that she wanted to celebrate with a trip to Spain. She had always dreamed of traveling to Spain, which is a … Continue reading La gallina y el heuvo Part 1
Unruly Conversations
Recently my workplace administration announced that staff needed to stop doing a particular thing. It doesn’t really matter what the thing is; it’s pretty inside baseball and not very interesting to non-librarians. It is however a thing that all staff do every day and is a regular part of workflow. Not doing it creates a … Continue reading Unruly Conversations
The cynicism of anti-vax cheerleaders
Given that we live in a time when the world blows up multiple times a day, and where new news becomes old news in an instant, the word that podcasting 900 pound gorilla Joe Rogan contracted COVID-19 is now very ancient news. Since I first read the story though, I've been irked by the hypocrisy … Continue reading The cynicism of anti-vax cheerleaders
Random Knowledge Syndrome 