Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Competition and Politics


We are more than halfway through summer and the Olympics are hot (go Simone!), and so are politics in our country right now. As a young adult my dad told me to try and look at anything from both sides. I’ve tried in our current political climate but full on am going to say we’ve arrived in crazy town. I have to think if my dad were alive today he would feel the same. 

I am most confused by religious people following this man like he is the second coming of Jesus. I could list off all the ways he is the opposite of Jesus except I don’t think it matters to his followers that he speaks about pussy grabbing, misogynistic and racist rants, and is cruel to most everyone except white cisgender men. He lusts after his daughter, he is uneducated, uncouth and most definitely not the person to lead our country. 

It makes me wonder everyday why regular people like him, why women in particular love him. Is it novelty? Is it  because deep down they are also racist and feel men should only be in charge? I used to understand why Republicans would vote for their candidate because they were one issue voters, trying their best to cancel abortion or they were just fiscally conservative. Those expectations are out the window (except for abortion) and DT has so much more up his sleeves like a creepy magician and one of his tricks is that his policies hurt his very base. He is not for the working class and instead will implement more tax cuts for the wealthy. The list is long of how he will dismantle programs that help the common citizen. 


Kamala Harris is not my first choice but there is a very real possibility that if the stars align she could be our first female president and I welcome that because it will open the door for other women like AOC and Gretchen Whitmer. I hope we can change her position on Israel (we should absolutely not be funding them or shaking hands with Netanyahu) and that she walks in the Oval Office with thoughtfulness.  Like ready to be a female president not just mimicking the vast amount of men who've held the position before her. 

I’d like to be able to persuade at least one person to jump sides right now while it still matters. This guy you “love” is a sham, a trickster, a charlatan and nothing good will come of a second term unless you’re a billionaire like Elon Musk or you hate women and consideration for others. Our two party system needs to go, the electoral college is no longer relevant, and we need to dismantle the system from the ground up; start over but for now we just need to make sure he who will not be named does not make it back into office. 

I am having a blast watching the Olympics. The opening ceremony was beautiful and I'm laughing at Americans judging it harshly because they've got to have their hand in everything. I love to watch the athletes compete and hear about their backstories. It's a mind break from politics.  

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Fabulous Summer Reading List




When I was growing up I loved reading. My favorite characters were Pippi Longstocking, Ramona, Claudia (Mixed Up Files), Judy Blume books and The Borrowers.  I was constantly reading and spent a lot of time at our local library. I was in a library book club and I remember we read Watership Down and The Hobbit. I read Johnny Tremain as a kid and loved it. These books built empathy for me, made me laugh, and gave me the feeling of comfort and well-being. 

Today’s world of kids lit is like an explosion of variety! So many many choices! While we did have Cleary, L’Engle, Blume, and Konigsburg we didn’t yet have the brilliance of Kate DiCamillo, Allan Gratz, Katherine Applegate, Stuart Gibbs, Dan Geminhart, Jacqueline Woodson, or Jason Reynolds. That’s just a handful that come to mind and my library is filled with many other great authors. And furthermore we didn’t have graphic novels! Sure we had comics but that style was not my jam. I love graphic novels! 


The last few summers I've donated a lot of my reading time to reading elementary fiction books that are on our state award list. I love being on the committee to choose the next round of books because I have a good amount of young readers who love to read and challenge themselves to read the books on the list.  I get to read a whole batch of really excellent stories. I'm not going to tell you about each one of these stories but know they are excellent. 

I start off the list with Tom Lake by Ann Patchett which is adult fiction that I decided to listen to using the Libby app because I read that Meryl Streep narrated the story and she was amazing! This story focuses on summer stock theatre and the play Our Town.  The rest of the list is all elementary fiction with a few graphic novels thrown in.  Just Keep Walking was an adventure to read as the mother/daughter team hike The North Shore of Lake Superior. First State of Being is interesting science fiction tale about friendship. Half Moon Summer deals with a young boy watching his dad deal with an illness. 

Even amidst all this reading I am having a great summer. I've done a far amount of traveling starting back in the spring with a weekend trip to Cleveland to watch my nephew, Jasper, graduate from Case Western. And we just arrived home from a family trip to Asheville, NC. Road trips are the best; I like to drive as much as I like to sit in the passenger seat and read page after page. I'm headed to Minneapolis in a week to hear some live music with my brother and sister-in-law. And in August I am taking a very exciting trip with my friend Barb.  Summer is the BEST!

Whether you read the new stories or the classic stories be sure to keep reading...