Unraveled Wednesday

Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday, today with glimmers of a new idea for the Nervous Breakdown Hitchhiker. I've been working on it almost monogamously. Spending lots of time meditatively knitting causes me to become contemplative, and last week I was thinking about why I enjoyed it so much and what might add even more enjoyment. The answer to both questions? More color!

So I placed an order with Loopy Ewe and had these skeins in my hand in record time. I think they'll work wonderfully for what I'm imagining. 

It's not just more bright color that I'm craving, but also what those colors have come to represent in my mind. There are areas of brownish-gray in this yarn and I've come to think of these as depressive periods (even though I think this gray is lovely).

There are also areas of bright pink and these remind me of happy times.

Lastly, I've noticed some isolated stitches of a lovely blue that I've come to think of as times of being balanced and calm.

I think as I approach the last quarter of the shawl, I'll add one stripe of each color. I'm not sure how wide I'll make them. Maybe I'll just live on the wild side, knit them and see what I think works best. 

I'm still reading The Topeka School and better read harder because the wifi gods will whisk it back to the library in three days. I finished Caffeine which was a quick two-hour freebie from Audible, authored and narrated by Michael Pollan. I wish it had been longer because Michael Pollan! I also finished Indistractable but it was just a three-star average book for me. If you are interested, you can read my reviews by clicking on the books in the right-side sidebar.

What are you making and reading this week?

Read With Us: Fever Discussion 2

Hello and welcome to our second discussion of Fever by Mary Beth Keane. This time we're focusing on social issues — personal freedom vs. public health, nationality, gender, and socioeconomic status. Some details regarding the discussion and how it will work: Please join the discussion by leaving a comment here on the blog. I'll be responding to your comments directly IN the comments, so please do check back once in a while to see how the discussion is going this week. Please feel free to respond to other commenters as well. 

Like Carole mentioned last week, this time around we've got an added bonus to participating in the book discussion. We have put together a “book lovers' surprise package” to be given to one lucky Fever reader! Just leave a comment on any of our book discussion blog posts. Your name will be placed in a hat EACH time you make a comment — so the more you share, express your opinions, and comment, the more chances you have to win the prize. The winner will be revealed as part of our wrap-up post on February 25.

The following questions are simply meant as a way to start the discussion. I don't want this to feel like high school where good books can be analyzed to the point that you no longer enjoy them, so please feel free to answer any questions you wish and ignore those you don't, or offer your general opinions and comments about the social issues covered in Fever. We value all of them and thank you for your input!

1.  The story of Mary Mallon exemplifies a conflict between personal liberty and public health. Because there are always two sides (or more) to the story discuss whether you think Mary's case was handled well, and consider how it might have been dealt with today.

2.  In early twentieth-century New York, class and background dictated a person's prospects. Do you think Mary was discriminated against because she was a poor Irish immigrant woman? How does Mary handle these situations? Are there any instances when Mary uses her identity to an advantage?

3.  During Mary’s imprisonment, other healthy typhoid carriers are discovered and allowed to continue their lives as long as they take precautions to not spread the disease. So why is Mary kept imprisoned? Is it because she was the first? Because she refuses to admit her guilt and cooperate? Because she is a poor, unmarried, Irish woman at the dawn of the twentieth century or are there other reasons?

4.  After her first release from North Brother Island, Mary abides by her promise not to cook. But as time passes she is eventually drawn back to her profession, first at the bakery and then at the hospital. How does she justify her decisions despite the risk to others? Do you think she believes she is responsible for passing typhoid fever through her cooking? 

Be sure and check in with Kym next Tuesday for her discussion of the historical fiction aspects of Fever; characters and events — what (and who) was based on historical fact and what was fabricated/fictionalized. I'll be back here on February 25 with a summary of Fever. 

Sometimes Monday ...

... is a day to check in on amaryllis. 

They are all sprouted and growing. I hope your Monday is off to the same good start!

I hope to see you back here tomorrow for our second Fever discussion, this time focusing on social issues. 

Three on Thursday

I'm joining Carole and friends for Three on Thursday, today with some admiration for Nancy Pelosi.

Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Image

Simply put, she's my hero. I don't see her tearing up the speech as rude or classless, but rather what you do when you are presented with a "manifesto of mistruths". Here are three quotes from the Speaker of the House.

• You have to believe in who you are and what difference you can make. You have to care about the urgency and the difference it will make to your community, and you have to, again, have confidence in the contribution that you can make. You believe, you care, you have confidence in the difference that you can make. And that's not to be egotistical, it's just to be confident.

• Go to find common ground; where you can't, you stand your ground.

• Just as I do as a mother, as Speaker I intend to do a great deal of listening. But when necessary, I am not afraid to use my mother-of-five voice to ensure that I am heard. 

Carry on, Ms. Pelosi and be heard. You are fighting the good fight. 

Be sure to visit Carole for more Three on Thursday thoughts.

Unraveled Wednesday

Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday, today with an FO, another sock, and my ever-present Hitchhiker. 

I'm glad these socks are done, and they only took me ten years! 

Finishing one pair of socks does not necessarily mean a return of any sock mojo I might have once had, but we'll see. I dug around in my craft closet and found this one. It's a sock I was working on when I took my father to doctors' appointments, but I put it away when he died. It does have a nice story associated with it, so I think it may become what I work on during the weekly NJ-to-MD-and-back-again trip. 

I'd still rather work on my Nervous Breakdown Hitchhiker, so that's my main project. It's growing (and I just might have more Nervous Breakdown yarn to knit another one with eyelets). 

I finished The Wife by Meg Wolitzer and it was an average, yet interesting book. It made me want to see the movie with Glenn Close as I think she might make the movie better than the book. I also started The Topeka School, and so far it's dense, challenging, and intriguing. Semi-autobiographical, debate and forensics, toxic masculinity, fear begetting violence, psychotherapy -- it's all here and I hope it comes together. Even though I'm only a little way into the book, it's easy to tell that it was written by a poet, National Book Award finalist, Fulbright scholar, Guggenheim scholar, and MacArthur genius. Clearly, Ben Lerner is some author and I hope I'm up to reading The Topeka School.

What are you making and reading this week?

Right Now - February 2020

While there aren't any hyacinths blooming in my world yet, the photo above reminds me that we're getting closer to spring. Here's what's going on in my world Right Now.

Making - Chili in the crockpot. It's pouring today, and the rainy, cold weather is predicted to continue for the next four days. Warm chili and cornbread always make me feel warmer when it's a damp and chilly winter day.

Drinking - Home-brewed pear cider. John works with a guy who grows his own fruit (apples, pears, berries, etc.), presses it, and brews his own cider. We gave him buckets of extra tomatoes from the garden last summer and he gifted us with several different varieties of cider. It was a delicious trade.

Resisting - Starburst Jelly Beans. Even though Valentine's Day is still 10 days away, Easter candy has made an early appearance, and of course, I've been thinking about jellybeans since I first saw those bright red and yellow bags on the grocery store shelves. We'll see how long my resistance lasts. 

Watching -  Broadchurch on Netflix. This is a British police procedural that is tough to watch at times, but I do love David Tennant and stories that unfold over a series of episodes. To counter the serious and sobering themes of Broadchurch, I've also got Ford vs Ferrari lined up for a possible family movie night next weekend.

Avoiding - This speech. It's after my self-imposed no-news curfew of 8:00 pm. Also, I just don't think I have the fortitude to watch or listen in this bizarre convergence with the Iowa caucuses and the foregone conclusion of the impeachment vote. 

Procrastinating - Working on taxes. It probably can't really be called procrastination yet as I'm still receiving forms, but I do have that slight feeling of dread that I get every year. Everything I have so far is gathered in a folder, so I suppose that's a good enough start for February 4th. 

Glad About - The fixed oil leak in my car, and maybe even more so that I stood up for myself concerning the bill. The original quote was $1500, but when I went to pick it up my service advisor handed me an invoice for $2400. After picking myself up off the floor I asked what the extra $900 was for. He just shrugged and said "extra labor. This was a complicated repair and we had to remove the engine." He didn't say "you're just a woman and wouldn't understand", but that's what I heard. I asked for a detailed invoice and he gave a big sigh and disappeared in the back room. After waiting for almost 15 minutes another service advisor offered to help. She also disappeared into the back but returned after five minutes and said she would honor the original quote. Trish is my new best friend at the Subaru dealership. 

Wondering - What the extra $900 was for and why the dealership thought they were going to get away with it without a detailed invoice and complete description of the work they had done. I'm also wondering if anyone will read the review I submitted about this experience. 

Planning - when to start seeds for the garden in MD. I started them really late last year because I was in the hospital, so I'm going to have to look up last frost dates and germination times to plan my seed starting and planting calendar.

Getting ready to tackle - Some medical and insurance issues. I need to make an appointment with the hematologist to discuss what we should do with medication almost one year after my pulmonary embolism. I've been on the anticoagulant Eliquis and I'd like to stay on it if possible. The doctor has to approve that medically and financially as it costs an arm and a leg and the insurance company needs to be convinced that it is medically necessary.  

Hoping - That Ryan's corneal issue begins to get better. He has another appointment today, but because there hasn't been much improvement, the specialist is talking about possible lasers and/or surgery. Any good eye juju you can send his way is greatly appreciated.

What's going on in your world right now? 

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Be sure to visit Carole today as she kicks off our Read With Us discussion of Fever. Share your thoughts about the book (and there may even be a prize)!

Weekending

I hope your weekend was as nice as mine. I didn't do anything extraordinary, but it was a wonderful combination of some of the usual and a few things that were unusual for me.

I bought chocolate doughnuts at the grocery store and managed not to eat all of them. I never buy donuts, but sometimes you just have to give in. 

I made almost 100 venison meatballs. We had enough for dinner and also froze some for later.

I drank some peanut butter whiskey. It sounds strange and awful, but I assure you, it is not.

There was an FO, but I'm saving that for Wednesday. I excavated another sock; this one is only three years old. I'm finding that socks make the perfect project to work on while John drives to MD and back to NJ. 

I fixed the showerhead with a double point needle. The flow had dwindled to a trickle over a couple days, and when I removed the showerhead to investigate I noticed a broken plastic piece was blocking the water. I figured I couldn't break it any further, so a double point needle made the perfect tool to pry the broken thing out and remove it. It now works perfectly!

Most unusual of all, we went to a bar. It's kind of a dive bar, but my nephew and his wife were down from Albany; Justin had arranged to meet them there and he invited us. A long time ago Ryan told me I should try one new thing every month, and since I've let that go by the wayside I decided to begin again, starting Saturday night. The music was incredibly loud but it was a fun time!

John and his sister

Justin and his girlfriend Jess

My nephew and his wife

Me!

I hope your week is off to a good start. It's supposed to reach almost 60 degrees here in MD so I'm going to enjoy it, hang out some laundry, and get out for a good long walk. 

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Be sure to check in with Carole tomorrow when she begins our discussion of Fever. I hope you'll consider participating!