Miscellaneous Monday
This is going to be one of those random posts, just things I’m thinking about. (I mean, that is the name of my blog, right?) First I will dip my toes into politics a bit, and say that I am feeling MUCH more hopeful about the possibility of no Trump presidency than I was a couple of weeks ago. Ever since Biden’s horrible debate, I’ve been so stressed out. I think he’s been a very good President, and doesn’t get enough credit for his accomplishments. I honestly doubt that he could put in another 4 years, though, it’s a hell of a job. But we have a whole system set up for that, so the prospect of him winning the election didn’t stress me out at all. But could he make the case to the electorate? And is, “well, maybe I’m too old, but there’s a whole system set up for that, so don’t stress” really a good argument? No, not really. So I stressed that he would lose the election. Ever since he bowed out and endorsed Harris, everyone has seemed so fired up and excited, and I’m finding my hope again.
By the way, did anyone read Hillbilly Elegy? I did, after hearing about it on NPR and then finding it in a Little Free Library. It started out OK, but then it really started pissing me off and I wanted to slap Vance, and nothing he has done since then has disabused me of that desire. For an opinion piece that came out when the book was popular, and tells more eloquently than I can why I wanted to slap him, look here. The short version is his opinions on poverty, which is that people are poor because they spend money they don’t have on things they don’t need, and don’t want to work for a living. As someone who grew up in a house with a single mom who often worked 2 jobs, and never had much money, and where sometimes things were VERY tight, his dismissive, superior, cruel attitude really pissed me off.
OK, that’s enough politics for now. Onward.
Hard Times
Back in May, Jamie at Light and Momentary announced her 11th Annual May Dickens Read-a-Long (AMDRAL), and that this year’s novel would be Hard Times. I’d never read any Dickens before, and I’m generally up for a reading challenge, so I decided to join her. She said we only had to start the book in May, not finish it, which is good because it took me 2 months to finish this short slog of a book. 19th Century writing is seldom my thing, at least going in, but usually once I get the rhythm of it, I can enjoy it as much as the next person. But this was not only 19th Century writing, it was also full of accents and slang and even an accented, slangy character with a lisp. I felt like I was translating much of the time, which in a way I suppose I was. Most sentences were slow and I had to think, ‘what did that mean?’ Often I had to stop and think and try to figure out what a word was supposed to be. I do most of my physical book reading in bed, which is not ideal for a slog, as I tend to fall asleep after a few pages. For Hard Times, I would give up after a paragraph or two, turn out the light, and forget about it. This went on for quite a while. Why I didn’t DNF, I have no idea. Stubborn, I guess.
I went along at this snail’s pace through the first half of the book, and then it started picking up. For me, the second half of the book was much better than the first. I still can’t say I liked it. It was full of sweeping generalizations about morality, class, the problems with industrialization, and materialism. I agree with a lot of what he was saying, but would have liked more nuance. The characters were flat, the plot shallow, and the dialogue annoying and confusing. I would not recommend it. I’m not sorry I read it, though it may have put me off of Dickens.
Summer Salad Challenge Update
My salad game has been strong, we’ve been having a lot of salads lately. Since Tobia posted her Summer Salad Challenge, I thought I would give a few that she suggested a try. Pictured from left to right are Beluga Lentil Salad, Cottage Cheese Egg Salad, and Red Pepper Potato Salad.
Beluga Lentil Salad – This salad of lentils, cucumber, apples, parsley, and mint, all in a delicious mustard vinaigrette was definitely a winner. I think you could enjoy it as a main course, but we had it as a side dish to salmon filets that I cooked in the toaster oven.
Cottage Cheese Egg Salad – I think because cottage cheese comes first in the name of this salad, I thought it was going to be more cottage cheesy. Instead, you replace the mayo you might usually use in an egg salad with a cottage cheese/egg yolk mixture. It was lighter, and the cottage cheese gave it more protein. It was very tasty, I had it on toast for breakfast.
Red Pepper Potato Salad – I was intrigued by this one, as I enjoy a potato salad without mayo from time to time. Tobia says to use more olive oil than you think, and she’s right. I added the oil while the potatoes were still warm, to help them absorb it, and I thought, ‘oh dear, it’s going to be soupy’ because the potatoes were swimming in olive oil. Nope, by the time I had gotten everything else together, the potatoes had absorbed the oil. We had it with bbq chicken, fresh fruit, leftover green salad, and a quinoa/edamame/feta salad that I get from the deli counter at one of our local grocery stores. Maybe I should try to figure that recipe out, it’s tasty!
Avocado Tree Update
My poor avocado tree. The leaves were sunburned in the extreme heat several weeks ago, and then dried out even worse in last week’s heatwave. Sadly, this is not terribly uncommon, it often loses some leaves due to heat or cold, and I generally pick up the dead leaves and get on with my life. They always come back. I’m not sure whether they will this time, the plant may be dead. I’m not sure what’s different this year versus years past, though it has grown over the top of the fence line, which used to provide a bit of shade from the worst of the afternoon sun. This year it was fully exposed. I pruned it a bit because I couldn’t bear to see the dead leaves. Time will tell whether it recovers or not. If it does, I’m going to have to figure out a better solution than just leaving it to suffer. I bought a mesh sun shade for it on Amazon, but it was too long and narrow and I ended up returning it. Maybe next time I’ll just pull it underneath the umbrella we put up. I guess my dreams of growing it really tall are dead. Poor thing, I grew it from a seed, I don’t even know how many years ago.
Speaking of the heat…our electric bill was the highest I have EVER seen, just shy of $400! People, we live in an 1,188 square foot, 2 bedroom townhouse. What the hell. That’s all heat wave. We live close enough to San Francisco that most of the time it cools off at night, so we can just open the windows and sleep with a ceiling fan, or perhaps a standing fan as well. But this was not cutting it. Our bedroom does not get any shade from trees, and faces the full afternoon sun, so it’s fine most of the day, but then the sun hits it full on and heats it up. California houses generally do not have basements. So we had to sleep with the air conditioning on, which made sleeping possible, but wow, that was expensive. I think it would be a lot less if our house were one story, or at least if our bedroom didn’t get that full sun. Enough bitching though. I complained to a coworker about it, who lives in Lodi, about an hour east of us, and her electric bill is generally about $600 a month (she has a bigger house, 3 kids, and a pool) and this month it was $1,700! I mean, what the even hell??? She said she cried when she got it. She expected it to be high, she hosted a wedding for her daughter, and there was a lot of family around, and the pool, and so on. But almost 3x her normal bill? OUCH.
Thankfully, on Friday afternoon the weather changed, the fog came in, and gave us sweet relief. We actually had to sleep with our window closed because it was windy and the noise of the wind blowing the blinds around would have kept us awake. Bliss. My favorite way to sleep is in a dark, cool, quiet room, which doesn’t happen all that often in the summer around here.
Blink Twice if you Need Help
Maya has been telling us about the Trad Wife Influencers, and how they’re embracing ‘traditional’ 50s house wife rolls, and making good money with their Influencer content. My opinion of this lifestyle has pretty much been ‘you do you’, and of course there is the juxtaposition of living a ‘trad’ life in such a modern, digital world, and making good money at it. Whatever. The other day, however, she sent me this article about one such influencer, and as it was a slow afternoon at work, I took the time to read it. It’s depressing. The article starts off talking about how Hannah Needleman gave birth to her 8th child (at home, no pain meds) on January 2nd, and 12 days later participated in a beauty pageant. She has taken flack for promoting natural remedies rather than traditional medicine, her children are home schooled, the family lives on a large ranch and grows cattle and chickens, has horses, etc. She started out as a ballet dancer, and was attending Julliard when she met her husband, the son of a billionaire in the airline industry. They married pretty quickly, and after a few years, she gave up dance and they moved to rural Utah to raise their kids. He’s all in, he loves this lifestyle. Maybe she loves it? I’m not sure. There are cracks in the veneer. The first crack shows when the reporter asks about the 15 seater minivan. “Is the goal to fill it?” Husband Daniel says, “Someday, yeah.” Hannah, infant baby in her arms, seems less sure, and says, “We’re getting old and tired. So we’ll see.” It’s not so much that I think she has a crappy life, it’s that her dreams and wishes all seem to come last. At first I was kind of happy with him, he does the laundry, which for a family of 10 on a working ranch is a LOT. But then…
Daniel wanted to live in the great western wilds, so they did; he wanted to farm, so they do; he likes date nights once a week, so they go (they have a babysitter on those evenings); he didn’t want nannies in the house, so there aren’t any. The only space earmarked to be Needleman’s own – a small barn she wanted to convert into a ballet studio – ending up becoming the kids’ schoolroom.
She does all of the shopping and cooking. “She sometimes gets so ill from exhaustion that she can’t get out of bed for a week.” The final straw for me (but not, apparently for her), is when she describes the one time she had a baby without her husband present. The baby was two weeks overdue and 10lbs. She got an epidural. “It was kinda great.” But the children that have come after that? Back to home births with no pain relief. Update to clarify, I gave birth with no pain relief, which was my choice (until I eventually asked for an epidural and it was too late, which was actually fine by me, because it meant the pain would be over soon), so I’m not saying she’s tortured because she doesn’t get pain relief. Just that she talked about that one birth with such wistfulness, I got the feeling that she would have been happier doing it that way, but her husband is anti.
I’m not sure I should feel sorry for a rich woman who has decided to live her life this way, a life of privilege and security, albeit one where she is constantly corrected, interrupted, or answered for by either her husband or one of her children. But I do.
Olympic Fever
Ted signed up for Peacock so we could watch the Olympics, and I could not be happier. Trying to watch on live TV, as we have done in the past, is a pain. It’s difficult to find the events you are interested in (though perhaps that’s part of the charm of watching that way, just watching whatever sport is on). But on the Peacock app, Sunday morning found me doing my yoga, then relaxing with a cup of tea, avocado toast, and Equestrian dressage (at Versailles!) and Sunday afternoon found me eating popcorn and watching Equestrian cross-country (which I suspect is much more fun for the horses than dressage…dressage is so fiddly and unnatural for a horse, whereas cross country is running and jumping.) Equestrian is rarely shown on prime time Olympics coverage, so I’m thrilled.
How about you? Has the weather killed any beloved plants in your yard? Is your electric bill higher than normal? Are you feeling a little revved up about a Harris presidency? Have you read Hard Times, and if so, did you like it? Are you eating a lot of salads lately? Do you have thoughts on Trad Wives? Do you have Olympic Fever?
34 Comments
Elisabeth
My salad game has been very weak this summer. In fact, I just have been completely unadventerous with cooking ANYTHING. I am definitely a “cold weather” food type of gal. I actually made a soup this weekend because I was craving cold weather food even though it’s a heat wave.
I admit I know NOTHING about the “Trad Wife Influencers” but I am going to head over and read that article…
We haven’t gotten our electric bill yet…but I’m sure it will be high. It has been a very, very hot summer and air conditioning is a must.
I have actually loved most of the Charles Dickens books I’ve read. It started when I listened to an audiobook of A Christmas Carol. I was SHOCKED how much I enjoyed it. I’ve read Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities and at least one other one (can’t remember right now). There are some parts that are a slog, but I found myself really caring about the characters and being impressed by how many big plot twists he managed to incoroporate.
J
I love the story of A Christmas Carol, but haven’t read it. Maybe I’ll give it a try and use it as a bellweather of whether I like any of his writing.
nance
I specialized in Brit Lit in college, and I concentrated on the Victorians. I love Victorian novels, but I have to say that I am not a big fan of Dickens. Reminds me of that wonderful quote from the film Sabrina: “Sometimes more isn’t better. Sometimes it’s just more.” Dickens is vastly wordy. I mean, he took an entire paragraph in Great Expectations to merely butter a slice of bread.
The tidbit about the Utah woman came across my news feed recently for some reason or another. I browsed it, but didn’t think much of it. Nothing irritates me more than willfully stupid women.
I’m sorry about your poor avocado tree! This brutal heat takes out so many things. I hope it’s conserving its life and energy and will keep trying. When you pruned it, were the branches still green and moist inside? If so, keep watering it. It may come back for you.
J
Nance, some of the avocado branches were green, and some seemed pretty dried out. I’m worried.
You’re right about willfully stupid women. Frustrating.
Jamie
Thanks for AMDRALing! This one *was* a slog, for sure.
J
Thanks for challenging me!
Jenny
Yes, I’m feeling much more hopeful than I have in a long time! I agree with you that Biden has been a good president- but the only question was, could he beat Trump again? I’m pretty sure the answer was no. For that matter, I’m not sure Kamala Harris can beat Trump- the sexism and racism run very deep in our country. I kind of wish the dems had picked the most bland white guy in the world, and then he would have won easily. BUT- if Harris could win this election… how awesome would that be. There is definitely hope!
I’ve never been a fan of Dickens- I’m glad someone agrees with me on that.
We also have Peacock, but I haven’t been watching it much yet. They’ve been doing a pretty good job with the NBC prime time coverage (at least, I’m happy so far) but I agree if you want to watch the Equestrian events, you need Peacock.
J
We haven’t tried any of the prime time coverage, but perhaps we will this evening…
I also worry about the racism and sexism. I am feeling (very) cautiously hopeful.
Margaret
I’m not allowing myself to be too hopeful but I’m not as distraught as I was. Biden is a wonderful person and has been an excellent president; he deserved better–but there was no coming back from that debate. I’m getting my power bill today; I don’t anticipate it will be too high. It hasn’t been super hot here lately. Today it’s raining! Woo hoo. Those salads look incredible. I would love the cottage cheese one.
J
Yay for rain, and electric bills that aren’t TOO high!
Lisa's Yarns
I love my 81 year old MIL and yet – I wouldn’t let her care for my children on her own because they are A LOT TO HANDLE and yet – surely they are less exhausting than being the leader of the free world? I wish that Biden had never sought re-election in the first place but I am relieved he did the right thing and dropped out of the race. I am hoping there will be more energy and excitement and maybe we’ll see higher voter turnout that dems will benefit from?
I can’t bring myself to read the article about the “traditional” housewife. He life sounds like my nightmare. I would be so miserable living in the middle of nowhere with a house full of children that I also had to home school? HARD. PASS.
I read “Bleak House” last year by Dickens as part of a patreon group read and I hated it. It was so long and boring and drawn out. I don’t think I will read another Dickens book in my life. He’s just not for me.
I should look into getting Peacock during the olympics. We have an antennae so we can get local channels so we’ve been watching coverage on NBC which has worked out ok. But it would be better to just watch what I want to watch for the most part. Although if not for watching on NBC, I wouldn’t have watched the women’s sand volleyball match on Saturday which was very fun to watch!
Ugh the cost of your electric bill is awful – and your poor coworker in Lodi! I had to look up our electric bill. At most it’s been $90 this year. But we had a pretty cool summer up until mid-July. We keep our a/c pretty high because I hate aggressive a/c but we’ve had to run it around the clock since Friday morning because it is really humid here right now and it does not cool off at night!
J
Agreed about Biden, I wish he had decided not to run back last year. Sigh. We are where we are. I do hope all of this enthusiasm works out.
I had to go to the library to renew my copy of Hard Times because it would only auto-renew so many times. Who knows why I couldn’t do it online. Anyway, I started talking to the librarian about it, and she told me how jargony it is compared to other works by Dickens, and also that he was paid by the word (which I had known) since it was originally released as a serialized story in a weekly publication. She suggested Bleak House as a more approachable book. I’m thinking I may skip that one as well.
Having Peacock has been a game changer for me. We haven’t watched any of the regular network coverage, we’ll see how that goes. I’ll admit to being envious of your electric bill. Even when our weather is perfect, it’s never that low. I think the lowest it ever gets is about $150, and once we throw in the heater or a/c, it goes up quickly. We keep our temp at about 77 or 78, and I still hate the forced air blowing on me. Sigh.
Meike
I still find it amazing what a difference the hills make that lie between my home and yours. We are closer to the bay and it almost never gets hot during the summer. Most houses even don’t have air conditioning (neither does ours). So for us there is no difference in the electric bill.
The trad wife trend makes me feel really uneasy. Especially with social media you only get to see one side of the story and it does not give you the whole picture. I think loads of people forget this or only want to see the image that is presented to them. I also would usually say that everyone can do it as they please but then don’t sell it to others.
We ended up getting a VPN first for the soccer Euro Cup and we kept it for the Olympics so that we can watch German TV which will show a lot of the events.
J
I always say we live on the wrong side of the tunnel…the west side has it all…better restaurants, better weather, better book stores. Sigh. I remember when we lived in San Francisco, that our PG&E bill didn’t vary in the summer, for the same reason. We didn’t have a/c, and we didn’t need it.
It would be interesting to watch another country’s coverage. So much of what we see is focused on the US. Sometimes they will be showing an athelete from another country, and in the middle of their routine, or swim, or whatever, will switch over to something mundane, like watching the US athelete towel off or drink some water. It always drives me nuts.
Birchie
I am here for Kamala! Sorry, but we’re at the point where we need age limits for elected office.
I want to try the cottage cheese egg salad! Note to self!
I don’t get the trad wife thing, but in general I try to be Team “You do You”. I saw that article and from the first few sentences something felt horribly off and I couldn’t bear to read it. Your summary was much more palatable. What’s the best case here? That it’s all fake and she has a team of servants and surrogates? I hope so!
J
That WOULD be a best case, that it’s all fake. I just don’t like how she has to take the back seat on everything, but I guess if you go all in on Tradtional 50s gender rolls, that’s what you get. I think she needs some sister wives to help out.
Diane
I haven’t read Hard Times, though I think I tried a few times. I did read Bleak House years ago and actually really loved it. It took me soooo long to finish, and I didn’t understand the legal bits (which was probably the point), but I liked all the characters and being immersed in the story.
I read Hillbilly Elegy when it first came out. I do remember that bit where he blames his friends for their own unemployment – I thought that was an interesting take. At any rate, I’m so intrigued by Harris as a candidate – I could see things going either way. If the future of our country weren’t at stake, I would find the whole Presidential election circus *very* amusing.
I always find the Olympics fun to watch and to read about. I’ve been watching some of the more obscure sports like table tennis and mountain biking and surfing. I really like how you can see everything on Peacock. Though I can never decide what it is I want to watch because there are so may choices.
J
I agree, if the existential dread weren’t a factor, the election would be very amusing. Sigh.
I’m glad to hear someone else read Hillbilly Elegy and thought, ‘huh…’.
I’m enjoying the Olympics. I work from home, so am thinking I may bring my computer downstairs and have it on in the background today, watch some volleyball in front of the Eiffel Tower or something.
Melissa
I haven’t read hard times, but have read Great Expectations and we studied A Tale of Two Cities at school and I remember enjoying it, so maybe that would be one to try if you want to give Dickens another go.
The tradwives lifestyle sounds awful, and this from me who stayed home with the kids and cooked a lot from scratch, but it seemed like a lot of the decisions were not really her own? A bit of a worry really.
I’m watching the swimming while I type this. Unfortunately the finals start about 3:30am here. We’ve been watching free to air, but the channel has four sub-channels so are usually showing four different sports. Their main channel they move between sports a bit and it is, of course, very Australia centric.
J
Agree on the Trad Wives. I mean, I know people who have been stay at home moms, and people who have had a lot of kids, and people who have homeschooled their kids. None of that feels like this. Ugh.
Nice that you have four sub channels to choose from for your Olympic coverage. And yeah, our coverage is SO US focused. With Peacock it looks as though MAYBE you can search out other countries to watch? I haven’t delved in too deeply yet.
Ally Bean
I admit I read and was taken in by Hillbilly Elegy. When I read it I thought the guy was for real and his dismissive misogynist attitudes were a by-product of his upbringing, something that’d be refined along the way as he matured. I figured that after he got his JD he’d turn around help those people he’d grown up around, showing them the way out of poverty. I was wrong and the guy is, as many people are now calling him, a Shillbilly. So sad that he’s from where I live.
J
I’m sure you are not alone in your reading of Hillbilly Elegy. Unfortunately, his attitudes seem to have been solidified rather than refined as he matured. He’s such an ass.
CErnie
Oh your poor avocado tree. I have no advice. If something outside was not doing well, I might be the last to know. I did plant some flowers. They are pretty but we are not the best at watering. Tank scolds me for that at times.
I have not heard of the trad wife thing. Eek. I chose to stay home with our kids but holy hell . . . if Coach had suggested I go without pain meds when delivering a child? Well, that would have been interesting.
I have not read that book. I did read A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemmingway this summer for book club. I did not enjoy it. Parts of it were fine, but mostly strange.
Oh and a note on We’re Not Gonna Take It- I started reading this post a few times and kept getting interrupted. Last night as I drove away from writers group, that was the song on the radio. I died laughing.
J
LOL, I’m glad the song gave you a laugh!
I’m seeing a couple of other plants that may be dead around here, too. I swear I watered. 🙁
NGS
I am LOVING Peacock! I can just clickety click on “Gymnastics” or “Diving” or “Equestrian” and I don’t have to watch endless games with balls! I am living for it.
Dancing horses = dressage. Or just how they prance around like they are excited to perform in every event. I think I’m going to start calling Hannah the Dog Athlete when she’s running around because it’s so funny to me.
I’ve never made it 20 pages into any Dickens, so you’re a better person than I am. I am NOT interested!
J
I watched a bit of the Dressage, I need to go back and watch more, especially the one US horse.
Stephany
Ooh, I feel like I have so much to say!
– Kamala: I am so excited for her to run! It’s amazing to see how it has re-energized us. She raised over 200 million so far already?! That’s insane! (Also, imagine if our elections didn’t cost hundreds of millions of dollars!!!!) I’m trying to be hopeful she can win this. In 2016, Trump was the outsider and now people have seen what 4 years of his presidency can do. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
– Hillbilly Elegy: Ughhh. I read that book in 2018 or 2019 and I hate to say it but I gave it 5 stars. I think he is a TERRIBLE PERSON but that book gave me some useful language around my own traumatic childhood that was helpful.
– Electric bills: Omg, mine has been outrageous. I mean, yes, I like to run my A/C but it’s never been this high. Right now, I’m trying to keep it 73F during the day (which can sometimes feel stifling especially since I work in front of a big window that lets in a lot of heat) and 68F at night. Maybe I could push it to 70F at night but I read somewhere that 68F is the perfect temperature for sleep, and I tend to agree. But omg, a $1,700 electric bill is INSAAAANE.
– Olympics: YASSSS. I’m mostly watching the NBC Primetime coverage but I will admit that I watched the women’s gymnastics finals while working because I didn’t want to be spoiled! But it’s been great so far!
J
Kamala – Yes, it has been really great to see how much enthusiasm she has brought to the race, so much more than when she ran in 2020. I really hope she kicks Trump’s butt!
Vance – You are not the only person to really like that book. Perhaps I’m an outlier? I did find the glimpse into his childhood pretty interesting, though.
Electric bills – We don’t have humidity out here, so we can keep our place at a higher temp without discomfort. The lowest we ever set it is 75, and usually it’s 78 or 79. I cannot imagine what our bill would be if we set it at 68.
Olympics – I’m always very casual, “I don’t care” before hand, and then once they start I’m HOOKED. We gorged on gymnastics last night and loved every minute of it.
San
I am 100% with you, Julie. I think Biden is a great president and doesn’t get enough credit for all he was able to accomplish, but I am relieved and hopeful about his dropping out and making way for Kamala Harris. The enthusiasm around her has been palatable.
I read Hillbilly Elegy a few years back and liked the book overall, but also detected an undercurrent of disdain for his own people… which has come out in full force recently. Vance is such a sell-out.
The heatwave was crazy, wasn’t it? Our electric bill was almost $300 and our place is smaller than yours (but we do live in an even hotter area). I don’t know how your friend swings a tripling of her electric bill. That’s insane!
Are you with PG&E? I heard that PG&E customers had such high bills everywhere (we’re with SMUD, a local Sacramento provider).
J
Regarding the heat wave, yes, it was a lot. I mean, we always have hot days (though last summer was not too bad), but generally it’s only a couple of days. The long heat wave was tough. Yes, we have PG&E. I think their prices are so hot because they have so much work to do to fix their infrastructure, so they can stop starting fires and getting sued. UGH. They actually lowered their rates for July and August to keep people from being too pissed. Not working.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
So happy you found some yummy salads in my collection. I need to make one of your many recipies. But I never have all ingredients at hand. I guess I have to plan a bit.
I have heard somewhere about the trad influencer thing but didn’t care to look more deeply into it. I know why after reading your recap of that artricle. Sadly what you describe is more or less describing my (morman) host family I stayed with. The mother gave up everything. After her tenth birth she was forced to have medically necessary hysterectomy. I am not so sure it was medically necessary. I have a feeling she pleaded for one. She seemed very relieved.
J
Oh wow, I didn’t know you stayed with a Mormon host family…I’ll bet you’re right, and the mom was relieved!
Anne
Oh yay, I’m not too late to comment! I have not been participating in the CBSSC (Cool Bloggers Summer Salad Challenge?). I eat a boring salad with some lettuce (not much), roasted veggies, and hummus each night, because I have a very late, larger than typical lunch. I am weird. I do eat “regularly” when with others, but this works best when I’m working, so… that’s how it goes. *shrug*
SO EXCITED about Harris/Walz. So. Excited. I have been, um, open about my severe dislike of T****, and was so worried about Biden – both for his health and our prospects. This has COMPLETELY reset things for me and, I hope, the race. Fingers. Crossed. So. Hard.
I am not watching the Olympics. I think I am an n of 1 in this group! Alas, watching things is not my…thing. I do catch up on ESPN radio in the AM as well as through the Post’s news articles. Their coverage has been amazing this year.
And oh, gosh, the tradwife thing. They are as bad – or worse – than the natalists. There was a Guardian article about people who ‘want’ to have more kids to, I dunno, populate the earth with people who share their conservative and horrible views? (Think E*** M***). They seem to overlap pretty substantially. I just cannot with the deference to the male “head of the household”. Gimme a break. You give birth, you should have at least an equal say. I’d vote you should run the family. 🙂
J
OMG, we talk about Musk all of the time and what an ass he is. Living in the Bay Area, I know people who have worked for his companies (Twitter and Tesla) and both were miserable under his reign. Thankfully, both are working elsewhere now. But the whole ‘Populate an overpopulated world so we can take over’ thing really bugs me. As does the whole ‘lets figure out how to colonize Mars so we can get the people of quality off of Earth and trash it and leave it to those we deem to be less than’ thing. UGH.
I’m feeling SO MUCH better about the election now. I hope I hope I hope that it all works out. So scary.