Less than 73 questions, answered

North Park at 7:15 AM
September 2015

Kari at A Gracefull life has posted 73 questions from Vogue.   I’m in a rut for several reasons, so I will try to break out of it by answering a few of them.  Feel free to play along, either here or on your blog or in your mind. Thanks, Kari!

1- What is your favorite time of day? 

Morning.

2-What is your biggest weakness? 

Not keeping things tidy.

3- How do you relax?  

Reading, singing, walking, data entry, writing.

12- What is your favorite season? 

Autumn.  And the fall of the patriarchy.  

October leaves

13- What are you scared of? 

Heights.  And also apparently whenever someone else drives.  Fascism.  I fear that when I am living in the nursing home I will never have hot tea again.  

I’m afraid of a lot more things, but let’s not get depressing here.

14- How many kids do you want?  

Three.  And that’s what happened!

15- What is your favorite flower?   

Anything that blooms on its own in my yard.  This year I am fond of bee balm because it bloomed (yay!), the deer didn’t eat it, and it’s fun to say.  

16- Tea or coffee? 

Black tea, made with boiling water, served HOT, with milk or cream, no sweetener.   Steeped for a good long while, but also HOT.  This is what microwaves are for.

17- If you could play any instrument, which would you play? 

Piano.  And I do play piano.  What good luck!  I also played violin through high school but I was terrible at it.  After college I wanted to play acoustic guitar but I no longer had callouses and it was too painful to re-develop them. 

It *would* be pretty cool to know
how to play this instrument.

18- Favorite holiday? 

Thanksgiving.  

Least favorite holiday - please make Mother’s Day go away.

19- What places do you want to visit? 

I imagine that I would like to visit Scotland, but the weather would have to be nice for me to enjoy it.  Perhaps incompatible goals.

26- Which three famous people would you invite for tea? 

Trevor Noah and Heather Cox Richardson and you.

30- What is your favorite thing to eat? 

Homemade fruit pie, preferably peaach or apple, with hot tea (see # 16). 

31- What was your favorite movie as a child? 

The Wizard of Oz.  

33- Favorite thing to wear? 

Sweatshirt (full zip, with pockets).

34- Most adventurous thing you’ve done? 

Hiked up Mt. Monadnock, and back, despite fear of heights.

Me on top of the mountain. 2003?

39- Cats or dogs? 

Cats, except I am a bit allergic.  I’m afraid of dogs.  Don’t judge me.  

42- What show are you currently watching? 

We started binge-watching The Pitt in a hotel which had HBO Max for free.  Husband liked the show so much he subscribed.  This is how we spiral downward.

And I am re-watching Downton Abbey on my tablet at night.  More spiraling.

46- Do you like cooking or baking? 

Baking.

47- Favorite snack food? 

Crackers and cheese.  Dark chocolate.  Any snack unless it includes coconut.

Bhuja snacks nut mix is delightful
but we can't get it here.

48- Secret talent? 

Finding things in the refrigerator.

49- What are you most excited for these days? 

If any of my kids would visit, that would be most exciting and satisfying.

52- What makes you mad? 

What *doesn’t* make me mad these days? 

My U.S. Senators and numerous other flaccid spineless fascist corrupt kleptocrat electeds infuriate me. And anybody who sides with them.

People who abuse authority.

Racism.  

Patriarchy.

Daylight Saving Time.

Vertigo.

The stranglehold placed on libraries regarding kindle books.

The fact that one of those people who side with the fascists earns money whenever I buy a kindle book.

53- Which song would you like to hear to be happy? 

How to pick?  Maybe “How Can I Keep from Singing?”

54- Favorite word in English? 

Not sure I have a favorite in English.

My favorite words in French are crepuscule and pamplemousse.

My favorite words in Hebrew are chesed and ruach.

I should have a favorite word in Russian, too, but I forget what it might be.

crepuscule

57- Window or aisle seat? 

Used to be window, but now in my old age I prefer the aisle.  

64- What is something you can’t do? 

Singlehandedly save US democracy.  I feel my ineptitude at this, every single day.  But then, if I could do it by myself, it wouldn’t be democracy, would it?

65- What do you usually eat for breakfast? 

Oatmeal and fruit (same as Kari!)

66- Favorite color? 

Green and peach.  But maybe also an earthy brown.  Plus blue.  Then there’s red.  Okay, all the colors.

67- What makes you happy? 

Since I answered at length what makes me mad I will have to answer this one.

Mercy, kindness, music, singing joyfully and/or loudly, writing, reading, public art, a meaningful worship service, family gatherings, flowers growing, being grateful, owls and otters and whales thriving, witnessing the total solar eclipse, the basics of enough food, warmth, safety (preferably for everyone).  

70- Do you prefer milk chocolate or dark chocolate? 

Dark chocolate.  But not too dark.  75% is too dark.  Maybe my answer is semisweet.

I answered these 30 of the 73 questions:

1- What is your favorite time of day?

2-What is your biggest weakness?

3- How do you relax?

12- What is your favorite season?

13- What are you scared of?

14- How many kids do you want?

15- What is your favorite flower?

16- Tea or coffee?

17- If you could play any instrument, which would you play?

18- Favorite holiday?

19- What places do you want to visit?

26- Which three famous people would you invite for tea?

30- What is your favorite thing to eat?

31- What was your favorite movie as a child?

33- Favorite thing to wear?

34- Most adventurous thing you’ve done?

39- Cats or dogs?

42- What show are you currently watching?

46- Do you like cooking or baking?

47- Favorite snack food?

48- Secret talent?

49- What are you most excited for these days?

52- What makes you mad?

53- Which song would you like to hear to be happy?

54- Favorite word in English?

57- Window or aisle seat?

64- What is something you can’t do?

65- What do you usually eat for breakfast?

66- Favorite color?

67- What makes you happy?

70- Do you prefer milk chocolate or dark chocolate?

For all 73 questions you will have to go to Kari’s blog or else to Vogue.

 

First Lines: July 2026 edition

Art for everyone, everywhere, every day.
Annapolis, Maryland
June 2026

Below are the first lines of the books I finished reading in July.  Another slow reading month.  If it weren’t for two 5-hour flights, this list would be even shorter.  More later on where we went and what we saw.

 

 

Book 1

Let Us Begin, Again

Day six arrived.  I scrolled through the “just checking in” texts, appreciative but also slightly irritated with everyone who thought they were more anxious than me for the moment we were waiting for.

 

 

Book 2

The week before the 2016 presidential election, Donald J. Trump took a break from campaigning to attend the ceremonial opening of his new hotel a few blocks from the White House.

 

Here is that very hotel.
In 2017, I defiantly spat on the ground on this spot.

 

Book 3

“For tonight’s debate, I will prove that the pen is mightier than the sword.  For it is the poets… the artists… who provide us with a language of resistance, the ability to see the future, to dream of a better world.  History has shown that brute force may be able to occupy a land, but the minds of the people will remain free.  It is poetry which reminds us of our innate freedom.  That is why tyrants always fear the artist… as they should!”

 

Dreaming of a better world

 

Book 4

Chapter One: A Very Rude Person

It is useful, people generally agree, for a wife to wake up before her husband.

 

Book 5

A Child of Air

Reema Baladi

Amal calls it “the thing” too, but I hear she’s getting rid of hers. 

 

 

Did Not Finish

Before Mazer invented himself as Mazer, he was Samson Mazer, and before he was Samson Mazer, he was Samson Masur–a change of two letters that transformed him from a nice, ostensibly Jewish boy to a Professional Builder of Worlds–and for most of his youth, he was Sam, S.A.M. on the hall of fame of his grandfather’s Donkey Kong machine, but mainly Sam.

 

 

The titles and authors revealed:

 

 

Book 1

Erased: What American Patriarchy Has Hidden from Us

By Anna Malaika Tubbs

384 pages • first pub 2025

nonfiction gender sociology

If you haven’t read anything about patriarchy or fascism or intersectionality, this could be a good place to start.

The book’s premise is that patriarchy in the US is more than just men having undue power; rather it’s the whole system of hierarchy that the current ruling white men want to enforce.  The author hammers on this point - telling us about intersectionality without ever using the word.  And in fact, the whole book is about fascist ideology, but she never uses that word.  For leaving out those two words, this book might be very effective for some readers.

I found the book rather repetitive, and I was already familiar with most of the concepts and examples. (but I needed to hear them again).  One exception was the super-hero she highlights – someone I had never heard of and won’t give away the name now.  

 

Identity
by Emma Amos
on exhibit at the
Allen Memorial Art Museum
Oberlin, Ohio

Book 2

Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success

Russ Buettner, Susanne Craig

519 pages (the text is 450 pages) • first pub 2024

nonfiction, biography, politics, true crime.

I love that Storygraph classifies this book as true crime.  Just about everything that man has done is truly a crime.

While the subject matter was disgusting to me, I kept reading because of a sort of macabre fascination with the crimes and the hubris.  I found the book easy to understand, not a trivial feat for the authors, tackling the arcane subjects of real estate, high finance, and tax law.  They did a great job.

In this book, there are 676 uses of the world “million” and 74 uses of the word “billion.”  As in dollars.  The $millions and $billions are just flying around in this book like swarms of wasps.  Or maybe flies swarming around a pile of excrement - that’s a better metaphor. 

The way the book tells it, the family fortune was amassed by the patriarch who was a tax cheat and a skinflint, but who was actually careful about protecting the fortune.  The favored son followed his father’s example on the first two counts, but showed little prudence or care about either the fortune or other people.  He’s consistent in one thing - he flings around our tax dollars just as he did the wealth he has raked in from his various shady endeavors.  Come to think of it, he tosses human beings around in the same way.  He has no notion of kindness or love for others.  Everything is a transaction or a grievance.

This book has not a single mention of that particular friend of the family who had an island, so I mark the book down half a point.  That relationship needs to be mentioned every time we read about this loser.

 

 

Book 3

Mrs. Orwell

Text by Andrea Chalupa, art by Brahm Revel

224 pages • first pub 2026

fiction, biography, graphic novel, historical

Suggested by L.R.

read in physical format from library

The artwork and characters are compelling.  I appreciated learning about Eileen O’Shaughnessy Blair and Eric Blair (nom de plume George Orwell).  They were both fiery, strong-willed characters.  But the story was hard for me to follow in some parts because it relies entirely on the frames, with no words, and it was hard for me to distinguish just from the drawings which character was which, and exactly what was happening.  Nevertheless, I believe I got the gist of what happened to these two extraordinary people.

The Afterword is well worth reading.  Andrea Chalupa is a hero – I remember listening to her podcast in early 2017, in which she warned that the Orange Menace was deeply connected to Vlad & Co.  I concluded that Chalupa was absolutely right but her podcast was too intense for me at the time. 

“In Mrs Orwell, I tried to give voice to the woman who helped shape one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, and to remind us that truth still matters, especially when it’s under siege.  Eileen’s life teaches us that even in times of fear, betrayal and chaos, it’s still possible to fight for beauty, for integrity, and for a future worth believing in.”  

– Andrea Chalupa.

 

Book 4

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #8)

By Alexander McCall Smith

213 pages • first pub 2007

fiction mystery

Second read, for the start of my vacation.  Finished it on the plane to the faraway destination.  These books are the literary equivalent of a long lovely bubble bath, notwithstanding the implied sexism of that opening line.  There is a bit of role reversal in this book.

 

 

Book 5

Behind You Is the Sea

Susan Muaddi Darraj

246 pages • first pub 2024

fiction literary

Not really a novel but short stories woven together, about characters in the Palestinian American community in my childhood hometown of Baltimore.  I appreciated the characters but - content warning - there is a good deal of nastiness, domestic violence, foul language, and cheating they dish out to each other.  

In the first line I quoted above, “the thing” is pregnancy.  The extended family does not deal well with that character having an abortion.

 

Did Not Finish

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Gabrielle Zevin

416 pages • first pub 2022

fiction contemporary literary

This is one of those books that everyone else seems to like, but I don’t.  It was for book club, so I gave it a valiant try, but stopped when the abuse of one character became too much for me to read about.

- - - - - - -

Your turn - what sort of book do you like to read on vacation?  What book did everyone else like but you?

Hope.  March 2017.

It's just a bunch of stuff that happened - Part 3: Empty Nest Again

How it started:

In June, Younger Daughter was offered a job.  !!! Teaching anatomy at a community college.  She moved back home, in transition to her new job which is in a small town about two hours’ drive away.

YD will be following in a long family line of
educators.  Here's my mother (YD's 
grandmother) teaching science educators
in Panama.  The Common Household Husband
(YD's father) is an educator.  My father's
mother (YD's great grandmother)
was an educator.

How it’s going:

Younger Daughter arrived here in late June, after a very difficult time moving - the container didn’t show up on the appointed day, which meant she lost money on the moving crew and her plane ticket home, which was supposed to be the next day.  And YD had packed up all her stuff, meaning she had to live in sparse conditions.  Eventually the things were packed and moved and she flew here, beleaguered, a week later.  This included her rescheduled flight being cancelled, for no apparent reason.

In exchange for room and board here, she paid for one large bevy of groceries, and did most of the dinner cooking.  YAAAAAAY for someone to do the dinner cooking!  She is a good cook.  We had paella, spinach enchiladas, broiled salmon, sausages with rice and peas, and more.

We baked So Much (recounted in this post). 

As expected when progeny moves home to the ancestral abode, there have been testy moments, but overall it was marvelous having YD here.  We sang at the piano, we baked, we chatted, we shopped for her new apartment, we watched a weird movie.

Last Friday morning, during the second day of monstrously unhealthy air quality, the Common Household Husband drove YD two hours southeast to her new town.  He drove back that same day, exhausted.  Without YD (as planned).  Sob.  

First impressions of the town.

Also last Friday morning, the house sewer pipe backed up, making our world stinky both inside and out.  Oh, 2026, please stop your mischief!  But CHH and YD left on schedule, leaving me to deal with physical therapy, the exterminator (did I mention we also had ants in the house?) and the plumber.  Those all happened on schedule, with good (so far) outcomes.

Ew,

Ewwwww.

That evening, given the tension of the day, we asked each other dolefully, “Do you think YD is doing okay?”  But we did not text or call.

The next morning, we asked each other, “Do you think YD is doing okay?”  and “Is the sewer line still clear?” But we did not text or call, O Best Beloved.  Miraculously, of her own accord, YD texted us joyfully that the Pod (the container with all her furniture in it) had arrived at the appointed time (unlike the previous time).  And, get this, she has met some of the neighbors!  In the 21st century, that hardly happens any more.  The neighbor who was being evicted for bad behavior has already left.  

Container delivered.  Whew.

We miss YD a lot.  We do have a political campaign staffer living with us – she is charming and I have grown quite fond of her.  But we count this as a return to being empty nesters.  Hooray!

And now, off to new adventures!  If you can call them that, in 2026!

Part 1: Peaches Deliver Joy

Part 2: Chairs and Gardens

It's just a bunch of stuff that happened - Part 2: Chairs and Gardens

Friend's greenhouse on July 7th
teeny cucumbers (or zucchini?)

How it started:

In early May, we volunteered to water a friend’s greenhouse plants for seven weeks in June and July.   And then in late May I got severe sciatica.

How it’s going:

I started physical therapy in late June.  The first thing the physical therapist advised me is:  get a new office chair.  Then, do these 20 exercises/stretches at home.  Don’t do yoga.  Don't do weeding. Whenever you think of it, pull in your belly button to engage your abs.

My Black-eyed Susans on July 3rd. 
The one in the back (storebought) is prissy
 and also a favored snack of the
local wildlife. I doubt it's gonna make it.
The ones in the front are a gift
from the neighbor.

I bought a used high-end office chair.  This required crossing the Ohio River, four times, I tell you.  (There are three major rivers in this county.  Crossing any river is something people here don’t like to do.)  The local office stores had nothing suitable.  I bought from a humongous office furniture warehouse, in a warehousey section of the little river town, all the while astonished they would even entertain selling one small chair to me.   The actual chair and its price are quite comfortable for me.

This is only half of the used chairs they had.

P.T. is SOOOO time consuming.  But also beneficial.  P.T. meant less time for driving (15 minutes each way) to water plants–for a total of at least 45 minutes each time.  I had hoped to make it three times a week, but that dwindled to one or two times.  Some of the plants are thriving, but some are barely making it.  

A lovely 5-inch cucumber.
Large enough to please the Secretary of 
Defense, so I harvested it.

It’s been hellishly hot, and it doesn’t rain inside the greenhouse, so it needs a lot of water.  But not too much, because fungus can grow in the hot and moist greenhouse mini-climate (and so it has). 

I decimated the mushrooms with
the force of hose water.  I do
not think for one moment that
they are actually gone.

Then a huge sinkhole opened up in front of the hospital near where we live, adding 5 minutes to the greenhouse trip.  

Let’s do a short tally of some of the terrifying things so far this month:  

- hellishly hot, due to climate change

- sinkhole (thank God the federal government is not in charge of this one)

- cyclospora parasite infection, nationwide, due to CDC cuts

- screwworm parasite in livestock and pets, surging back, due to DOGE cuts

- dangerous smoke in the air, with AQIs above 400, due to climate change

- sciatica, due to my own stupidity + aging

And this is small potatoes compared to what some human beings are suffering because of current policies. Oh, 2026, why are you doing this?!

Those zucchini/cuke tendrils are
biologically amazing and are spreading
everywhere.  A successful species.

The tomato plants have not produced many flowers, while the cucumbers (or maybe zucchini) are threatening to take over the whole place, as squash do.  Our friend suggested I spread fertilizer and pluck some lower stems off but I simply don’t have time to do actual gardening like that, which makes me sad.

On the bright side, we have harvested some delicious lettuce, 3 beautiful little cucumbers, and 7 green beans.  This is produce that is safe from the evil parasite that the cuts to the CDC have brought us.  Yay!  It's a balm in the face of it all.

The second harvest.

Dear Reader, have you harvested anything from anywhere lately?

Part 1: Peaches Deliver Joy

Part 3 (final in this series): Empty Nest Again