Weekly Wrap-Up

• Since I don't commute anymore, my life has been largely sans audiobooks for the past seven months. Really, before that, since I switched jobs to be much closer to home. I got into audiobooks when I had a long, at least 45-minute commute, each way (sometimes one, or on a couple memorable occasions, two hours, if I was unlucky). I'd never been much into them before, but I loved them for driving. Sometimes, I'd even stay in the car for a few minutes after I got home. But I don't read audiobooks much at home. I've tried a few over the past several months, usually because that's all I could get from the library digitally when there were long waits for ebooks, before my library started offering contactless pickup. Even now, I prefer borrowing ebooks when I can. But with all the audiobooks I tried, because I needed to get the read in before a book club meeting, I would keep following asleep. And missing things. And having a hell of a time finding out where I was supposed to be whenever I woke up. The other night, though, I was having trouble sleeping, as I often do nowadays, and I thought, why not try an audiobook? I decided to listen to a book I'd already read, and that way it didn't matter when I fell asleep. That was the goal!
• For my first shot at this project, I chose Wild by Cheryl Strayed, a book I enjoyed several years ago, am quite familiar with, and wouldn't need to worry about remembering any complicated plot or character details since it's about her hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. Wherever I found myself in the book, I could enjoy being in the moment with Strayed. I have to say, this is one of my more brilliant ideas. I'm enjoying falling asleep to the book, and though I often wake up at odd times, I can dip back in anywhere I want. I'm somewhere between halfway and three quarters through, depending what you count. Which I'm not! It all counts :-)

Currently Reading

• Wild audiobook to sleep (reread)
• The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson, which I suggested to my book club after enjoying her recent release, The Imperfects
• Martha Stewart Living--so much to learn about laundry! I'm thinking about cutting out parts to make into the scrapbooks like the packhorse librarians of Kentucky did in The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
• Better Homes & Gardens (yes, I did go on a pandemic magazine subscription spree)

Just Finished

• Peggy Rowe's hilarious book of short stories, About My Mother. Not only is it a humorous, relaxing read, but Rowe grew up in my hometown of Baltimore, and some of her struggles revolve around her mother's intense Baltimore Orioles fandom :-) Recommended, especially for Baltimore fans!

Other Things

• As I'm sure many of you are here, I'm acutely distressed about the political situation in the United States, and I want to do everything in my power to make sure I and everyone I know votes to take down fascism
• This week, after the death of the venerable Ruth Bader Ginsburg (may her memory be for a revolution), I called all the Republican senators on the judiciary committee who are up for reelection, and let them (well, their answering machines) know my thoughts
• I'm planning to write postcards too.
• I also saw a Facebook friend writing postcards to women in low voter turnout areas through the L
  eague of Women Voters, so I will do that too
• I'm strongly considering attending a Women's March protest in October. I haven't been to any protects since the pandemic started, and I know I was being conscious of health, but I regret that. Racism is a pandemic too. 
• I'm making weekly small donations to the Biden campaign. It's not enough, but at least it's something.
• I've ordered my absentee ballot. According to tracking, my application has been processed. Ballots were supposed to be mailed Sept. 24, so I expect mine soon. Check where you can order yours if you haven't already: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/vote-by-mail-a-state-by-state-guide-to-absentee-ballot-voting/ar-BB13ZSXX
• If you're a United States voter, I need you to vote for Biden.
•  Even if you're not a Democrat.
•  Even if you hate Democrats.
•  Even if you're a die-hard Bernie stan. 
• Biden is not perfect. He is not even great. But he is not a power-hungry corrupt narcissist psychopath who only cares about himself and is blithely letting over 200,000 (Say it with me: OVER. TWO. HUNDRED. THOUSAND.) Americans die on his watch, and saying stuff like he doesn't know if he can guarantee a peaceful transition of power, which, you know, hasn't been a problem in over 200 years of our government, and oh yeah, members of our military are "losers" for being so stupid as to lose their lives or limbs defending our country. 
• Electing Biden is the first step to saying no to fascism. It is not the last. 
• Thank you for listening.