Seen In West Chester

July 2020 Books

* I Think I'm Outta Here ¹ ² by Carroll O'Connor - I listened to this in March of last year and had this to say: Would have absolutely loved this to be unabridged but listening to Carroll O'Connor tell his memories of childhood, adulthood, fatherhood, and life as one of television's most memorable faces was just wonderful.

♥ Sense & Sensibility ¹ by Jane Austen - Rosamund Pike did a phenomenal job narrating and I wish she read all of Austen's books. At least there's still Pride and Prejudice which I plan on reading/listening to in the next month or so.

More Than Love ¹ by Natasha Gregson Wagner - I wish that this book told more stories about the family and Natalie's life. Lots of great stuff, just wanted more from before Natalie Wood's passing.

* No Walls and the Recurring Dream ¹ by Ani DiFranco - It was so great to listen to Ani tell her life story but it left me wanting more!! Hoping this is volume one of many more to come!

¹ - audiobook
² - abridged version
* - liked
♥ - loved
Any unmarked titles were, in my opinion, so-so.

Kay's Happy Stash from 2017

Kayla posted this somewhere online a while back. Just cards and letters and photos of things that she cherishes and I was tickled to see so many of mine!

A Return to Grounds for Sculpture

I hadn't been back to Grounds since last October with Godmommy Gina. This time Anne was my sidekick, and even though it was humid and a bit yucky, we made the best of it. I did snap some decent photos and we both discovered sculptures that we hadn't noticed before. Of course I had to go to my favourite part of the entire place - Forest of the Subconscious which leads to Gloria Vanderbilt's remarkable Heart's Desire. I'm looking forward to going back when the weather is much, much cooler. Hoping to introduce the place to Bishop and to Wayne in the upcoming months. Here are some of today's best shots.

Hampden Disappointment

I picked up Jax at Chrissy and Chase's this morning and we dashed on down to Baltimore for a Hampden Junque garage sale going on from 9 til 2pm. (We were hoping to locate the little brown ceramic car that would go with our blue and yellow ones.) We arrived at 1, it wasn't raining, we found a parking space, located the alley where the sale was going on where we saw Michal and some friends moving boxes in and out of a garage. I was super excited to have the chance to buy once more at our fave shop in Charm City. That's when they dropped the bombshell that they actually closed out the sale at noon. Terrific. They didn't bother to mention this on their Instagram account and we drove all the way there for freakin' nothing. We were so disappointed. We scowled and walked back to the car then headed to Atomic Books, our new number one fave shop in Baltimore. Jax wasn't allowed in because he's under ten (grrrr....) but the nice man that worked there, Benn, kept an eye on Jackson and chatted with him about books while I picked up some goodies. Then we went to MOM's for a sushi bowl and snacks, drove to the top floor of the Rotunda parky garage and had a front seat car picnic. Our day didn't go as we had planned but we both made the best of it and had a great time together, as always.

Reigned Supreme

The passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is soul crushing and makes me fear that my country is forever doomed without her on the bench. I can't even think about her replacement. Certain to be another sex offender, since two (that we know of) on the country's highest court just isn't enough to satisfy the male leaders of this land. Honestly, if tomorrow I woke up to hear that they were reinstating slavery, I would not be surprised. The US is moving backwards at an alarming and sickening pace. Breonna Taylor's murderers walking away with not even a slap on the wrist is just another reminder that only old white men matter. It's so upsetting.  

Help Me Help You Help Me

This Saturday night I'll be heading to Rush Tix to check out another Maria Bamford show. This one should be interesting!

ps - Maria was fantastic. Here are some of my fave expressions from the cutest gal West of the Mississippi.

UR Beaker

I have had this super rad glass beaker since Amy was in college. For twenty years I've carried it around to all the homes I've had and never used it because I was afraid it might break. Today I decided to hell with it and finally put it to use. So here's a photo, just in case it does break.

ps - I'm nearly done Fatal Charms and the Mansions of Limbo and am falling more in love with Dominick Dunne's writing as each page turns. Also, those cooks are Trader Joe's Neapolitan Joe-Joe's. They are dee-lish!

Retro-gram Silliness

Saw a hilarious 1993 advert for a headphone adapter product and had to share it with Dave.

Jim Bachor Street Art

Amber posted a pic of Jim Bachor's latest piece and I really love it.

Installation near the intersection of Lowell and Argyle in Chi-town. In the post Jim stated Started doing this 7+ years ago with essentially no pushback from anyone. I doubt everyone would have had the same experience.

Birmingham, PA

On my way home from Baldwin's yesterday I had to pull over and snap some photos of the gorgeous green fields, the blue, blue sky, and fluffy wool fleece clouds. Pennsylvania has so many lovely places and West Chester is one of my favourites to drive through, but I have to be careful and remind myself to watch the road and not just admire the homes and scenery. I'm glad today that I found this little parky lot and took a couple minutes to soak in the perfect weather and the perfect view.

Back to Baldwin's with Wayne

I am trying my best to keep Baldwin's Book Barn in business by bringing as many friends and family as often as possible. Today, Wayne and I sat in the Adirondack chairs and talked for a couple hours before heading in. I picked up a book for Anne, two for Jackson and for me - a gorgeous Folio Society book of The Best of Dorothy Parker. Looking forward to going back next month with Xavier and Bishop and maybe even Mum!

 

Hollywood

Just a great, great series with a wonderful twist of combining fiction and reality with a wonderful ending. Plus Dylan McDermott sports gorgeous grey hair and a sexy 'stache. 

(photo kidnapped from thechant)

Letter from Jax

On Sunday Jackson and I filled out some letters at the table and I made him write one to me. It came in last night's mail and was just what I needed. Things at my job are changing according to "the business needs" and there's very little communication. Usually it's just a rug being pulled out and a pie full of anxiety right in the face. I'm in a constant feeling of stress and strain, as change and the unknown are really difficult for me. Some people love to go with the flow and thrive in an ever-changing environment. That's just not me. I get paranoid and begin to think that the changes are stemming from hatred and dislike and that management is out to get me. (There are a lot of cliques and mean girls at the office so this isn't unfounded.) I'm sure they don't even think about me but it's still reaching my breaking point and I'm spiraling into "what's the point - nothing goes my way - I'm stuck - I'm alone - it's been forever and nothing is getting better in any area..." At least when work was okay I could suck it up and move forward, but now it's like there is zero good in my life. Nothing to look forward to anymore. This letter really helped.

From Lisa

On the day of the Pre-Labor Day get together I had run a bunch of errands over in Bryn Mawr then come back across the bridge to Xavier and Mary's. I was four bites in to my Naked Lunch Moler Bowl when I realised that I had completely forgotten to get gluten free goodies for Lisa at Sweet Freedom Bakery! I stupidly texted her the night before to see if there was something she wanted and I knew she'd be disappointed since there were only GF box cookies for her and tons of treats for the non-GF peeps. I hopped in to Roark and drove the 30 miles back to where I had just come from. (MOM's Organic Market is a block away from the bakery.) I smartly checked their hours on Google and would get there a wee bit before closing. I pulled in to the empty parky lot to discover they were fucking closed. God damn Covid. I called Mary and we cracked up at my situation. I went back to MOM's and got Enjoy Life Crunchy Chocolate Chip cooks (which are really yummy!) and a dark chocolate Hail Merry tart then drove the 30 miles back to the party. I wasn't mad or anything, it was more funny than anything else. Fast forward to today, Xavier calls to tell me an order of cupcakes arrived. Huh??! So I told him it's gotta be a mistake and go on and just open it. Look at what that sweet lady had sent to me:

(Review to follow tomorrow afternoon!)

Bent Past the Breaking Playlist

Labi Siffre - Crying, Laughing, Loving
Owen Campbell - Sunshine Road
Conchita Wurst - Moonraker
Tom Waker - Dominoes
Kiersey Clemons & Nick Offerman - Everything Must Go
Marilyn Manson - Killing Strangers
Elvis Costello - Watching the Detectives
Death Cab for Cutie - Man In Blue
Cast of Hamilton - Alexander Hamilton
Emily King - Radio
Stars - Take Me to the Riot
The Proclaimers - I'm On My Way
Damien Jurado - November 20
The War on Drugs - Lost in The Dream
Alt-J - Deadcrush
Wolf Alice - Formidable Cool
The 10:04s - Lights Out
Goodnight Radio - Sophia So Far
Artful Dodger - Woman Trouble
Gus Glasser - Wasting Plastic
Miel - Mean Something
Hozier - Would That I
Christine & the Queens - La Marcheuse
Donny Hathaway - Love, Love, Love
Ariel Pink - Put Your Number in My Phone
Autodrone - Kerosene Dreams
The Ruts - Babylon's Burning
Lily Allen - Smile
Edwyn Collins - If You Could Love Me (acoustic)
Rachel Portman - Positano
Death - Rock-N-Roll Victim
Grizzly Bear - Neighbors
Stellastarr* - In the Walls
Lizzo - Soulmate
Vum - Red Flag
Le Butcherettes - Love Someone
CHVRCHES - By the Throat
Lady Gaga - Teeth
8½ Souvenirs - Black Trombone
Robert Randolph & the Family Band - The March
Andra Day - Goodbye Goodnight
Ollabelle - Soul of a Man
Janelle Monáe - Many Moons
Mogwai - Little Boy

Package from Helen

I sent out postcards not too long ago and Ms. Helen Coldwell got the one for letter C. Today I went to the post office to pick up the package and found a lovely note from my favourite gal in the whole of the United Kingdom. (Sorry, Judi Dench, you're in a close second place.)