Natalia in Panama

After the trip to Lima, Natalia, Brett, and Teo stopped for a handful of days in Panama, where they stayed at a lovely apartment and saw monkeys in the jungle!! Since Natalia is the bestest, she kept me up to date via Signal and it was so fun to experience it from afar.

Natalia's Peruvian Adventure!

Natalia had a fabulous time in Perú and sent me pictures from museums, of local architecture, street art, and gi-wombus flowers! The best though was the photo of three women that she met, one of whom was carrying, in her backpack wrap thing) the cutest little baby ever.

What the hell??!?!

The award for grossiest sandwich imaginable, possibly even worse than Gidget's Heartbreak Special goes to.......this bizarre dream I had back in 2020.

Destination Doughs

If it were up to me, I'd have made a Belgian chocolate filled doughnie and then an Amalfi lemon filled, in honour of Positano. For the third...how about baklava flavoured with a filo dough top and stuffed with gooey bits of pistachio to make me think of traveling to Greece or Armenia. It's good to dream!!

June 2026 Books

** Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Seaside Corpse by Marthe Jocelyn with illustrations by Isabelle Follath - My god! The writing by Jocelyn is damn near poetic at times. Scratch that, it is poetic. There was a bit at the start of a chapter when Aggie is in a tent by the seashore and the description was so good that I could hear the light passing of a breeze against the tent and the surf lapping against the sandy pebbled beach. I even took a photo of the page so I would remember to share it here: But the white canvas glowed in today's early sunshine, making it seem that I had slept inside a seashell. The rolling murmur of waves was as steady as blood through a vein. I love when an author overly describes things because it allows me to jump into the story as if I were Mary Poppins with Bert and the children, popping in to the chalk painting and becoming a part of it. I was able to peer over Aggie's shoulder and watch the unearthing of a new dinosaur and sit beside her in the tent gazing in amazement as Hector volunteered in the circus show. I so, so hope that more is to come in this fantastic series.

♥ Narwhal Peanut Butter and Jelly by Ben Clanton - I thought no series could be cuter than Dog Man by Dav Pilkey, but then I discovered Narwhal and Jelly, the stinkin' cutiest cute-cutes in all the land. Or, sea rather. Regardless of where they roam, Narwhal and Jelly are adorable to the max and I look forward to one day having every book in the series. This one is about a narwhal that eats only waffles until he is introduced to peanut butter cookies by his jellyfish pal. Who wouldn't want to read a story like that? Well, if such a person exists, I do not want them in my circle of friends, that's for sure.

Penny Parker Mystery Stories: Tale of the Witch Doll by Mildred A. Wirt - I had high hopes that this series of books by my favourite Nancy Drew author would be a new go-to for relaxing reads in between heavier ones. Nope. It was blah and I put it in one of the Little Free Library boxes right after I was done with it. Wholly unmemorable.

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

May 2026 Books

♥ Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Body Under the Piano by Marthe Jocelyn with illustrations by Isabelle Follath - I am hooked on this series! I started with the third book, since it was the only one available at the book shop I was in, and liked it so much I bought the other three books. The Body Under the Piano was the one that started it all and I loved learning how Hector and Aggie met and became friends. The next book takes place at Christmastime, so I'm saving it for December. On to book four!

Post Script:

A Little Life ¹ by Hanya Yanagihara - I can't remember a character I identified with more than Jude St. Francis, the man at the center of Yanagihara's disturbing and distressing book. I only made it 58% through the audiobook and had to give up. I Googled the plotline because I wanted something good to happen to Jude but it never did. Or rather, the scraps of happiness he experienced never made up for the horror that was inflicted upon him. Listening to the exceptional Matt Bomer narrate and tell me one despicable thing after another that happened to Jude from childhood onward became exhausting. I spent an entire two and a half hour car ride to Phoenixville in tears, feeling crushed that little boy Jude was so unloved and uncared for. He eventually found a group of wonderful men that saw his goodness and beauty but no matter what, the trauma that Jude went through was too much and he never believed that anyone would ever love him for real. It got to a point where I became angry with Yanagihara for hurting Jude. Like when we were all furious with the writers of Downton Abbey for having our beloved Anna be raped in season four. Don't make me love someone and then hurt them and expect me to keep coming back for more. It got to where I was having trouble sleeping because I would just remember and replay all the sexual trauma that sweet Jude went through, only to find that his entire life was tragic and awful. (And I do not think a handful of moments with great friends makes up for decades of abuse and neglect.) I returned it to Libby early and put on The Nanny to push away the heartache of meeting Jude St. Francis and then having to find out the cruelty he suffered. (It's a known fact that Fran Drescher can heal all emotional pain. I turn to that series when I need to feel peace and to crack up laughing. It never disappoints.) I'm finally getting around to posting this in July and still, at least every other day I think of Jude. A sweet, caring, broken man who I came to love and continue to feel enraged at what Yanagihara subjected him to. How dare she. I'll never read another thing she wrote for asa long as I live.

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

July Ends

Strange - Celeste

Away - Cam Cole

Bulls on Parade - Rage

I Happen to Like New York - Bobby Short

Accidents Will Happen - Elvis Costello

Bloodstream - Tokio Myers

Bring It On Home to Me - Sam Cooke

Half-Breed - Cher

I've Been Loving You Too Long - Otis Redding

You're No Good - Linda Ronstadt

I Wanna Be Around - Tony Bennett

Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell

How About You? - Frank Sinatra

Let Go - Frou Frou

Furnace Room Lullaby - Neko Case

Mockingbirds - Grant Lee Buffalo

What If I Loved You - Joey Gian

Wedding Bell Blues - The Fifth Dimension

Last Night I Had A Dream - Randy Newman

I Know You're Out There Somewhere - Moody Blues

Model House Opening - Troy Herion

I'll Come Running (To Tie Your Shoe) - Brian Eno

Hello Young Lovers - Mel Tormé 

I Used to Care - Louyah

Dance To This - Troye Sivan feat. Ariana Grande

Rama Bauer - Tony Lagare

- July 2021 Playlist