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This is my first post!
April is indeed the cruellest month but honestly it’s had some tough competition. On March 17, the bookstore I work for closed it’s doors to the public. Everyone’s job was in jeopardy. Rent was due. I needed to buy my mom her meds. And so like, everyone else in the world, I cried for two straight weeks. I cried everyday out of fear, anxiety, devastation and desperation.
Then on April 3, I got married.
Yep in the midst of my own terror, a wedding happened. Within a week, we decided to move our wedding up a year out of fear of my own healthcare coverage and for spousal rights in case anything were to happen.
A week later, our cat Jax Taylor (pictured above), passed away suddenly.
Needless to say, it’s been one hell of a month.
But enough about me. Here’s a list of some of the things, besides my husband, helping to keep me sane.
Books
- How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang
Set during the California Gold Rush, the story follows siblings Lucy and Sam who are recently orphaned when their father Ba dies. What unfolds is not just their family story but also the story of America, it’s land and its history. The novel is epic and profound.
Currently Reading
I’ll be honest, it’s been hard to read since the store closed to the public. My mind won’t sit still. Until I started reading Parakeet by Marie-Helen Bertino. I’m a quarter of the way through and it’s strange and bizarre and the story has me hooked!
Podcasts
- Heathcliff vs. Darcy: Who’s the Bigger Sh*t?
Every English literature nerd has had this debate or similar ones: Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice v. Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. If you’ve read both of these books, you’d think it’s obvious. Darcy Wins. But novelists Philip Hensher, Sarah Moss, and Dolly Alderton argue it’s not a clear-cut answer. This is a (ridiculously) necessary (and silly) listen for every bookworm.
Music
- Fetch the Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple
At first listen, I hated it. At the end of the first song, “I Want You to Love Me” she ends the song with what sounds like a combo of scatting and a bird dying and that’s when she lost me. I did a hard eye roll and half-listened to the rest of the album.
But it’s Fiona Apple. So I gave it another listen. I had to. And I’m so grateful I did! It’s funny and angry and smart and feminist.
“Under the Table” is my national anthem for the year. “I would beg to disagree, but begging disagrees with me.”
That being said, I never listen to the first track all the way through.
TV
- Parks and Recreation
I’m ashamed to admit this but I had never seen Parks and Rec before the pandemic. In an effort to cheer me up, my husband recommended we watch it. He said, “I will always do a rewatch of Parks and Rec.” And to be honest, I wanted to see if it lived up to the hype. I mean it does have all the people I love. I felt positive I was going to enjoy it. But the real question was “is it really that funny?” YES. YES IT IS. I feel like such an idiot.
Also, I’ll do (almost) anything to see Ron Swanson giggle.
- Never Have I Ever
A thoughtful show on teenage romance and angst. It made me pause more than it made me laugh. The show begins with a tragedy, Devi’s father dies of a heart attack while attending her school recital. Immediately afterwards Devi inexplicably loses the use of her legs. The scene shook me. I had never seen that kind of trauma manifested in that way on screen.
When I was in kindergarten that happened to me. My father did not die. Instead he left in a very dramatic fashion and I loss use of my legs for a short period of time. It is something I never speak about because it is hard to explain. There wasn’t a proper medical explanation for what happened; and it was hard to make people understand. But I know it happened. I remember everything about the day I lost use of my legs. But I never spoke of it. In fact, I never told my husband until I saw the first episode of the show. I started to cry. And then I told him. And he held me. And I felt glad once again that I married him.