Two more library books done and dusted this week!

First was Miranda July’s All Fours, which I’d been waiting for months to read. I expected this to be sexxxxy; instead I just found it gross and sad. It didn’t help that I went in with a certain amount of identification as a middle-aged perimenopausal woman, but I found the main character really dislikeable and selfish. Which is fine; women can be jerks. But I found myself just not wanting to be in her head. There were multiple points where I found myself literally going “EWWW!” and cringing. I didn’t find any of it sexy, at all.

The second was The Story of a New Name, the second of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels. This one I loved. It continues the story of Lena and her friend Lila as they follow very different paths – the former finishing high school and going to university, while the latter enduring a marriage to a man she hates. It has cliffhanger moments that made me gasp out loud – that ending!! – and others that had me shaking my head in sadness. (Ugh, the night beach scene on Ischia.) And it’s so incredibly specific, which oddly makes it feel more universal. I think I identified most strongly with Lena’s feelings about going away to college, and her anxiety about never quite fitting in with people who came from intellectual families or those with generational wealth. She achieves more success than anyone ever expected, but it isolates her from the world she came from. Even her accent marks her out as not belonging in either place. (Yeah, it me.) And Lila – my heart breaks for her while she also infuriates me. I love her stubbornness and her survival instinct… and I get that the options for an uneducated Neapolitan woman in the 1960s were limited, but she could also be heartless and cruel. I was stunned by her choice on Ischia. It led to so much heartbreak. And of course, there are no good men in these books. None. Every one is a brute in his own way, trampling and using the women around him. Is that because of the culture in that time and place? Or is that really what it’s like? Did I somehow end up with one of the only good ones, or is there a latent brute lurking there too?

Obviously I need something lighter as a chaser now, something with characters that I actually like and who give me hope for the world!

Guess who just passed her RAS volunteering interview? I will officially be volunteering for half a dozen shifts at this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show. I told my friend Jody that I was going to do two shifts in the “Farmyard Nursery” and she was like, “Did you think that through?” 😂 But really, it was that or the Poultry building, and I’m not a big fan of chickens…

Be sure to let me know if you’ll be visiting on any of these days!

Called my Representatives and Senators again, this time to ask them to oppose HR 740, the “Veterans Access Act,” which will contribute to dismantling the Veterans Health Administration. I told them that my grandfather James Harter proudly served in the US military on multiple tours of duty, and at the end of his life support from the VA was vital. HR 740 will be detrimental to the health care of over 9 million US military veterans, and for a nation that says they care about veterans, that’s completely unacceptable.

If you’re an American and care about this issue, I urge you to call your representatives too.

I am a Hoosier born and raised; I’m a tax-paying American citizen; and the Republicans are trying to stop me from voting. The proposed anti-voter SAVE Act would hinder millions of eligible Americans from registering to vote by requiring citizens to present a birth certificate or passport in person to register. All of us overseas – including the military – would be affected. It also means if your documentation doesn’t match your legal name – like if you changed your name when you got married, or you’re trans – you also can’t vote. I’ve just called my Representative and both Senators to leave messages demanding that they oppose this legislation. You should too.

I was on the global board of Women at Amazon for 3 years. I met hundreds of folks working tirelessly on inclusive programs across multiple affinity groups around the world, top of their day jobs for no extra pay. And now this? This is disgusting, a slap in the face to all those Amazonians, and Andy Jassy should be ashamed.

The best time of the year: NYE means it’s time for this year’s Best of Bootie 2024! Banger after banger… 💃

It’s surprisingly hard to find “Jingle Rock Bell” on YouTube, even using quotes, due to YouTube’s assumption that I don’t know what I’m looking for. I assure you, I do. It’s a holiday banger! 🔔🎄

My neighbour a few doors down plays the cello, and with the street quieter for the holidays we can hear it through the open front door. It’s exactly as lovely as you imagine. (She’s a good musician.)

Momentous day! Now that all the furniture is in place and we’ve managed to get rid of most of the moving detritus, we were able to send Reginald Roomba out in his first post-renovation mapping run.