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I walked to Moodz for my haircut and back. Later in the day, I got a walk with M.
I tried on and off to read _Unmentionable_ for book group this evening. I got halfway through. The research seems excellent, but the "darlings" and "my dears" and similar really became distracting as I proceeded through the book. Also, pretty sure I'm not the target audience -- I've never looked at the 19th century as romantic. And a lot of the appeal of the Little House books for me was the getting a job and becoming somewhat independent aspects of it.
I had dinner with A. and L. When asked what I wanted to drink, instead of saying whatever you are having or water, which is what I would usually do, I asked if they had any whisky. I was expecting a no. Instead, A. had an amazing stash of small bottles and a couple seagram's bottles -- and one Schenley, which I'd never even heard of before but tasted really good. I have to remember to actually _ask_ for things I would like to have, because magic happens when I do.
Dinner was excellent -- pasta with meat sauce and some vegetables, with apple cranberry scones for dessert. Her scones are so amazing, and she is so kind to make them so that I can eat them (no milk products).
Book group was well attended! In addition to M. (the librarian), A. and I, K. came and so did M. (the nurse). We hadn't seen either of them since summer, so we chatted a bit about previous month's selections as well as this one. Nice to get their input on things like the Nora Roberts, but attempts to get feedback on Silas Marner sort of failed. The consensus on _Unmentionable_ was what I had thought: the "darlings" and "my dears" was wearing. However, others made it a lot further than I did, and we did have really nice discussion about women in the 19th century, and I ruminated a bit on how you could line up some of our book selections from this year (_Unmentionable_, _Gaudy Night_, _Born in Fire_, the Gloria Steinem memoir, etc.) and map the progression of women's rights and opportunities, evolving from no property, no vote, no education, no career, just get married and have kids and your health problems are your own fault to education and career OR marriage, but not both, to education and career AND marriage, through significant political and cultural influence. It wasn't intentional, but it's been nice to see that progression represented.
I tried on and off to read _Unmentionable_ for book group this evening. I got halfway through. The research seems excellent, but the "darlings" and "my dears" and similar really became distracting as I proceeded through the book. Also, pretty sure I'm not the target audience -- I've never looked at the 19th century as romantic. And a lot of the appeal of the Little House books for me was the getting a job and becoming somewhat independent aspects of it.
I had dinner with A. and L. When asked what I wanted to drink, instead of saying whatever you are having or water, which is what I would usually do, I asked if they had any whisky. I was expecting a no. Instead, A. had an amazing stash of small bottles and a couple seagram's bottles -- and one Schenley, which I'd never even heard of before but tasted really good. I have to remember to actually _ask_ for things I would like to have, because magic happens when I do.
Dinner was excellent -- pasta with meat sauce and some vegetables, with apple cranberry scones for dessert. Her scones are so amazing, and she is so kind to make them so that I can eat them (no milk products).
Book group was well attended! In addition to M. (the librarian), A. and I, K. came and so did M. (the nurse). We hadn't seen either of them since summer, so we chatted a bit about previous month's selections as well as this one. Nice to get their input on things like the Nora Roberts, but attempts to get feedback on Silas Marner sort of failed. The consensus on _Unmentionable_ was what I had thought: the "darlings" and "my dears" was wearing. However, others made it a lot further than I did, and we did have really nice discussion about women in the 19th century, and I ruminated a bit on how you could line up some of our book selections from this year (_Unmentionable_, _Gaudy Night_, _Born in Fire_, the Gloria Steinem memoir, etc.) and map the progression of women's rights and opportunities, evolving from no property, no vote, no education, no career, just get married and have kids and your health problems are your own fault to education and career OR marriage, but not both, to education and career AND marriage, through significant political and cultural influence. It wasn't intentional, but it's been nice to see that progression represented.