Reading List

 

I am never tempted to join a book club. I might like to read what others are reading, but, honestly, I don't want to read them when others are reading them and on their schedule. I have been tempted by reading clubs where people get together, read quietly from a book, magazine, e-book, or even their own drafts of work and then, if one cares to, one can read a bit from their selection to the group. Drinks and snacks, of course. Always.

I have recently read these four. Took a while because I read actual books at night, in bed, before falling asleep.

The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates. This book ranges from Africa to South Carolina, to Palestine and Israel. Coates talks about writing and reading, book bans, racism, Zionism and more. I read it a few months ago and flipping it open now I can see that I could enjoy rereading parts of it.

Personal Velocity by Rebecca Miller. Each story is about a different woman grappling with life. It is well-done, but I wouldn't read it again.

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut. This book explores links between math and science and the history of people making discoveries. There is some light fictionalization  around some of the characters, like Heisenberg. I could reread this one.

Bibliophobia by Sarah Chihaya. Sarah was an academic struggling to finish work that would get her tenure. She has sought the key to her life in books. She struggled with depression, suicidal ideation, and self-harm. She struggles with her identity. She found that she couldn't read (her solace) or write (her salvation). I had trouble relating to this work. My darkness takes a different form, and most of the literary works cited weren't in my wheelhouse. But as I try to write about it I find myself wondering what I missed.

Walking Downtown

Off we go on a walk to Stevie.

Walking to Stevie (the wonderful statue of local Blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughn on the south side of Lady Bird Lake) is one of our "standard" walks.

We almost always cross the pedestrian bridge over Shoal Creek at Third Street (see above) and walk through the Seaholm Plaza.

Seaholm Plaza, where a power plant once was.

We continue down the steps in Seaholm Plaza to Second Street.

Down the stairs to Second Street.

Then it's across the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge.

Across the Pfluger.

And over to the trail by Vic Mathias Shores.

Along the trail with the skyline across the lake.

We take an obligatory picture with Stevie.

Stevie.

Sometimes we turn around. But today we briefly went to the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel and then continued to the Congress Bridge.

Steps to Congress Bridge.

Crossing the Congress Bridge is quite a view.

Capitol View.

One has to pass Veracruz All Natural without getting a taco.

Mural by Veracruz.

Today we walked on the south side of César Chavez to Colorado as we headed home.

Walking toward the Buford Tower.

Along the way today we noticed some Elon protest.

Elon.

We also noticed that there is a drag brunch at Jo's. Drag won't be allowed at The University of Texas. So we need more drag everywhere.

Drag Brunch at Jo's. Second Sunday of each month.

And it is spring!

Redbuds are the harbinger of Spring there but all kinds of things are blooming and budding. 

Bags and Rags...

and maybe boxes, too. That ratty dish towel or maybe an old bath towel. An undershirt with holes. You hate to throw away a good rag. That perfectly good grocery bag. That cloth tote. That old briefcase or backpack you used to carry. You could put things inside it. And carry it. And of course here's a great box, a perfect size for, well, something. A bunch of giveaway First and Business class toiletry kits. Some with tiny tubes of toothpaste or other toiletries. It's hard to part with things that could be useful in a pinch. They put pens in those freebie bags (using the term loosely, those seats on the plane are expensive). How many pens do we have around here? How many actually still have ink?

Sometimes I think I will have reduced my possessions to just these things. Rags for just in case and containers with nothing in them. Or some miscellaneous possibly useless things. And supplies of pens and staples and paper goods. A giant bag of rubber bands, gradually hardening and cracking.

Oh and masks. I still wear one in our elevators at my high rise when I remember. But I have settled on one kind: a disposable KN95. So there are a bunch around of other types. But I should keep them just in case. Right?

I suppose, really, if you could whittle things down to the essentials then it wouldn't be so bad to have supplies of "just in case" stuff. (Yeah, I have bottles of water, too.) Instead, I also have clothes I don't wear, books and magazines I've read (and lots I haven't), and a lot of CDs and DVDs. I did purge a bunch of CDs to the thrift store but kept a lot of jazz ones because I like to look at the liner notes. Or even play them directly instead of off my old, ahem, iPod! And we have collections. Glassware, paintings, geegaws, etc. But more on that later.

Memories...in T-Shirts

One day I was looking for an Armadillo World Headquarters T-Shirt. It was purchased around 2013 when we had a party celebrating the anniversary of our first date. The AWH had been out of business for many years (1980) but the T-Shirts survived at Threadgill's Restaurant (both locations are now gone). Many memories surround both the original venue and the restaurant. We had our first date on Thanksgiving Night in 1975 at the Armadillo. We saw Marcia Ball and the Misery Brothers there that night. (We hired Marcia's current band for our party, too.) 

I was looking for the shirt because of a party we were invited to that celebrated the 50th Anniversary of some friends. We were instructed to dress like the '70s so I chose worn-out denim jeans and this T-Shirt marking an iconic Austin '70s spot with a denim shirt and a few pins. 

I have tried to get rid of T-Shirts but there are a dozen or more in my drawers. Some evoke memories, and some are merely good to throw on to cover the body for cleaning or exercising. I keep a lot of things because they would be good to wear to do some dirty work or in a pinch. As my hiking boots wear out, inside and out, I replace them, but, in a pinch, the old ones would do for a comfortable water-resistant, and stable pair. They don't hold memories as much as the T-Shirts. But some do. 

If I were to write a memoir...

 I'd like to know what approach I'd take. Chronological? By topic? (Relationships, influences from people and events, objects, school experiences, jobs, attire and hairstyle, trips.) More spaced-out stream of consciousness? Sometimes I think I should write something like "my life in x objects." The other day,  after finally shutting off a landline I've had for almost fifteen years, I filled a large sack with wired phones and portable phone connection gadgets. Many such phones have passed through my hands, including some with rotary dials.

I've decided to spend a few minutes a day pondering these questions. Because, if I'm ever going to write a memoir, I should start thinking about it! I will have my diamond jubilee this year.

Last year I reviewed some old paper journals and notes (from September through early December 1972) when I went off to tramp around Europe with a Eurail Pass and no reservations. I chronicled this a bit on Facebook and some of my (few) followers were amused. I was surprised by some of the thoughts and activities I'd written down but didn't remember thinking or doing. There are a few "artifacts" of that trip remaining. A lambswool scarf I bought and still have and wear. An acrylic lap blanket celebrating the 1972 Olympics. (Which I didn't attend. I arrived in Munich a bit after the event. I think I bought the blanket at a factory doing a close-out that some friends discovered.) Somewhere there is an Oktoberfest poster. (I did attend that.) Memories in things. There are some old ticket stubs and maps in a box somewhere. Some were scanned. See below. That trip had a lasting impression on me and formed me in many ways. I'm not in contact with any of the people I met during that journey, but some were definitely an influence on me. 

Holiday Cards

 

I sent postcards with images of us in Paris at the Wrapped Arc de Triomphe as a New Year Greeting. They go in the mail today. I was waiting to see if 2022 really arrived.

We got about 40 cards from people (and one fruit cake and one box of goodies with a card inside) and a couple of electronic or email greetings. At least half included pictures of family. A couple of friends our age sent cards with only pictures of kids and grandkids. I'd like to see how gray their hair is, though. One extended family always sends huge tri-fold. There are always weddings and graduations. Three had those extensive letters that exhaust me just reading about all the activities with kids and grandkids. I sent 89 postcards. I sent one family two of them, I realized. (I knew this before I mailed them, but thought I'd just send them anyway and test the postal system.) We may get some more cards this week but the season is pretty done I guess. I get fewer and send fewer every year. Every year we get a small stack from organizations and businesses. I don't really know why they bother.

I hand-addressed and wrote a brief greeting on each of mine. I used to print labels. I have an Access database with addresses. It has 756 entries. Many don't have a proper address. There are quite a few people whose names don't ring a bell. I used to eliminate the people who had passed. I don't do that any longer and instead, just make a comment in a review column. I note on lines where I know the address is wrong or where a couple has split and, you know, who knows who is where and with whom. The database is becoming a sort of repository of the past, a time capsule. And that is OK. I think I only do this exercise and then write about it to connect briefly with some of the lives that have passed my way.

Holiday Cards, The Final Act

 

During the holiday season we clipped and hung cards we received (along with our stockings and some Santa bendies) to a screen in our entryway.

I sent around 45 holiday letters and received about the same number of cards and letters from individuals. (We also receive quite a few from non-profits and businesses.) This is down from 150 plus going both directions in some years.

We got two Thanksgiving cards, two or three new year greetings, I think. Many cards were personal creations with pictures of families and pets. Letters recounted the COVID year. Some were just commercial cards with poinsettias, trees, stars, wise men, doves, wreaths, presents, Santas, snow, puppies, kittens, reindeer, snowmen. There was a glittery unicorn and two (2) with glittery Thomas Kinkade painting images. (The painter of light and glitter? Um.) There were personal notes here and there, many involving hopes for meet-ups "after."

Except for one cool reindeer card, the rest are consigned to trash (photos and glitter) or recycling. I save some nice ones in the Christmas decoration box to display in the future. I'll pack up the rest of the decorations soon and the holidays will be officially over giving way to tax season.