WWW.WEDNESDAY

 

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up

1. What are you currently reading? Miami, It's Murder by Edna Buchanan. Britt Montero is a dedicated crime reporter in 1990s Miami. It's summer in the city and she has plenty to do. There's the bandit with body odor who is robbing banks. There's the rapist who stalks white color women in major office buildings. And there's little Mary Beth. She was raped and murdered 20 years ago and her case is still unsolved. Britt wants to see justice finally done.

 

I like Britt and her best bud, a photographer named Lottie. That's important in a series like this, which is too dark to be called "cozy."

2. What did you recently finish reading? Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York by Andrew Lownie. I am a Royal Watcher, but have always found Andrew and Fergie among the least interesting. This book shows that there is a story here that needs to be told. It's sad and ugly, but it was worth reading.

 

They're both depressing figures. She's "needy and greedy," a damaged woman with few coping skills who was easily seduced wealth and attention. He's worse: not bright, not talented, and a moral vacuum. Unlike the other "spares" I've read about – second born heirs to the throne who find themselves displaced as soon as their nephews were born – Andrew seems to be a uniquely empty vessel. Troubled though they seemed, Princess Margaret and Prince Harry displayed greater substance. Margaret honestly loved her sister and mother and was extremely loyal. Harry wants to be true to his mother's legacy and do good. But Andrew? He seems to want to golf and get laid.

 

Yes, there's a lot of Epstein here. It was illuminating to see how he operated. Not everyone ensnared in his web was a sex offender. They all do seem to have been, like Sarah, vulnerable to blackmail. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but there seems to be plenty of evidence that Epstein had ties to intelligence all over the world. Perhaps Congress should look into that, as well into whatever the hell it is that Donald Trump so desperately wants to keep hidden. 

3. What will you read next?  Something lighter. 

 

  

Fan mail!

I got into the store yesterday and found a little red envelope, addressed to me, stuck to the message board with a magnet.

 

I got fan mail! A thank you note from Lynn, a woman who came into the card shop last week in distress. Every year her company holds a very early holiday party and nesting dolls are at the center. She forgot, simply forgot, to order the nesting dolls and now there was simply no time, not even for Amazon. 

I unfortunately had to tell her we had no nesting dolls. She looked like I'd broken her heart.

So I made a suggestion: What if we nested gift boxes inside of bigger gift boxes? It wasn't a perfect plan. The boxes didn't fit as neatly as the nesting dolls would have and we could only fix it to go three deep, as opposed to the five figures in a typical nesting dolls set. 

She was thrilled. So much so that she wrote out a card and walked it over to the store, letting me know "the box game" was a hit and thanking me for my "expertise and support."

I don't think I fully realized how important gratitude makes one feel until I worked with the public at the card shop. Her little card made me so happy. It was satisfying to know I played a part in their office party. 

I must remember to pay this forward and thank people who help me at stores and restaurants.

 

 

Happy Birthday to Me, Part 2

My aunt sent me a big box of teas again this year. It's very sweet, really. Since she moved to Florida decades ago, she recalls Chicagoland as an arctic tundra and wants to help me ward off the cold. The thing of it is she sends me more than I can ever drink. So I will go through the box and what I know I won't consume, I'll either donate to the food pantry or give to Will and Gregory when we meet for Thanksgiving dinner. 

She also included a festive little Christmas pin. I mentioned on Facebook that I lost one last year and was bummed about it. Again, it was so sweet of her to remember that after all this time and act on it.

What's sad about this is how small her world has become. Like many who are MAGA (or MAGA adjacent), she just can't resist telling the rest of us how very wrong we are. And reveal what a racist homophobe she is. Her oldest son, my sisters, and her adult grandchildren are all estranged from her. She has a great grandchild she hasn't seen. She's been enduring health problems – as people knocking on 80 will – and is hurt that they don't check on her. The only Mother's Day gifts she receives anymore are from me (she's my Godmother). 

I wonder if the cold comfort she receives by "being right" about Trump is worth it. 

I prefer to focus on the fact that she's one of two people left on earth who held me as a baby. I choose to treasure that she loves me and is my last tie to my favorite grandparents.*

And I cannot wait until this MAGA fever breaks and I can celebrate my birthday without Donald Trump intruding on it!

*My grandmother never missed church and was very active in the congregation and the Girl Scouts. She was every inch a lady. My grandfather was a German immigrant who was outspoken in his support of unions and Democrats from FDR to Jimmy Carter (<<< President when he died). They would be appalled by MAGA.

 

Photo by Olena Bohovyk on Unsplash