Five Things About... We Are the Babysitter's Club

We Are the Babysitter’s Club: Essays and Artwork from Grown-Up Readers by various writers and artists 

As a huge BSC fan from about, maybe, second to fifth grade this was nostalgia city. I always wanted to be a Stacy, but was probably 80% Mary Anne, 10% Kristy and 10% Mallory.

 
I loved the mix of both critical and complimentary pieces. There’s a lot to dissect when looking at treatment of race, disabilities, and gender. Martin got some of it right, ahead of her time, and some not so much. 

The collection was representative of a diverse group of writers and artists, which I really appreciated. BSC meant so many different things to so many different people. 

I love that I wasn’t the only person who loathed the chapter reviewing who everyone was and what they were like at the beginning of each book. The worst. 

The flow and organization was well-done, but I will say one minor complaint I did have was that a few of the pieces felt slightly redundant. 

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

 

1. Still in shock that LA Unified is mandating vaccines- obviously we know I am pro-vax, but I am a little surprised that they're making such a bold move, given their size. I love that they had a closed-door session yesterday that had one agenda item- impending litigation (or something like that). They know it's coming and they give zero effs! It will be interesting to see if other districts follow.

2. Things have been going relatively smoothly this week and I've been really trying to adjust my thinking from "when is something bad going to happen?" to "let's just enjoy this." I've also been really thinking ahead to the next few months and have made a list of all the things I want to do, safely, and it just makes me happy. 

3. I'm reading Nightbitch still and am  loving connecting it to Kafka's Metamorphosis. I'm reading Kafka on the Shore by Murakami, coincidentally, which I find amusing ("tell us you're an English teacher without telling us you're an English teacher"). 

4. This weekend is shaping up to be pretty great- Saturday morning I plan on going up into the mountains and doing a little morning hike with Sawyer and then Sunday I have plans to walk with a friend in the morning and then we are meeting up with Sawyer's friend's family outside for some ice cream. Friends, outdoors, and food- right up my alley. 

5. Everyone is telling me to watch The Chair, and I promise, I want to, and I will. Not sure if it will be this calendar year, but eventually I'll get there. 

6. There's a new illustrated Jim Kay Harry Potter book coming out this month that looks at "366 moments" at Hogwarts (or something like that). We'll see if I can keep it for Sawyer for Christmas or if I let him have it early. It looks like so much fun! We're reading the fourth book verrrrrrry slowly, which is actually sort of nice, since we get a little Potter every day. 

7. I haven't done any writing, really, outside of the blog and my journal, in a long time, but I'm thinking of entering a flash fiction contest next month. It's only $30 bucks or so, and I love the premise of having to be concise and fast. I did one several years ago and was picked to go to the next round but got super, super sick and couldn't complete my entry! I need a second chance!

8. I told myself I'd order a Milk Bar cake for my birthday this year, but that I said maybe I could get it at the end of October after making through the world's longest teaching month... now I'm like "end of the first grading period?" (next week). I made the version in her cook book and it's really good, but they are a TON of work. We'll see how long I last. 

9. I resisted Olaplex for a looooooong time, but I finally bought and used Number 8 and after one use I might have to cave in and get more products. It's just so good. Gah. 

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5... things about Labor Day Weekend

- I drove to Modesto super early Saturday morning for my sister's bridal shower. She's getting married next month, so I'll be back on the road before I know it

- I got lost in the country on the way to my other sister's new house, since she GAVE ME THE WRONG ADDRESS. It was actually kind of nice, since I passed by my mom's ex-boyfriend's dairy twice, saw where my old friend used to live, and drove by some people who let us swim in their pool when we were little (they had a slide, it was a really big deal). I didn't grow up in the country-proper, but in a subdivision on the outskirts of the town. It's the best of both worlds

- I have some SERIOUS issues with the Central Valley (see also: how do we get all the Larry Elder signs removed?), but that moment when I come down the 99 from the Grapevine and see the fields I get this super nostalgic "I'm home" feeling. A few minutes later I swore a crop duster was about to hit my car, I kid you not.

- For the first time in a year and a half I stayed in a hotel alone and for maybe the fourth time since having a kid and getting a new dog I slept "in" until 8 (not joking, I can count on one hand how many times I've slept in since Sawyer was born).

- I made my family of to my favorite taqueria and ice cream place, not that they seemed to mind

4... books I'm currently reading

- Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

- Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

- The Molecule of More by Daniel Lieberman and Michael Long

- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling 

3... things about fall I'm looking forward to

- cooler weather cooler weather cooler weather (and it hasn't been that hot)

- doing some of our normal Halloween things we didn't get to do last year (my husband and I have talked about how to do trick-or-treating, dressing up to go to Knott's Berry Farm, and a few other things safely and I believe we have arrived at a good plan) 

- hiking more! After getting in so many miles in Tahoe (over thirty over three days) with Sawyer I'm so ready to hit some local ones

2... books arriving tomorrow

- Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney (I feel so conflicted about Rooney...)

- Matrix by Lauren Groff (a true test of whether Groff can do no wrong) 

1... thing I might as well set a Google alert for, since I check alllllll day

- news on Pfizer submitting 5-11 vax data to the FDA. They said September, okay? 

Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

Since starting my "Five Things About..." posts I won't be doing separate monthly recap posts here. I did read seven book in August, pictured above, though! Clearly I've needed to escape.  

The fires in Lake Tahoe are breaking my heart. We were there in July and they Tamarack Fire had just started- it has gotten a million times worse. I have a friend on the east side of South Lake and I keep checking to make sure it hasn't gotten to her. 

The theme of this week has been "death by a thousand cuts"- lots of generally manageable problems piling up and up and up. Finally last night I had to give myself a massive pep talk (and it was only Tuesday, haha) and totally refigure my expectations for many different things. After a truly horrific start to my morning today I rallied and might not die after all. 

I am going out of town this weekend and I asked Sawyer what he was going to do with his dad while I was gone and he said that they'd "have a party" where they would "eat cake and draw pictures for each other." Scott hates cake, so it will probably be more like Sour Patch Kids, but I can't wait to see their drawings, haha. I love how my son is so satisfied with the small, fun things in life.

On that note, a friend and I were just chatting about how the last two years and impacted out kids. I know that a lot of people focus on what their kids have lost, but I think a lot of us will be surprised (well, if we've set a good example, that is). My son knows a lot about being safe for our community, trusting science, making fun with what's around us, and about some of what goes on in current events (we still talk about the shooting of George Floyd on a monthly basis... Sawyer wanted to write a "mean" letter to Derrick Chavin in prison which was one part awesome and one part a little sudden). 

I haven't spent the night alone in a hotel room since February of 2020, before a half marathon, which meant I got up before dawn. I also can count the number of times I have been able to sleep in past 7:45 am since Sawyer was born in 2014 on one hand, so the fact that I am going to be alone in a hotel this weekend and not have to set my alarm the next morning is next-level MAGICAL. 

I am reading Murakami's Kafka on the Shore and boy oh boy oh boy did things just get weird. 

I just realized I haven't watched any sort of anything in almost a month- I clearly don't miss it. 

I absolutely do not support what is happening with reproductive rights in Texas at all. 

Scratch that Book-Buying Itch (but for a Good Cause)

 Buying is fun, right? 

When the pandemic struck in March of 2020 we found out fifth period that we were shutting down- that day. Many of my classroom library books were with my seniors at their homes, and, since we aren't allowed to have visitors on campus and many have since gone to college, my books never found their way back (understandable!). 

I set up an Amazon wishlist for my class that I use to purchase from, but also decided to recently share it in case anyone wanted to scratch that book-buying itch. No pressure, of course, but if you are so included please see the list below and thank you for your consideration! 

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3NZ4K7F0X4XBX?ref_=wl_share