The Geekiest Geek to Ever Geek Down the Pike, and Other Tales

My parents are originally from the Philly area, but I grew up in Miami.  I lived there until I was twenty-three, but finally moved to Pittsburgh in the mistaken belief that graduate school would automatically get me a job as an ambassador or the UN Secretary General.  Turns out you need some actual direction or specialization or something.  You can't just wander willy-nilly through the halls of academia and think that will just automatically get you a job.  That was a surprise.  Anyway, in the eleven years since moving to Pittsburgh, I have come to really love the city.  There's still some things I miss about Miami - the sun and heat, for one thing, and the food for another.  I don't care what Pittsburghers say, you can't just slap some soggy fries on a sandwich and think that's real food.  The food and English-style weather notwithstanding, Pittsburgh's a pretty cool place.  I love the leaves changing, and the snow, and crocuses and tulips i...

Let me start off by saying that I grew up in Miami, which means that I like colors. I may live in Pittsburgh, but I am not some drab Northerner who really loves a good monochromatic ensemble. Or anything approaching tastefullness. In fact, my exuberant use of color in clothing led my mother to beg me, upon getting my first grown-up job, to please please go to The Limited (RIP), and let the women there dress me. So, as I said, I love color. Plus, I'm a nerd. The combination of these two facts makes this exactly the kind of book that will forever occupy a space on my shelves. It's full of fascinating facts, like the fact that cochineal red, which is used in the food coloring that gives red M&Ms their, well, red hue, is made from crushed bugs. I literally sent pictures of pages to my family's group text, finally prompting my middle sister to request that I never do that again because no one else cares. I have to listen to her ...

This is just an update for myself of the books for my book clubs/reading challenges so I can remember where I am I am a member of the Our Shared Shelf feminist book club, though I do not post there, but I am pretty far behind on the reading.  Here's my progress so far for this year: Hunger, a Memoir of (My) Body, by Roxane Gay (from last year's list, actually) Heart Berries: A Memoir, by Terese Marie Mailhot Books I have not read yet: Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race The Radium Girls The Power The Handmaid's Tale My friend Cathy also convinced me to do the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge, and while she is already on book 25 for the challenge, I have not even read that many this year.  Here's what I've done so far, with the relevant prompt: True Crime,: Girl Waits With Gun, by Amy Stewart The next book in a series you started: Death of Kings, by Bernard Cornwell A book set in a country that fascinates you: The Buried Giant, by K...

One note before you dive into my review: The author calls herself Indian throughout the book, which I found very striking, as I am very uncomfortable using the word "Indian" to refer to anyone not from India.  It's something I've noticed before.  Rather than saying "Native American", native authors says "Indian", which I would feel as a slur because it descends from colonizer ignorance as to the true descent of the peoples who were here before the Europeans arrived.  Maybe it's something they are taking back, the way LGBTQ+ have reclaimed queer, or perhaps its like the n-word, which African-Americans can use, but would be terrible if I used it (it's such a stigmatized word, I can't even type it).  Either way, I'll be saying "First Nations" because that seems safer and more respectful. I read Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot while at a family wedding (not actually AT the wedding, just while I was in West C...

I gave this three stars because I'm not sure how I feel about it. Also, because my ratings should be whether or not I enjoyed the book, not whether or not it is actually a good book. I feel strongly that those are two different things. I think this is a very good book, and I am eager to see what else Max Porter comes up with. But I am not sure that I enjoyed it. I am not sure that I didn't enjoy it. Suffice it to say, it was very strange. I read Grief is the Thing with Feathers for the "a book about death or grief prompt" from the PopSugar Reading Challenge, which I am doing with one of my very best friends, Cathy, who, as far as, and therefore will not be reading this review. Alas and alack. Aaaaaaanyway. This is a story of loss. It is told from the perspectives of a father and his two sons (who are interchangeable and nameless) about their loss of their wife and mother. It is also told from the perspective of Crow, the embodiment of grief, who settles in the hou...

Yes, it was a clumsy title.  Suck it up.  I was trying (and failing) to come up with a clever tie-in for JK Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien.  What would have been better?  Harry Potter or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Hobbit?  Anyhow. I recently re-read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for what must be the zillionth time.  I did not get around to reading Harry Potter until the end of my senior year in high school.  My mom and my youngest sister kept harassing me about it, but I refused to even start Harry Potter because I was in the IB program and did not have TIME for reading, unless it was for school.  Reading that last sentence in the most hysterical voice possible will give you some indication as to the level of stress I experienced at that time.  So I'm not one of those kids who "grew up" with Harry Potter.  I was seventeen - the age Harry is when he defeats Voldemort (I trust that was not a spoiler) - when I fin...

Did you know that sour milk is safe to use? Or that potatoes that have gone a little soft are fine, but once they've started sprouting shoots, they are toxic? Or the right way to stock your fridge so as to maximize the freshness of the food contained therein? I did not, until I read Waste Free Kitchen Handbook: A Guide to Eating Well and Saving Money by Wasting Less Food . At the time this book was published (2015), 40% of the food that was produced in the United States was being thrown away. That's a terrible, tragic number. That's, on average, $120 per month for a family of four, thrown away. That's greenhouse gas emissions (according to author Dana Gunders, it's equivalent to the emissions of 33 million passenger vehicles), fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones used - all for nothing. That's higher food prices through artificially inflated demand, which hurt all of us, but especially the most vulnerable. Look, I am a tree hugger, and ...