Sunday, September 15, 2024

building a mystery

1) It's no mystery that I love Jennifer Finney Boylan, I've basically fangirled since I met her in 2011. I don't know though, why I waited so long to read her collab with Jodi Picoult--Mad Honey. For the last couple of days I've been waiting to finish all my million persnickety multiplying duties so I could sit down with my book. Just finished it today, and there were so many parts that brought me to tears and so many twists I didn't see coming and so many parts I just had to reread. It was so good. 

2) I was in a mad panic yesterday because I had written up a paper proposal about the Jhumpa Lahiri collection, Roman Stories, but couldn't find it in my email or the Google doc I'd been working on with some colleagues on another proposal. I finally found the huffy title I'd used ("Tell Me Where it Hurts: Ailment and Alienation in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Roman Stories"), by using Google History, and after over an hour of searching every doc I had opened in March, I finally found the notes I made. Back to the drawing board, I guess.

3) I got brave today and went looking for the snake I saw three weeks ago. I wore long boots, made a lot of noise, and was on high alert. But Mx. Slithers seems to have disappeared just as mysteriously as they appeared. I'd read that snakes don't like strong smells, so I took some old packets of curry powder and scattered them in that part of the garden, hoping to scare them away forever.

4) Pic: Huck, Max, Big A, and I out on our post-dinner walk... It's a mystery why our fluffy doodles think they can take on our neighbor's muscular German Shepherd, but they always do their version of trash talk as we pass. 

11 comments:

Gillian said...

Nice

Nicole said...

Oooh I love Roman Stories! I haven't read Mad Honey but I don't *love* Piccoult so I'm not sure...

Jenny said...

Wow, that book must have been good! I'm going to look it up, maybe it's something I would like.
Your pups are so cute, thinking they can take on a German shepherd. Of course they're just living their lives, having no idea of how cuddly and adorable they look. They probably think they look ferocious.

StephLove said...

I hope your curry powder keeps the snakes at bay. Cool picture with the shadows. I'm not a dog person but I've noticed it's often the dogs who probably can't take on the other one who bark the loudest while on leash.

NGS said...

Hannah will always try to bully larger dogs. It's like they maybe don't know how big (small) they are?!

maya said...

Thanks!

maya said...

She can be heavy-handed, but her heart is so in the right place...

maya said...

I meant Picoult--not Lahiri!

maya said...

Haha--Don't egg them on, Jenny :). They probably already have a Napoleon complex!

maya said...

Steph--I hope so too--in any case it was a good use of staling spices! I've noticed that about the tiny dogs being the yappiest too...

maya said...

Engie--I believe Hannah can do anything once she decides she wants to do it! She just looks so capable.

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