Who are the Big Whiny Babies, you ask? These two weirdos.
I am dogsitting again, and I truly have never encountered a pair of needier dogs. Do not let their cute faces fool you. They will sit at my feet and whine at me if I am not doing what they want (usually letting them in and out of the backyard.)1 You know what’s hard to do with a dog whining at you? Basically everything. Thank goodness I have decent headphones. These two have sorely tested my patience, and it is Day 4 of 10. When their owners said that the dogs were used to having someone at home during the day, I think what they really meant was, ‘They’re used to having constant attention.’
Now that I’m done slandering dogs, here’s this week’s roundup.
What I’m reading:
What am I not reading is the better question. I am still many, many books behind on my reading challenge, and don’t even get me started on how far behind I am on my French reading goals. I’ll stop shaming myself now and just talk about what I’m reading: Les Choses or Things: A Story of the Sixties by Georges Perec. Perec was a French novelist, and Things was his first novel published in 1965. It received widespread acclaim, and won the Prix Renadout (akin to the Pulitzer Prize.) As its name implies, it is a story about things, and there are so many details about objects.
Great for: my French fluency
Bad for: my reading speed. Goodness do I need to look up every other word.
What I’m writing:
My novel!!! Yay!!! I have the first 3 chapters in a pretty solid state. Now just for the rest of it. I’m trying not to think of that, and just ride this high for now.
Great for: my novel!
Bad for: my inbox!
What I’m listening to:
I cannot claim to have good music taste. There is only so much room in my head for critical thinking about art, and 95% of it goes towards books. (The other 5% is paintings.) When it comes to music, I listen to what I like. And I listen pretty uncritically. I can tell you nothing about musicality or what makes a song good. My brain just goes: ah yes, catchy! We like.
I was introduced to Chappell Roan recently, and oh boy is she fun. There’s about 6 songs I could have picked for this, but I’m going to go with the one that got me hooked ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ Am I cool now? Will Gen Z stop making fun of my skinny jeans?2
Great for: fun songs, me feeling cool, a soundtrack to dance to while doing dishes
Bad for: I…cannot think of a downside.
No New Books™️ Challenge:
I did it. Again. I broke my streak. First of all, I regret nothing. And second of all, I have tech money now which is really going straight to my head.
I could just pretend I didn’t keep breaking my no-new-books buying streak, but as long as y’all aren’t judging me, I’m happy to continue to be honest about my utter lack of self control with books. It was for a good cause, too.
On Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, I visited my friend Emilie in Boston. First, we had to consume fancy French pastries from Lakon Bakery.
Lakon doesn’t mean anything in French, and they have two locations: one in Newton, and one in Brookline. They are known for their square croissants. I did not get a square croissant, what I got was a Nutella banana croissant, and a Biscoff caramel croissant. (I’m betting you can guess which is which.)
Then, we had to go to a bookstore pop up. Sidequest Books is a female owned fantasy themed bookstore that’s opening a physical storefront this fall.3 It is always a gamble with whether or not I’m going to buy books when I enter a bookstore (even a pop-up), but then I touched something and it was all over.
And since I already had bought books and had broken my streak, the only thing to do was buy more books. You see, Books on the Square, my local bookstore and the one right across from my house, sustained damage during a recent flood. So of course I had to go help a small business, right? Right.
One of the books is about cemeteries, a perennial favorite! Two of them had sprayed edges! One of them was about faeries! How could I say no?
Streak to Beat: 50 days (January 1st - February 19th)
Last streak: 25 days (May 1st - 25th)
Current streak: 5 days (May 27th-Present)
Mug Moment of the Week:
Once again, we have a guest mug. This is the mug I have been utilizing while dogsitting. And for the record, if you’re wondering if your pet sitters judge the decor or cleanliness of your home, rest assured that we do not. I just judge whether or not you have sufficient mugs for my tea addiction.
The folks I’m sitting for are British, and much like the last time I had a guest mug featured from the UK, this mug is rather unremarkable! It is plain! It is white! Is this what defines British tea consumption? Don’t answer that.
And before you even ask why I can’t just let them be outside, they cannot be outside together because they might FIGHT EACH OTHER. They’re Border Terriers which means they’re ratters and can be vicious. So, no, there is no easy solution to this problem.
You can pry them out of my cold, dead hands.
In Bow Street Market in Somerville, MA for you Bostonians and Metro West folks.