Chaotic Curations #5

Assorted Thoughts Edition

Hello my lovely chaotic readers, and welcome back to another edition of Chaotic Curations, where I curate book related things that I’ve noticed/had happen in my life. I normally do these at the end of the month, but doing this on a schedule wouldn’t really be chaotic, now would it?

Ahead, some various thoughts that might not seem like they are related to books, but absolutely are because as we know, everything is reading and everything is writing.

Puzzles as Self Care

I am not the first, and I will certainly not be the last, to make the connection between puzzles and writing. In fact, I think I have made this connection previously in this very newsletter.

But there is a direct analogy between trying to figure out a puzzle (a visual picture) and trying to figure out a novel (a narrative picture.) One thing I have been trying to do lately is actually take myself on Artist Dates. For me that has shown up a lot as doing something to get my brain to turn off. Which is: puzzling.

I started a puzzle a dear friend got for me for Christmas, and if you did not know before, now you do: I have a puzzle table. This is very important to me.

Anyways, what I did not know beforehand because most puzzles do fit on my puzzle table was that this one did not. Why would I confirm the measurements beforehand? That unfortunately meant I realized too late that I was headed for disaster. Exhibit A:

I really did as much of this puzzle as I humanly could before being forced to address the problem.

I realized this much earlier in the puzzle completing process, and basically put off what I was going to do about it for as long as humanly possible, until I reached the above point where I truly needed to do something. And the something else was get it off the puzzle table and onto the floor so I could complete it.

I will spare you the particulars, but it involved some coffee table books, a piece of cardboard, flipping stuff around, and being very patient (which is not my strong suit.) But in the end, we made it there.

We will NOT be addressing that missing piece that WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE BOX. I CLEANED MY ENTIRE LIVING ROOM AND IT IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. Traitorous poodles.

Such is the life of writing a novel, too. Often the strategies I think will work do not, or the way I think I’m going to complete a scene does not work out in the way I thought it would. Strategies I’ve used previously don’t work in a particular instance. Anyways, just a reminder to myself that puzzles are great and I may or may not be doing another one already actually on the puzzle table. The poodles are still on the floor.

I am this poodle every single day of my life: affronted by reality yet still very stylish.

Literacy in a Medical Setting

As I alluded to last week, I have been having some ongoing health issues that are not yet resolved and require me to advocate for myself directly. In fact, this has been going on for a year. It’s reached a point where some of my other medical professionals are calling the lack of action by my primary care and hematologist negligent, and I’m working on getting new doctors. But in a system that’s already derelict and broken, everything takes time and is annoying.

Point being, I am not at full health and am not being treated well, so I am now having to do research on my own to advocate for what I think needs to be done. I know, I know, I hate being that patient walking in and diagnosing myself, but after a year of my PCP and hematologist looking around and shrugging and saying ‘we’ve tried nothing and have no other solutions,’ I’ve lost patience.¹

As we know, I like literacy and critical thinking. And being able to read peer reviewed articles about iron deficiency without anemia and understand what is going on is important! Being able to identify which resources I can trust in a particular domain is important! Knowing when and who and what to trust in a certain field is important! Everyone use those brains, you are capable of much more than you think. Speaking of…

Just Use Google for Goodness’ Sake

I was recently talking with a coworker about another coworker who has recently been using the word ‘balkanized’ frequently. Now, I come from a political science background, so I knew what that was in reference to. But she did not and said, and I quote, “Oh just go ask ChatGPT.” MA’AM. I can tell you! And save you a bottle of water! Also, just use google! You can find the answer there!²

The Balkans. Thanks, Rick Steves.

She then suggested I use AI to write an email and I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, but I am going to be that stick in the mud. Every time someone suggests to me that I use AI to do something, I lose a bit of respect for them. There are very legitimate uses of Artificial Intelligence (which is more than just generative AI), but using potable water to write an email IS NOT ONE OF THEM. I have been schooled at some of the finest education institutions in this country,³ I’m pretty sure I can use my brain to write a goddamn email.

I am convinced people are just surrendering their intelligence at this point, and not only does that make me sad, but also it’s giving me a superiority complex that I’m not sure I want.

Sometimes, Context Matters and I Do Not Have It

April is National Poetry Month. And in honor of it, I am reading poetry. Specifically, With My Back to the World by Victoria Chang. I did not know this when I bought it, but this collection in particular engages with the writings and work of painter Agnes Martin.⁴

I do not know who Agnes Martin is.

I probably have seen some of her art previously (she was an abstract expressionist painter), but I do not know any of her work well enough to conjure it while reading poems. This means that I am missing key context about what the work is about.

There’s a few options here. I could go look up every single piece of artwork while reading the poems, but that’s a lot of work, and I am simply looking to read a book of poetry.

The other option is I just read the collection and miss all of the additional context.

That is what I am doing for now, as I do not have the time to research nearly 50 different artworks. And while it bums me out to not fully understand every single reference, at the same time, isn’t that the experience of engaging with most art? Even in books, which is the art form I’m most familiar with, I’m most likely missing context without even knowing it. The difference here is that I was told up front what the collection was about, and realized I was deficient in my abstract expressionist painter knowledge.

I’m sure Agnes Martin is great, and I’ll keep an eye out for her the next time I’m in an art museum. For now, I’m just going to read the poems.

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No New Books™️ Challenge

Weee, I keep not buying books! How exciting for me. I think I’m going to keep this up until April 25th, which is Independent Bookstore Day. I don’t need to buy anything in the meantime (operative word always being key) but we’ll see what happens when I go up to the wilds of Vermont to cat sit next week. I would not be surprised if I am wooed by a cozy looking bookstore. I’ll report back.

• Longest streak: 50 days (June 18th - August 6th)

• Last streak: 24 days (February 18th - March 12th )

• Current streak: 26 days (March 13th - Present)

Mug Moment of the Week

Behold: the mug I am constantly trying to match.

It’s called #fashun.

It’s a tale as old as time by now. Instagram introduces me to a new ceramicist. They make mugs. I stalk them and buy one that I like. Rinse and repeat.⁵

I regret nothing.

This lovely mug is made by Canadian potter Wheelhouse Studio, who makes, and I quote, “swear mugs + other shit.” Seeing as most of my thoughts recently have been Heated Rivalry related, this is appropriate. Even if my thoughts are not Heated Rivalry adjacent, there’s enough going on in there for this mug to be relevant.

I also really like the pastel color combination/swirls, and that the lettering is flush with the glaze. It looks like it should be grooved or textured but it’s not and this is very pleasing to me.

As you can see, she has been added to the rotation and has gotten a lot of use recently.

In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, that’s all folks. Until next time.

1. The hematologist said at my last appointment that I should ‘work on my mental health and check my supplements.’ If you’re confused, hematologists do NEITHER OF THOSE THINGS. I have been working on my mental health, don’t you worry Madame Hematologist. My therapist is one of the people saying I should fire you 😇

2. Which I will tell you here: the word balkanized comes from the breakup of Yugoslavia in the BALKAN region of Europe. The dictionary.com definition is as follows:

1. to divide (a country, territory, etc.) into small, quarrelsome, ineffectual states.

2. (often lowercase) to divide (groups, areas, etc.) into contending and usually ineffectual factions, i.e. a movement to balkanize minority voters.

3. Per U.S. News & World Report.

4. Another footnote doing its job!
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374611132/withmybacktotheworld/

5. Gotta catch ‘em all Pokemon etc.