I did not choose the Kinder Bueno life, the Kinder Bueno life chose me.

Weekly Roundup #13

Do you ever forget why you like something? Why a particular song is so catchy? Why a snack is so tasty? I do, and other than questioning my mastery of object permanence, I have the distinct pleasure of rediscovering things I like. The Foo Fighters in particular fall into this category. I forget they exist, hear ‘Best of You,’ and then go on a week long listening spree. It’s joyous.

Recently, Kinder Buenos have been experiencing this phenomenon. While their expansion Stateside is nearly complete, I haven’t had any in a while, and when I grabbed one at CVS the other day, I was reminded on what I’m missing out on. When I studied abroad in Paris, they were my metro snack when I going home after classes. Mm, sweet, sweet memories.

In other transportation news, I have officially given up on the bridge. What bridge, you ask? The bridge in Rhode Island that APPARENTLY MIGHT HAVE TO BE DEMOLISHED NOW. *takes a deep breath.* I am now adding miles to my commute to avoid the traffic, because it is just not worth it. I admit defeat. You have won, terrible bridge that might collapse at any moment, you have won. Maybe I should bring Kinder Buenos as snacks when I’m driving home from class.

Weekly Roundup

Above, the first appearance of the bridge in this newsletter, and ahead, what’s been getting me through the week.

What I’m reading:

The Ghetto Within / Le ghetto interieur by Argentine author Santiago Amigorena. I’m reading this in French, and it was one of the books I picked up on my trip to Nice back in 2021. Because yes, I have as little self control in French language bookstores as I do in English language ones. I’ve only just started, but the summary says this book is Amigorena’s attempt to “confront his grandfather’s silence.”¹ His grandfather immigrated to Argentina from Poland in 1928, and I can only guess at what his silence may refer to.

• Great for: reading about generational trauma in Argentina

• Bad for: anyone looking for a light read

What I’m writing:

I promised my Writing Group that I’d get them a short story I’ve been bouncing around in my head for months, and I have yet to do that. Since I told them they could yell at me if I didn’t succeed, I’m now typing furiously. It involves a cat, a vampire, a witch, a local library, and a writing prompt I gave one of my library classes.

• Great for: my output.

• Bad for: my focus.

What I’m listening to:

When I first saw the name Måneskin, I assumed the band was Swedish. I had only ever seen that little circle thing above letters in Nordic languages, so that’s where my assumption came from. I later learned they’re a Italian band, and that the name Måneskin is the Danish word for Moonlight.² Once I knew that, they then became my favorite little weird Italians. They are delightfully chaotic in their interviews, and they won Eurovision in 2021. ‘Honey (Are U Coming?)’ is what’s currently keeping me awake on my 6:30am drive down to Newport. Basically, I’ve adopted them as my new mascots and I love them so much.

• Great for: feeling like I am ‘with it’ music wise

• Bad for: my understanding of Nordic languages

No New Books™️ Challenge:

I am holding strong; it has been 26 days since I’ve bought any new books. What I did do this week was take advantage of the institutional libraries I have access to.

It’s so silly - I have multiple digital library cards, and often tout the benefits of libraries. But when I was at Salve Regina last week for my first day of class, I had a momentary bout of panic: could I check out books from *their* library? I am Faculty, after all. The answer was yes, and I acquired not one, but two new books to read. Even better: since I am a faculty member, I have longer return times than students.

I’m noticing that having a new physical book in hand gives me the serotonin boost I’m looking for. I check out books from the library all the time, albeit digitally. But reading a digital book doesn’t give me the same satisfaction of holding said object in my hand. I don’t count this as breaking my ban, because I’m not spending any money on them. Really, this is just a money spending ban, not an interdiction on me reading books I’ve never read before. That’s not pithy and fun to say, though, so No New Books it is.

Anyways, onto the books themselves: one is Ashes and Stones: A Journey Through Scotland in Search of Women Hunted as Witches and if that title doesn’t sell you, then Look. At. This. Cover!!!!

I have never heard of this book before, but it’s got witchcraft, Scotland, and history, so it’s pretty much guaranteed I’ll like it. I was supposed to go to Scotland back in 2020 but…we all know what happened. So I’ll be vicariously living the vacation I never got to take through this book.

Me to the Political Rumors Book,

The other book is Political Rumors: Why We Accept Misinformation and How to Fight It. I’m sure it’s fine, but it’s just not as alluring as Ashes and Stones. I grabbed it because I can see it being useful for my course work.

• Great for: Libraries!

• Bad for: My neverending TBR

Mug Moment of the Week:

*Insert MC Hammer here*

Why yes, that is a mug with a pink porcupine on it. Why yes, it says ‘Can’t Touch This.’ Why yes, it is pink and very cute, thank you so much for noticing.

This mug has a sad background story to it, in that I got it from a bookstore that was closing. The mug in and of itself isn’t sad, but more that the only reason I got it was because it was on supersale at a nearly defunct bookstore.³ I’m one of those people who anthropomorphizes everything, so seeing a bookstore shutter made me crumble a bit inside. At least I have the mug to commemorate it.

• Great for: my love of small prickly creatures.

• Bad for: my dishwasher. This mug is hand wash only.

That’s it from me for this week. I’m heading out to the Wilds of Western Mass™️ to celebrate my Mom’s birthday, and apparently help my parents with tech issues. Next week, we’ve got another installation of our Artist Interview series, as well as my favorite creative writing prompts of all time. May you all have cozy weekends wherever you are!

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Offerings

I’ll be adding this as a footer into my posts going forward, but I wanted to officially announce my teaching offerings for the Spring.

1. I’ll be back at the Mount Pleasant Branch of the Community Libraries of Providence to teach another Memoir course. Link is forthcoming, but this will be a 4 week series on Thursday nights starting on March 21st. Mark your calendars now!

2. I’ll be delivering a lecture series based on my Dangerous Words course as part of Salve Regina’s Circle of Scholars program. If you’re local to Rhode Island and were interested in my course content, then I’d encourage you to come!

   1. This will be a 3 part lecture series starting on Wednesday April 24th, at 3pm.

3. I’ll then be teaching *another* memoir course, but this time focused on childhood and memories. Again through the Circle of Scholars, again on Wednesday afternoons. This one will run for 5 weeks starting on May 15th at 3pm.

   1. The registration link for both is here and the course catalog is here.

1. Yay! Footnotes doing their jobs!

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-ghetto-within-santiago-h-amigorena?variant=40826165166114

2. Bassist Victoria De Angelis is half Danish and suggested the word as a band name.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A5neskin

https://web.archive.org/web/20190110235107/https://xfactor.sky.it/2017/12/12/maneskin-non-moleskine-x-factor-2017/

3. It was the Cranston outpost of Barrington Books, if you’re curious.