Five Fun Things #2
It’s been a long couple of weeks and I’ve been kind of stuck in terms of writing. I’ve written a lot for work and that seems to drain the creative side. I have about five drafts all of which are terrible, so in view of that I will leave you with five things that are amusing or thoughtful.
If you are in one of the seventeen states shown in this video you might be able to get a rare look at the Northern Lights this Thursday. We have issues with light pollution here but I will probably set the alarm for midnight to see if we can see anything. My children, with no provocation whatsoever, will regale you with stories of how I tortured them by getting them out of bed in the middle of the night to stand on our deck to watch meteor showers (Perseids mostly) or to view a lunar eclipse or some other celestial event. Clearly I’m a monster.
You must know that it is Prime Day, meaning if you are a member of Amazon Prime there are a bunch of sales for stuff you probably don’t need. One deal that is worth looking at is getting Audible for three months free (that is NOT an affiliate link). I love Audible and have been a member for a long time. It allows me to “read” a lot more books than I normally would and if I get distracted I just hit that rewind icon and I can get caught up. I never thought I would be a fan of listening to books, and I still prefer having an actual book in my hand rather than earbuds or a Kindle, but for long car rides, which are a frequent thing for me, and house cleaning it’s a great distraction.
The Mass Book at my parish opens tomorrow morning. For those who are not Catholic this means that we can request a Mass be said, usually for someone who has died but you can have a Mass said for someone who is still with us, on whatever date has meaning. The rectory opens at 9:00am and the church ladies will start lining up long before that. Needless to say it is hard to get the Mass you want. I’ve been shut out the last three years. Fortunately there is My Mass Request which has relieved my mind that Masses are being said for my people. Emily Stimpson Chapman wrote about this and a few other organizations on her Instagram a while ago, she has them saved in a highlight, and I only wish I had known about it sooner. I am leaving a note among my final paperwork for whoever is in charge to sign me up for Masses, flowers I won’t need, Masses I will.
Do you have any movie or tv homes you wish you could move into? I have a few, one of which is featured in this fun article about the completely unrealistic homes for movie and tv characters. Friends isn’t mentioned but I always marveled at the audacity of the writers to think we could believe that a sous chef and a buyer for Macy’s could afford that huge apartment, even as an illegal sublet. One of my favorite movies is included, You’ve Got Mail, and that is one of my dream homes. I also liked the one in the modern version of Father of the Bride. What are yours?
Have you heard of trad wives? It seems to be a big thing on social media, women living a traditionally stay at home life caring for their homes and children, which is kind of counter cultural. Many of them make a big deal about being submissive to their husbands in a, quite frankly, twisted kind of way. Believe me, I’m no feminist and I have been an at home wife and mother for twenty-eight years (doing paid work as well, but always from home) and my life would seem to an outsider to put me squarely in the trad wife category. Except I don’t go in for this evangelical type of submission, where I can’t place a grocery order without running it by the man in charge. Honestly he would hate it to, because he is a normal human being who trusts me to make decisions for our family. He’s also busy so he leaves the running of the house to me. Anyway, I found Father Mike Schmitz to have a good explanation of submission in marriage.
What I am watching, reading, listening to…
I have seen a few Substack writers share this sort of thing and I always find it interesting to see how people are spending their free time.
Watching - I found a few Inspector Alleyn shows on YouTube. I believe these originally aired on PBS and they are from Ngaio Marsh’s series of detective novels. Marsh was a Golden Age of Detective Fiction novelist and one of my favorites. I happily stumbled upon Death in a White Tie the other day and in spite of it’s rather fuzzy quality I enjoyed it very much.
Reading - I just finished Fannie Flagg’s I Still Dream About You. I came late to the Fannie Flagg party but I do enjoy the books. They are easy reading, entertaining and not in any way stressful. Perfect summer reading. (a/f link)
Listening - I got caught up in a podcast called Business Wars. In season 5, which I’m on now it explores the Hearst vs. Pulitzer wars. Fascinating stuff. It seems to be available wherever you might listen to podcasts.
Some links to look at
My podcast - it drops on Wednesday afternoons and is all about Catholic homeschooling and family life.
Why I started this Substack In case you were wondering.
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