Blog Post is Totally Off Brand

I just listened to An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresinowski. I mean, wow.  Just wow. 

The book is an easier read – or rather, listen in my case – than that verbose title that actually is more of a plot summary.  I was very inspired by this woman’s friendship with a (virtually) homeless kid and the impact she had on his life.  Neither of them was perfect, but they helped each other.

The story of their relationship was incredibly interesting – the things she taught this boy that seem so obvious to the rest of us – like how to use a fork and knife, how to blow your nose – are things he was never taught.  Laura told her personal story as well, which wasn’t nearly as compelling as the story of their friendship.

This story was a good reminder to be generous to those who are less fortunate, especially this time of year.  And even I don’t have something snarky to say about that.

Bookworm Writes Astounding, Thoughtful Review of TV Series

I am not going to admit how few days it took Andrew and I to power through the Netflix series Orange is the New Black based on the book by Piper Kerman.  I do not think the producers of the show read the book (from what I remember of it) but I could care less.  This is just straight up good TV.  In like a totally filthy but also awesome but yes dirty but I don’t care I like it way.

And that’s all I have to say about it.

Here’s Where I Again Make Someone Else’s Story All About Me

If Maya Angelou read my grocery list aloud it would sound amazing.  I’d think “Bananas?  Brilliant!”  But she sounds even better when delivering her own words.  I thoroughly enjoyed her latest book Mom & Me & Mom about her interesting relationship with her mother, which didn’t even start until she was 13. 

I have made a mental note to one day impart some nugget of wisdom to my daughter at some point.  Really searching my brain to think of something.  So far, most of my wisdom-imparting deals with trying to convince her that ladies don’t throw food on the floor.  Her book about me is going to be very short.

Get Ready for the Most Boring Announcement Ever

Announcement:  I am getting back into audiobooks from the library.  They are the perfect accompaniment to nighttime motherhood & head housekeeper chores after the little one goes to sleep when all I really want to do is curl up with a book and relax my brain.

So what better to do that with than a book about the history of research on human cells?  That’s right fellow nerds, I just read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skoot.  If I had really known what this book was about, I would not have listened to it.  But it was available from the library, got a great rating on Goodreads and won lots of awards, so I quickly downloaded it so I could get going on the dishes.

There were points when I wasn’t sure I would finish this book.   It’s a true story of an African American woman whose cells have been reproducing in labs since the 50s and have led to all kinds of advances in modern medicine.  Her family was unaware her cells were still living for many years and in sad irony grew up too poor to afford health insurance. 

Skoot gives an extremely thorough rundown of this topic, in a way that even someone who spent most of high school Biology passing notes to friends could understand.   However I don’t have a ton of interest in scientific research (which makes me feel pretty dumb when I admit that.  But it’s true.) 

The human interest part of the story – about Henrietta Lacks’ life and that of her descendants I found really interesting.  And the audiobook narrator was really good.  So, I stuck it out, cooked lots of organic veggies for my girl and have just the slightest bit of  snooty pride about the whole thing. (Both the book and the organic veggies.) 

Don’t worry, Jane will put me back in my place by feeding organic veggies to World’s Most Available Dog During Mealtime, Norman.

Yes, I made a post about human cell research about
my cute kid eating vegetables.
It's a gift, people!

Someone is on a mission to get chubby.
It's working.