Top 10 Tuesday

Hello--friendly reminder to check out the moon tomorrow morning (Wednesday, January 31st) between 6:50-7:20 am. The Super Blue Blood Moon will be on the western horizon. Be sure to howl.

What living and buried speech is always vibrating here,

what howls restrain'd by decorum?

-Whitman

The Top 10

1. "Playing Sick" by Elena Passarello I really enjoyed reading this essay that uses Passarello's experience as an actress to navigate the nuances of speech--from its guttural utterances, to the emotions conveyed, to the natural history of our sounds of disgust (there are nine distinct categories of disgust). Passarello muses on the very simple yet complex line that she repeats several times throughout an entire play: "Eew". I recently finished reading her most recent book of essays Animals Strike Curious Poses. I have yet to read her first book.

2. "The Post" Of course I saw yet another movie. This past week, I went and saw "The Post". Although Meryl Streep had a very lovely, empowering monologue toward the end of the film--a monologue that finally distinguishes her as independent from the men who came before her--I feel that her acting in this movie, although it is done very well, does not move as fiercely as Frances McDormand's grit in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri". And my brows are a tiny bit furrowed at the fact that Tom Hanks isn't a nominee for an Academy Award this year. He is, however, going to be playing Fred Rogers in the biopic "You Are My Friend".

3. Tytoona Cave On Saturday, Brian, Silas, and I went to Tytoona Cave, a cave located in an actual sink hole in Sinking Valley, PA. A stream enters the large sinkhole and then enters the cave. The water continues until there is a siphon that prevents further walking. We didn't explore too far into the cave. We're going to wait until it's warmer and we'll explore deeper inside. Years ago, I explored a few "rooms" along the left side of the cave. I crawled into them as far as I could until I had to exit backwards on my stomach. Good times.

4. "Thinking in Pictures" by Temple Grandin In March, I will be attending a conference on Autism in Pittsburgh. I will be meeting Dr. Temple Grandin. Because of her, 1/3 of America's cattle are "humanely" slaughtered. What does that mean? It means that the technology and mechanisms responsible for slaughtering cattle are informed by the cattle's point-of-view and comfort levels. Dr. Temple Grandin is Autistic and like many people who are Autistic, she "thinks in pictures". Her brain's capabilities allowed for her to mentally construct the corrals that lead to more peaceful (and therefore more yummy) beef. Anyway, I finished this book this past week and I look forward to re-reading Animals in Translation (hopefully before I go to the conference). I have a feeling it will repeat a lot of what I've already read, but we'll see.

5. Writer's Group I've been turned off by writer's groups since grad school. I'm very much a loner when it comes to my creative pursuits but I couldn't help but force myself to think about why I prefer to be alone. I figured it may be because I'm usually not on the same page (ha!) as everyone else. I'm not publication-driven. I'm not waist-deep in a project *shrugs*. So, I figured, maybe that's why I should try starting up a writing group. I can use the motivation, I guess? And definitely the feedback. So, I got a group going.We had our first meeting and it went pretty well!

6. New Book Shelf Weeks ago, my poetry bookshelf collapsed *sigh*. But I bought a new one and assembled it with Brian this past Saturday. Yes, this is an exciting event that belongs in my Top 10. Deal with it.

7. Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee So, Jerry Seinfeld began a TV show where he introduces you to a classic car and why a certain comedian is worthy of being driven in it. He picks up said comedian and they drive in and out of New York, LA, Portland, you-name-it to get some coffee and a bite to eat. It's short. It's refreshing. It's funny. It's awkward. And for some reason, I love it and it makes me feel calm as if I'm being chauffeured to a freshly brewed coffee. You can watch this on Netflix.

8. Lemon Chicken When I went home a few weeks ago, a neighbor made dinner for my family and me. She made Lemon Chicken with Spaghetti Squash. It was delicious and I found the recipe here. I made it on Sunday and even Brian liked it (or he said he did, at least).

9. Matt Love I've been doing a lot of reading about the Pacific Northwest and came across a book by Matt Love entitled On Walking in Rain. It's about Portland's rain. Although the book isn't exactly what I expected, I'm still enjoying it for the most part. The author himself is interesting, although cocky. But anyway, the book was not really a book of essays but more like a journal. But I enjoy journals and the stream-of-conscious process. He's an interesting man even though he's a sex offender.

10. Blueberry Scones I have never made scones before and wanted to try it out. Yesterday, after a particularly rough day accented with a bad headache, I decided to bake some. They turned out pretty well! Here's the recipe I followed.

#toptentuesday