What I’m Reading: I have at least a half dozen books right now. I just started the novel A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. It is a rich reflection on what it means to be human in an era of short attention spans, the dearth of meaning, and imminent environmental threat.
The time being: the present moment is what we’re stuck with now and must embrace. The time being: in the Buddhist viewpoint, each human is entrapped by time, which means that we are all in this together; this is a tale of everyone.
On present-day Vancouver Island, “Ruth,” a Japanese-American novelist who is attempting to write a memoir of her mother’s slow demise from Alzheimer’s but has a bad case of writer’s block, stumbles across a Hello Kitty lunchbox washed up on the beach. Inside she finds a cache of old letters and a teenage girl’s diary, disguised as a copy of Marcel Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu.
The diary belonged to sixteen-year-old Nao ) Yasutani, who cheerfully and informally confides in her imagined reader about her life. The past few years in Tokyo have not been easy for her – she’s been the victim of extreme bullying at the hands of her classmates, and suicide seems to run in the family – but she has a guardian angel in the form of her great-grandmother, Buddhist nun Jiko, who is approaching death at age 104 but still represents the voice of wisdom and a timeless perspective.
What I’m Watching: I’m a bit late to the game, but I just binge-watched Grantchester this weekend.
While pasty blond blue eyed guys aren’t my thing, James Norton is a fantastic actor. He plays an excellent bad guy in Happy Valley (also a wonderful show) so I wasn’t sure how he’d be as a Vicar in the 1950s. Norton pulls it off with aplomb. I’m happy that season 2 just started on PBS here in the U.S.
What I’m Listening To: My son got me into Audible. I’m currently listening to The Great Courses Maya to Aztec: Ancient Mesoamerica Revealed. I’m a history buff, but I’m learning a lot. I try to listen at work, but I’m constantly interrupted. One of my co-workers asked if I was listening to it for a class. She couldn’t believe I wanted to learn about it just because I find it interesting. Yeah, I’m a nerd. 🙂
What I’m Wearing: I thought it was supposed to be spring? Ha! I’m freezing today. Dark jeans, warm socks, a black tee, and a thick gray sweater. I’m going for warmth, not cute.
What I’m Eating: I just roasted a chicken and I polished off about half of it. What can I say, lifting makes me hungry!
What I’m Enjoying: The warm, fuzzy blanket I just pulled over me and the beautiful blooming orchid on the table next to me.
What I’m Sniffing: I’m making a big pot of chicken stock from the carcass of aforementioned chicken. Later this week I’ll make soup.
When I call a book
