I woke this morning to a red “Unhealthy” warning on my AirNow phone app. Instead of waking up, rolling over to grab my phone, and checking my work email, my mornings now consist of waking up, rolling over to grab my phone, and checking the air quality maps. What an inspiring way to start the day!
For my friends in California, the California Environmental Justice Alliance has put together an Environmental Justice Voter Guide that I found helpful. For my family and friends not on the West Coast, this opinion piece echoes what my experience has been like with the wildfires. Please, please take the time to educate yourself on the devastating impacts of climate change and vote accordingly. Here’s another recommended reading about the intersection of climate change and racial justice. And if you’re reading this and have other resources to share, please do so in the comments!
After drinking coffee and contemplating the dire situation in which we find our country and our planet, I finished reading Paul Beatty’s The Sellout. Ironically, I was hesitant to read it after seeing it won the 2016 Booker Prize, as I have not enjoyed many of the recent Booker-nominated novels I have read. I finally picked it up after one of my friends gave me his copy and I’m so glad I read it. My sister and I are planning to discuss the book in our little two-person book club so if anyone else wants to join, here’s your invitation!
I need more time to process the book before delivering my final thoughts and opinions; at the moment my reaction is best articulated by “Trish” and this review she posted on Goodreads:
My copy of this novel is spiked with tabs marking something deeply insightful, stabbingly funny, or needing revisiting. There is simply too much to point to: Beatty must have been saving up observations about race relations in America to get so much into this relatively short novel.
Same, Trish, same. I’ve also been reading so many books on my Kindle that I’ve taken for granted the ability to highlight passages and return to them whenever I want via a simple search; now I have a paperback book covered in Post-It Notes with no way to organize my thoughts! Ahhhhh! (The smell and feel of a paperback book in your hands is still unparalleled, though.)
In other morning news: Thomas was so exhausted that he made himself a cup of coffee. On one hand, I want him to get sleep and feel well-rested. On the other, it gives me great pleasure to watch him pouring that black elixir-of-the gods into a mug…
Oh, and I can’t end this post without a mention of the best news to come out of this week (besides the fact that one of my friends is getting a puppy):
It’s Bruce time (now, forever, and always), b*tches!!!!!!
can’t wait for our book club!!!