Ramblings of a Menopausal Broad

Tag: Reading

Seven Things I Love (8-1-2022)

August 2, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Celebrate accordingly!

1. This Street Art in Louisiana – This stunning piece of art was created by Seth GlobePainter and is located in Baton Rouge.

[Found on the Intermission App]

2. This Service Offered by NASA – A few days ago the International Space Station (ISS) few over my hometown. Unfortunately I didn’t hear about it until after it had happened, as I read all my neighbors commenting about how cool it was on Next Door. Bummer!

The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port on Nov. 8, 2021.

That’s when I discovered that you can sign up to be notified whenever the ISS flies over your zip code. It’s called “Spot the Station” and it’s simple to do. Choose whether you want to be notified via email or text and enter your zip code (be sure to select the actual community you live in on the map) Once you sign up they will send you a confirmation code. Enter that and you’re good to go.

This is what one of the text notifications look like (I got my first one already!)

3. This Collaboration Between Kellogg’s and Penguin Random House – I’m not a big fan of sugary cereals (well, truthfully I am a big fan, but everyone knows they’re unhealthy, especially for us menopausal broads.) I am, however, an ENORMOUS fan of promoting summer reading and I love that Kellogg’s is healing kids (and adults) get free books just for eating cereal. I mean, the kids can read these books for the Summer Reading programs that they’ve signed up for at the LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

The Kellogg’s Feeding Reading program is in its fourth year. It’s odd that I’ve never heard of it before now.

[Discovered in a Commercial on TV]

4. This “Ballet Gone Bad” – HILARIOUS!

5. This Bold Kindergarten Teacher – On November 9, 1938 Mrs. Helen (Hurlick) Beebe was called to testify in court as a witness to a burglary. Judge Arthur S. Guerin, noticing that Mrs. Beebe was wearing trousers, reprimanded her for wearing something that was so distracting. To everyone’s amazement, Judge Guerin rescheduled the proceeding so that Mrs. Beebe could return in what he deemed a more “acceptable outfit.” In other words, he wanted her to put on a dress.

Well, Helen wasn’t going to have any of this jerk’s misogynistic bullshit. And she showed up at the rescheduled hearing once again wearing slacks. The judge rescheduled the hearing again, this time warning Helen that if she showed up in slacks she would be held in Contempt of Court.

After the second postponed hearing, Helen was interviewed and quoted as saying”

“Listen, I’ve worn slacks since I was 15,” She said, “I don’t own a dress except a formal. If he wants me to appear in a formal gown that’s okay with me. I’ll come back in slacks and if he puts me in jail I hope it will help to free women forever of anti-slackism.”

Helen Hurlick Beebe

Anti-slackism – I LOVE IT!

Sure enough, when she showed up in slacks a third time, the judge threw her in jail for contempt. Her sentence was five days. And just to add salt to the wound, the judge made her wear a denim dress while she was incarcerated.

Helen was released early and her case went to the Appellate Court. They overturned Judge Guerlin’s ridiculous ruling, giving her carte blanche to wear whatever she wanted to the next hearing. She chose to wear a formal evening gown. Sassy.

By the way, Mrs. Beebe went on to be a pioneer in speech and speech pathology. Quite the illustrious career!

[Found on All That’s Interesting]

6. This Sunday Morning Story on Refrigerators – now I want one. And I want to remodel my kitchen…. Mostly though I love that this is a long-time Fitchburg, Wisconsin company that is still going strong AND manufacturing here.

7. This Upcoming Hallmark Movie – Hallmark has really been upping its game on diversity. They’ve aired several LGBTQ+ movies (not just ones with peripheral characters who are LGBTQ+ but actual movies ABOUT LBGTQ+ love stories); they have a line of Mahogany cards & ornaments targeted for African-American customers and now they’re adding a series of Mahogany movies; and just a few days ago I saw a trailer for this movie…

Romance in Style is all about BODY POSITIVITY! Yippee. You can see the trailer HERE.

Word of the Day

Quote of the Day

Song of the Day

Seven (+2) Things I Love (11-30-2020)

November 30, 2020 / / 0 Comments

1. This Discovery of the Fountain of Youth – Scientists in Israel claim they have been able to reverse the aging process simply using oxygen. GIMME SOME OF THAT!

2. These Cardamom Cookies from Unna Bakery in New York – I found these locally a while back but couldn’t remember where I bought them. Damned menopausal brain fog. I checked to see if I could order them online and yay, I could! LOVE these cookies. They are my favorite treat to have with a cup of tea in the afternoon. A box contains five packets of two, all individually wrapped, so you don’t have to feel obligated to eat the whole package just to keep them from going stale (which is what I tell myself when I do that.) They are just the right amount of spice and sweet. In my opinion, the perfect cookie. The Swedes do so many things right and baking is on that list to be sure.

There are other flavors to choose from too. I ordered some Coconut Oat Cookies to try and they were different but equally good.

3. This Recipe for Sweet & Sour Brussels Sprouts – thanks to my brother Chuck for sending this to me. I’m a big fan of Camila Styles and I’m subscribed to her e-newsletter, but lately my inbox has been inundated so I’m missing a lot.

This girl (me) can’t get enough Brussels sprouts. Sadly, this girl also is on a blood thinner which means she has to pace herself. Well, you know what Julia Child says, “Everything in moderation.” (FYI, the full quote is, “Everything in moderation… including moderation.”) You can find the recipe by clicking on the photo or here.

4. This Book Review (and Interview) of Henry Winkler’s Newest Book by Master Crocheter Jonah Larson – they are all so damned adorable! Note Henry Winkler’s pillow behind him – love it! And Jonah Larson is a wunderkind! You can read more about him here and here.

5. This Cookware from GreenPan – I’ve bought all my GreenPan Cookware from Food52 but it’s available in many places including World Market, Kohl’s, and Amazon. One of my favorite pieces, which I use ALL the time, is the 12-Inch GreenPan Venice Pro Nonstick Ceramic Everyday Pan (pictured right). It’s no longer available at Food52 but they still have it at World Market. And there is a slightly smaller 11-Inch version called the Chatham Nonstick Ceramic Everyday Pan at Kohl’s for significantly less.

From the GreenPan website:

GreenPan is a Belgian brand with an international reputation. It’s the brainchild of two school friends: Jan Helskens and Wim De Veirman.

Upon discovering that traditional non-stick pans released toxins when overheated and used PFOA during the manufacture of the coating, they set out to create a new alternative.

After a long search, they found the perfect material for their range: a ceramic coating called Thermolon™.

With the biggest challenge out of the way, the duo put an expert team together and had a lot of pleasure in designing cookware that looked beautiful, performed brilliantly and made cooking even more of a joy.

10 years later their pans are loved around the world.

6. This Test Flight – I may not be a fan of Elon Musk (I think he ‘s batshit crazy) BUT I cannot deny he has vision and his company is achieving astonishing things. Besides, my nephew works at SpaceX so as long as he’s there I know that they they must be cool!

7. This Music Video (and tweet) – Daniel Stewart is Patrick Stewart’s son. The music video is awesome!

8. This Virtual Chess Game Against Beth Harmon (at four different ages!) – I ADORED ‘Queen’s Gambit’ (along with everyone else) and now I’m obsessed. Chess.com has developed this clever online experience tied in to the hit Netflix series. I finally got brave enough to try to play 8 year-old Beth. It was a draw because we ran out of moves. I thought my brain was going to explode though it was working so hard.

9. These Edible Christmas Ornaments for Outdoor Trees – I’m a Hallmark (and now Lifetime too) Christmas movie junkie. This year Hallmark has an incredible number of new movies. One of my favorites is called, Christmas with the Darlings. In addition to the usual christmas cookie making/baking scene that occurs in every Hallmark movie, in this one they made animal-friendly ornaments and I thought it was brilliant. I will definitely be doing this next year! There are two different links. The link on the photo below will take you to a recipe for the birdseed ornaments pictured. The link at the beginning in bold takes you to an article with a variety of ideas and links.

Word of the Day
(is actually the Merriam-Webster Word of the Year for 2020)

If you click on the graphic below it will take you to an analysis of the use and significance of the word pandemic for the year.

Quote of the Day

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving and stayed safe!

And I don’t want to rub it in so I’ll let Charlie say for me what I can’t say myself….

Five Things I Love (7-27-2020)

July 28, 2020 / / 0 Comments

1. Dr. Anthony Fauci on the cover of ‘In Style’ magazine. Yowzah! The article is an interview with Dr. Fauci and his wife, Dr. Christine Grady, and it’s super interesting. I think it’s amazing that we finally made a rock star out of a scientist!

2. This article calling for the return of Parasols – I am taking this on as a personal mission.

3. Home Movie: The Princess Bride – Damn you Quibi! I have been resisting subscribing to any more streaming services. Quibi isn’t even really like other streaming services, you can only watch it on your phone (or tablet) and the films/episodes are no more than ten minutes in length. Initially I saw a trailer for a series called “Dummy” with Anna Kendrick and I wanted to see it but not enough to subscribe but after I saw this video, well, that was it. The clip below is a compilation of the episodes telling an abridged version of the movie. If you want to see the entire thing you will need to subscribe and I tell you, it is WORTH IT! Not only can you download the episodes to watch anytime, but if you turn you phone sideways you can see the original film side-by-side with the “Home Movie” for comparison. It’s marvelous!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=3pfXZEPcEFg&feature=emb_title

4. The Moving of Booth Cottage – a Frank Lloyd Wright gem, Booth Cottage was purchased by a couple who wanted to tear it down to build a new house. W-T-F??? What kind of person tears down a Frank Lloyd Wright???? Anyway, a group of conservationists raised about $300,000 to help get the house moved to a new location in Glencoe and also worked out a long-term lease from the municipality. Once the foundation is laid and the house is put in place it will become a museum. Thank God there are still people in the world who value history and art. If you don’t want to watch the video here is an article from the Chicago Tribune with a few good photos.

5. Whitney: ‘Can I Be Me?’ – watched this documentary over the weekend and it was excellent. Whitney Huston was only two years older than me and I had pretty much grown up loving her, so like most people my age, her death was devastating. Seeing her in this movie was like bringing her back to life, even if it was just for a few hours. It’s difficult knowing that, had it been a different time, she might be alive today. And it’s frustrating knowing that so many people used her. Still, I will be watching it again.

6. Every player and coach on the Yankees & Nationals took a knee before the national anthem tonight in D.C. – this made my heart SOAR!

7. Charlie Berens & Alex Wehrley – I think I’ve included Charlie on my list before. I’m including him (and his wife Alex) again because he’s just so damned hilarious. It’s funny ‘cuz it’s true!

8. This “Remarkable ‘Reading Station’ by Charles Hindley & Co., London, с. 1890″ – the stuff that (librarian’s) dreams are made of!

https://steampunktendencies.tumblr.com/post/623391533529481216/remarkable-reading-station-by-charles-hindley

9. Olivia de Havilland cussing up a storm – we lost a true star this weekend when Miss de Havilland passed away at the age of 104. She has always been one of my favorite actresses from the Silver Screen. Not only was she beautiful but she was a woman who didn’t take shit from anyone and she stood up for things she believed in.

Have a
FANTASTIC WEEK!

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