random (f)acts
I have added memory lane selections this month recognizing my 70th birthday (3.18), some “one word” reviews and a special music playlist.
books
memory lane: The Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald. I read it to students in the 70’s. I read it to camp summer staff. I read it to my kids. And I keep recommending it. A Catholic family with three sons in the early 1900’s in Mormon Utah. Hilarious, instructive, and poignant.
and now one word book reviews -
In the Pines by Grace Elizabeth Hale - chilling
Being able to live relatively free of the bonds of history has been one of white Americans’ greatest privileges. - Hale - Introduction
We Had Our Reasons Poems by Ricardo Ruiz and Other Hardworking Mexicans from Eastern Washington, Winner Washington State Book Award 2023. - staggering
Class by Stephanie Land. - unwavering
People who’d never known a day without food…who had the perception that their success was self-made, were usually the ones who felt justified in judging my decision-making as a single mother who lived in poverty. Class, p. 160
Gumption Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers by Nick Offerman - sensible
music
memory lane: KINK the underground link 102 FM hit the Portland airwaves in 1968 and changed my world. It was alternative and progressive before I knew such things would ever exist. After growing up on the sugary pop of AM KISN and KGW this was the real thing. Deep dives, whole albums (album-orientated rock), and stuff you couldn’t hear anywhere else.
Click here for JRLS 50's - 70's favs & surprises, songs that I have connected with over the years. The list is far from exhaustive, so many others... 80’s-90’s will post in April, and 2k+ in May. Enjoy.
viewing
memory lane: The Rockford Files (1974-1980) Maybe my all-time favorite TV show. James Garner was perfect as Rockford. A mix of “I don’t give a damn” and “I’ll do anything to help you.” And he looked like my dad. Supporting cast was spot on. Garner was also in The Great Escape, maybe my all-time favorite movie.
one word viewing reviews -
Gospel (PBS) - enlightening
Shogun - ambitious
The Regime - promising
Death and Other Details - meh
Elsbeth - quirky
Napoleon - complicated
The Creator - fAIr
pods
memory lane: KGO, a San Francisco radio station that played old time radio shows on Saturday night. Somehow I could pick up a clear signal in Portland late at night and would go to sleep listening to Inner Sanctum, the Shadow or Light’s Outs from the 40’s and 50’s.
one word pod reviews -
Andy Warhol: the Fame, the Future, and Back from the Dead - revealing
the Impact of Christian Nationalism on American Democracy - clarion
Marilynne Robinson on Biblical Beauty, Human Evil and the Idea of Israel - deep
Narcissism vs. Emotional Maturity: How to set boundaries with family & work on YOU with Lindsay C. Gibson - useful
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