Read. Rise. Resist.

If a nuke detonated tomorrow I would not be shocked. Nothing is surprising anymore. I spent today in tears because of the nasty responses to bending the knee protests instigated by the racist president. Newsflash all you jerks: You can support the troops AND kneel when the anthem plays. It is not one or the other. Everyday it feels like I am watching reality TV, disaster porn, the Hunger Games instead of the news.  Over the last few weeks the destruction left by Hurricane Harvey moved to non-stop watching news of a potential “nuclear” hurricane with Irma and then Hurricane Maria destroying islands in its path.

Over the last few weeks, actually over the last 10 months, it has been one thing after another (North Korea, Russia, DACA, Racism, Healthcare, Travel Ban). It’s overwhelming. It’s hilariously unbelievable. A few weeks ago my acupuncturist/yoga teacher recommended a news detox when I told her I’m not sleeping well (yes, I am fully aware how California that sentence sounded). I tried it when we went on vacation during Labor Day week – we left for Portland as Irma was starting to churn in the Atlantic and it reminded me of a trip we took to the Upper Peninsula 12 years ago.

The news break didn’t last long – I have no self-control and there was a story in Portland I  had to follow…The first day that we were in Portland we narrowly escaped getting caught by the Eagle Creek forest fire. A few hours after we landed, our friends took us to the gorge and we went on a gorgeous, lush, fun hike to a waterfall and swimming hole.

About thirty minutes after we ended our hike, the entire area was on fire (due to a kid lighting fireworks on the trail we had just hiked) and all of the people that were at the waterfall/swimming hole were stuck overnight. The fire is still going over 20 days later – it is not yet 50% contained, and almost 50,000 acres are gone. All that green went up in smoke and turned into ash that rained down on us in Portland. By the time we were heading out of Portland the entire city felt a bit apocalyptic with a red moon, Beijing-like smoky air, hazy sun, and sooty ash. People in the city were so, so sad about the loss.

We’re all always so close to tragedy and disaster. It’s all so very fragile. And yet, all of this crazy is becoming our new normal. Most of us are getting used to this feeling of living on the brink. We’re expecting it to get even worse.

On a happier, less depressing note, we LOVED Portland. Such good veg food (Sweet Herafter, The Bye and Bye, No Bones Beach Club), amazing bike lanes, resistance signs on most businesses and homes, lush greenery, walkable neighborhoods and, of course, Powells Books – where I got my fave bumper sticker of all time READ. RISE. RESIST.

I’m currently reading “Women in the Castle” by Jessica Shattuck. It’s hitting close to home  as I read about Germany and those who stood with and those who resisted Hitler & Nazism. If we end up divided by racism and fear like Germany did, we are all going to lose.

Short Reads:

Take 5 minutes out of your day and read Hymn by Sherman Alexie. Read it.

Social Justice is reversible. It is belief held by Octavia Butler, Ta-Nehsi Coates, and many others. This New Yorker article about Butler is a must-read for anyone who has not heard about her.

“We Are Living Through a Battle for the Soul of This Nation” by Joe Biden. We’re living through it people. Will you speak out or will you be a weenie? Also ‘To Donald Trump,’ by Leland Melvin, former NASA Astronaut and NFL Player if you still don’t get it.

Must Reads:

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue It’s the latest Oprah pick and its a good one! Set during the economic crisis of 2008, the novel follows the impact of the crash on two completely different families in NYC. The immigrants experience vs the people working at Lehman Brothers. I loved this book and think it should be required reading for everyone.

Marlena by Julie Buntin Set in Northern Michigan, this is a rough, raw book about an intense teenage friendship between 2 girls. Drugs, sex, stupid decisions, alcohol – all of the things that are terrifying about teenagers are in this book. Northern Michigan has amazing summers, but they are short and the winter can be incredibly long. In some towns there are the summer people, and then there are the people who live there year round. It can be two totally different experiences. This book looks at class, motherhood, friendship, and so much more.

I love this paragraph of the narrator looking back on her teenage angst: “Great loneliness, profound isolation, a cataclysmic, overpowering sense of being misunderstood. When does that kind of deep feeling just stop? Where does it go? At fifteen, the world ended over and over and over again. To be so young is a kind of self-violence. No fore-sight, an inflated sense of wisdom, and yet you’re still responsible for your mistakes. It’s little frightening to remember just how much, and how precisely, I felt. Now, if the world really did end, I think I’d just feel numb.”

Good Reads:

Woman No. 17 by Eden Lepucki   I pretty much hated Lepucki’s first book, so I’m surprised I picked this one up. Like her first book, this one also has completely unlikeable characters, however the story is kind of fun as it explores art, mother issues and class.

The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch A weird dystopian book about art and resistance and so much more.

Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout She is never a disappointment. Short, perfect little stories that intersect but also can stand alone.

4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster  4 different versions of a life. This book is long and sometimes hard to keep track off – but I loved all the twists and turns determined by all the ways our lives can go depending on our circumstances. The civil rights protest and the Vietnam war are explored from different perspectives and the main character, Ferguson feels he is writing in a time “when the world was about to blow apart again.” The book made me feel a little better – so many generations have felt like they were watching the world explode.

Idaho by Emily Ruskovich If you only like happy endings where everything is resolved don’t read this book (Poo, I’m especially talking to you). Nothing gets resolved in this novel and that’s hard because it involves the death of an innocent child. I hated a lot of this novel, but parts of it were so amazing I am still thinking about it.

So much stuff to add to library lists. Here’s a good list. Can’t wait for Jennifer Egan’s “Manhattan Beach”!!