blech

It’s still summer – STILL! IT NEVER ENDS! – and…big sigh.

My August is like everybody else’s February: I hate the sky, I’m sick of being trapped indoors and I can barely remember what it feels like to wake up with any enthusiasm whatsoever for a new day. I just keep plodding along, blinds down and A/C pumping, putting in the days, looking longingly at the calendar and telling myself things will start to improve in another month or so. Or will they? September is usually hot and sunny here, too. Blech.

On that cheery note, this made me laugh.

laughs, opinions
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A Chill in the Air by Iris Origo

A short, but fascinating first-hand account of life in Italy during the build-up to Italy’s entry into the Second World War.

According to Origo, most Italians hated Hitler (and Germans) and wanted no part of fighting alongside Nazis. They truly believed only Mussolini – master negotiator, force of nature and god among men – could and would keep them out of it. Fascism was popular and democracy derided, particularly in the pro-German/anti-British propaganda in Italian newspapers. Knowing now how badly things ended for Italians, Origo’s continual hunt for signs that they’d escape the war is all the more heartbreaking.

Maybe if high school history classes focused more on gripping, first-hand accounts like this one and less on deadly boring textbooks, we wouldn’t be doomed to repeat the same stupid political cycles over and over.

Highly recommended.

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my body positive tomato

I’m not sure why this tomato (1) ripened so much faster than the others and (2) appears to be a small beefsteak tomato on a cherry tomato plant, but whatever. You be you, little tomato.

food, garden
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only small joys

“She knew there were only small joys in life – the big ones were too complicated to be joys when you got all through – and once you realized that, it took a lot of the pressure off.” – Lorrie Moore

quotations
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