April 28

My scattered brain has found a home here

1965

Guess what is discus thrower + shot putter on our track team? V? How clever can you get? He's a real mess. All the time he ignores me and prances around making a fool of himself. (He came in second to last.) What a waste, waist (pick either) he is! A real fink - do you hear me, V? A real fink!!

Comment 2006

...and yet, why was I attending a track meet? Why did I know how he placed? Why can I still picture him "prancing around" in his track shorts?

Comment 2023

I think we all know why. Teenaged Jo was trying to conjure up some of that hate—>love juju.

1983

It’s Thursday night, after a long hot (nearly 90) day. But I want to jot down some thoughts.

1) I want to read more. If I could work up to 4 books a week, I’d be ecstatic.

2) I want to know more, especially about retailing and the world I’m preparing my students for.

Kid 1’s words:

Dada

Mama

Eye

Ha’ (hat)

Sh’ (shoe)

Dis

Dat

Bye-bye

Night-night

Dati (dolly)

Budi (birdie)

Datto (bottle)

Comment 2023

4 books a week? I remember doing that as a kid, but those were much short books and all I did was read. The sheer insanity of that goal is staggering. Four books at a time is more my style, just like my knitting (currently, 3 WIPs), and my writing (this thing and THAT THING). Might I have undiagnosed ADHD? What good would it be to know at this point in my life?

1985

I am now involved in a church committee. Thoughts about scheduling options.

9 a.m. family service (1/2 hour)

song

reading/story

music and offertory

joys and sorrows

announcements

song

9:30 Religious Education (adult and kids) and coffee

11 regular service (child care for under 5s

We decided last night to use a different form of birth control for a while, and maybe try to have another child next spring or summer. It was a heavy conversation. Time to take a shower.

Comment 2023

I hate committees so much that I forgot I was on this one. 

Also, it took us eleven years to decide to have Kid 1, so talking about Kid 2 was bound to be “heavy”. 

1997

I am still looking for a time to write. It should be after my morning routine. Nice trick, though, when on the PRIME morning (Monday) I have 10 a.m. meetings. Ho Hum!

I need to talk about our relationship with Jim. I don’t understand where we are.

Comment 2023

I also hate meetings, especially morning meetings. Especially Monday morning meetings.

Relationship tip: please do talk about “where you are” from time to time.

2020

Finished Bel Canto. Lovely choice for a pandemic. I have been napping less, which I think has been improving my sleep.

Comment 2023

Even in the pandemic, I could not read four books a week. Probably two.

2023 Current situation

Will no one rid me of these troublesome allergies? It’s hard to think when my head is a block of concrete.

I am trying to figure out my social media/blogging landscape. Thanks to Elon Musk, my nice writing community on Twitter no longer exists. They’ve all scattered to Mastodon and other platforms. Nice places to visit, but … you know. For quite a while, I knew where to put my thoughts. Personal stuff for family and friends went to Facebook. Images on Instagram. Research updates on my blog, Gender Mystique. (Don’t get excited; it’s been awhile.) Everything else on Everything Else. And Twitter was my local pub where I could hang out, get the news and exchange  bon mots with my buddies. 

After several months on Substack, it’s starting to feel like that place. Substack + Notes is almost perfect. I will hang on to my Post account, though. It feels more like a coworking space, which might come in handy when I am feeling more serious than social.