Thoughts on Thursday

1.  Why do you read?

If what we eat is what we are, what we read also shapes who we are.  We blog about what we read, but today I'm asking WHY you read.  What do you hope to get from your reading?  Do you want to be entertained, informed, inspired?  Do you read as an escape, as a way to avoid thinking about your life?  We all probably read for many reasons, but for your leisure reading, what do you expect from a book?

2.  This is why I read

"I read to explore ideas."  That's on the sidebar with my photo at "About Me" near the top.  Reading fiction let's me explore ideas as well as reading nonfiction does.  Some folks read the same kind of stuff week after week, but I like to mix it up.  Maybe working in a library helped push me in that direction, since I kept finding interesting titles to read.  No, I didn't have time to read on the job.  When I left, it took three different people to do what I'd been staying late to do.

3.  Gas stoves

Gas stoves burn natural gas, including nitrogen dioxide, which has harmful effects on health.  Use the exhaust fan every time you use a gas stove to help reduce the concentrations of the nitrogen oxide by-products, if you can't replace the gas stove with an electric one.  A renter, for example, has to use what's there.

4.  Rebecca Solnit on "Mansplaining"

"The credibility gap turns into a hugely harmful thing with sexual assault and gender violence, in which men have historically been believed over women. It often brings on victims' despair about reporting such abuse, because if you will not be believed, and if you will be mocked, shamed, harassed or even criminalised for reporting abuse, why would you bother?"  Quoted from the Guardian article which you can read HERE.

Solnit is the author of seventeen books, as well as articles.  Her book Men Explain Things to Me, published in 2014, is a collection of short essays on feminism, including one on the phenomenon of "mansplaining."  I read this book of essays when it was new in October 2014 and rated it 8/10, a very good book.  I've written about mansplaining a couple of other times (click HERE).

5.  Package delivery

It's always fun to get a delivery, even if it is only kitty litter (heavy!), a journal, and a box of granola bars.  When I got the email notice (with this photo) telling me that my box was on the delivery table near the office, I took my cart down there to get the heavy stuff and immediately ate a granola bar.

6.  Package delivery

No, you're not crazy.  I got another delivery two days later.  Two books I ordered came earlier than expected.  I'll share those books on Monday or Tuesday.

7.  Are you crazy?

In the mid-1800s, any of the things on this list could get you admitted to a "lunatic asylum."

8.  Road trips ~ found HERE

Which trip looks interesting to you?  Any of them?  All of them?  None?  Why?  Hmm, I see that three of the roads pass near St. Louis:  The Great River Road, The Loneliest Road, and Route 66.