The Marci Rating System

I've been working my way through the Dianne Duvall's 'Immortal Guardians' audiobooks (after starting with her 'Aldebarian Alliance' SPACE ADVENTURE books, so I got kind of a backwards introduction, which I personally loved -- spoilers: yes, suspense: no thank you).

And I've been interspersing them with other stuff (still impressed at how easily the narrator of my current audiobook says 'marquess,' a word I can't seem to manage despite having now known the correct pronunciation for one (1) whole day).

Mostly this is just a post to appreciate how much fun I'm having listening to a story about people kissing in the rain (it rains a lot in England, I guess) in a book that uses the word 'marquess' a lot yet has a surprising lack of the actual marquess even now, more than 80% of the way through the book, while at the same time part of my brain is all 'BUT WHAT ABOUT THE VAMPIRES AND THE ALIENS.'

Still haven't decided what to listen to next, because I'm enjoying the anticipation so much. Ah, the delights!

That's the rule, right? If it snows in April, you get to just take the day off.

(If it wasn't a rule before, I'm making it one now!)

Tooth: repaired!

Audiobook: provided more than adequate distraction!

Dentist office employees: super friendly, but absolutely ZERO idea of what non-dentist-office people know about teeth!

MY TWO FAVORITE EXAMPLES FROM YESTERDAY:

*Early in the visit, one of the employees was attempting to clarify which tooth had lost the filling. Them: "Is it the number 30?" Me: "...???" I DON'T KNOW MY TEETH BY NUMBERS, OKAY? (We both had a laugh about this afterwards; the employee confirmed it had indeed been a very long Monday at the office.)

*On the opposite end of the spectrum, the person who injected the anesthetic shots took great care to explain that I "might experience some soreness or tightness in my jaw," and that's "totally normal." I nodded along, but I was definitely thinking 'yes, I've been to the dentist before. I've been to THIS dentist before. I've literally had THIS TOOTH filled before. JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO. I'm ABSOLUTELY aware of the jaw soreness issue.'

I'm genuinely not sure which one was more funny, but they were both great. And a perfect time to recall the xkcd 'Average Familiarity' comic!

Last year at this time we were DRIVING TO VERMONT to see the solar eclipse! AHHHHH that was so cool!

Four years ago at this time we were SCHEDULING A HOME VIEWING to look at our very first potential house, which we wound up buying! AHHHH that was also so cool!

This year we are TAKING IT EASY because things are hard, and recovery time is essential, which is also very cool!

Some Random Thoughts

*The weather is as gray as yesterday, with more wind and less rain. The forecast says sun this afternoon, which I'm desperately hoping is not an April Fool's Day joke.

*My excitement over my hoopla borrows refreshing today far exceeds the actual impact of this happening. I ALREADY HAVE an audiobook queued up in Libby; I DO NOT NEED any hoopla borrows today. AND YET. (I want options! MAXIMUM OPTIONS!)

*When I changed one of my calendar pages today, I thought to myself 'huh, March's picture was hummingbirds, I wonder what April's will be?' And it turns out April's picture is also hummingbirds. Is it possible I got a hummingbird calendar and don't remember? I did not do any work to actually answer this question.

*I have the snopes feed on my reading page, which I mostly ignore. Every once in a while I'll scroll by something like 'despite recent widespread rumors and tiktok trend, restaurant chopsticks not intended to be eaten.' And I'm reminded yet again that I have almost zero exposure to widespread rumors and current trends, and I feel immeasurably grateful for that.

*NOTE: I made that headline up. I really want to believe there is not any trend or rumors about eating restaurant chopsticks.

On the plus side, we could really use some rain! I'm sure it's good for all the plants. And the river!

But also it's sooooooooooooo gray outside. The cat and I are parked in front of the full spectrum light, pretending not to notice the time passing. (She is doing an excellent job of it!)

My workplace is doing some stuff because March is Nutrition Month (I guess?), including asking people to submit recipes that celebrate their cultural heritage. And then -- and this is truly the wildest part to me -- they're going to have a 'panel of experts' analyze all the recipes for cultural significance, nutritional value, and simplicity. And then award prizes, I guess???

IDK, the whole thing seems needlessly complicated to me, but in the spirit of workplace participation, I did consider whether I should send in a recipe. Because avocado toast must count as being culturally significant for millennials, right? It's what we got instead of job security and affordable housing! It's the 'joking but also completely serious' food of a generation!

And yes, submitting such a recipe would be A LITTLE BIT to poke gentle fun at how seriously this 'competition' (why???) is being presented by the powers that be. I like my food to be easy and fun, and I don't think making dinner has to be a big deal.

But it would also be COMPLETELY SERIOUS because I do think avocado toast has a place in the cultural record, plus it's delicious.

Also COMPLETELY SERIOUSLY I think it would be valuable to include some very simple, very customizable recipes in any collection. I think it would make any collection of recipes more widely accessible and interesting!

(And it might make people laugh, because it's also A LITTLE BIT a joke, and I think that has value too.)

(I am definitely not submitting anything. But I did think about it!)

[ETA: I re-read the announcement and realized I forgot to mention that recipes will also be judged on flavor! Gotta be delicious, nutritious, easy, and culturally relevant to win the mystery prizes!]

AUDIOBOOKS AT THE DENTIST: A REVIEW

*Yesterday I was at the dentist office, having some work done. Not too long, thank goodness; only about 40 minutes. And instead of music, I had AN AUDIOBOOK.

*I happened to be listening to a VERY DRAMATIC part of the book at that moment, so while I have a vague recollection that the dentist did all the usual things, my brain was SUPER DISTRACTED by hearing about fighting vampires in a forest.

*The timing worked out well, and probably isn't something I could predict with any accuracy. Would have been LESS GREAT if the book happened to be at, say, a sex scene. AWKWARD.

*But overall a success! I didn't mention that it was an audiobook this time, so I escaped the 'oh, what book are you listening to?' questions. (It was Dianne Duvall's 'Night Reigns,' which I wasn't averse to sharing. It's just that the dentist already perceives my physical existence more than I'd really prefer, and it's comforting to still have some things be private.)

Big thanks to lannamichaels for the encouragement to keep looking for info about the school articles -- I finally dug into it Monday evening and found them! I can't really claim it was a challenge, since the town is doing a big push to inform the voters this year. It was more a matter of 'I'm sure all the information is here, I just have no idea what I'm looking at, so it all seems more confusing than it probably is.'

ALSO I confirmed that voting is in the closest location to us (sometimes it's further away if it's a Big Election), which is very convenient! AND the weather is good! Truly a convergence of reasons to take time off from work.

Today is officially an 'I'm not going to have any idea what time it is all day' kind of day! I already have no idea what time it is on most days, and changing the clocks does not help.

How I always imagine springing forward:
*If you want to do something outside after work, it's light out!

My actual experience of springing forward:
*It's too light out to close the curtains after work, so I leave them open, and tell myself I'll definitely get up from my cozy reading and crochet nest in the evening to close them once it's dark, and then I never do, and suddenly it's ten o'clock at night and I'm berating myself for not closing the curtains earlier.