Readers!
My nephews gave me a stomach bug for my birthday, so let’s do a quick recommendation round up!
- The Real Infowars. I was as shocked as anyone else when The Onion bought Infowars, and despite the continued legal wrangling, they decided to go ahead with their plans, including a once a week episode on Youtube. I was howling at this week’s episode, especially since they got Edi Patterson to do a call as alter ego Tim Heidecker’s ex-wife. I know a lot about Infowars from the dearly departed Knowledge Fight podcast, and was worried that a spoof of Alex Jones wouldn’t land with a lot of people. But it’s more a parody of all right wing blowhards, and The Onion has said this is a first step in their creating a new comedy platform. Going well so far!
- Love Trapped podcast. I have never watched an episode of The Bachelor, and yet I was completely enthralled by what turned out to be a podcast not about that, but about a scammer — one who quite possibly got caught because she tried it on a former Bachelor. I went into this completely blind so I don’t want to spoil it for you, but there were multiple twists in this that were jaw dropping. And it’s still going! I HIGHLY recommend this.
- Backpack beach chairs. My personal life and a large chunk of my professional life have involved the Southern part of the Jersey Shore. I have used many kinds of beach chairs, beach bags, and beach accouterments to schlep me and a place to sit onto the sand, and nothing is as perfect for this as the backpack beach chair. You mean I don’t have to carry a chair by the handle, where it’s going to bang into my leg with every step? AND it comes with two large pockets, including an insulated one, so I don’t also need to carry another bag with me? Which means my hands are free so I can carry a chair, my stuff and my surfboard with ease? I love them. I LOVE THEM. I love them so much that when the backpack beach chairs my dad bought in 2020 started to rust and fray (it happens to anything living next to the ocean, but especially items that have been beat up by the dozen or so people who use this beach house), I ordered six more of these Tommy Bahama beach chairs from Costco, which I also feel are the perfect height for adults and kids. This is not an ad or an affiliate link, but they have just made the walking to and sitting on the beach experience so much easier that I wanted — no needed — to share.
Recent Bylines
“Using mass spectrometry to identify biomarkers and therapies for blood cancers,” Clinical Laboratory News
“Data Science Symposium aims to deliver value to clinical laboratories,” Clinical Laboratory News
“ADLM Disruptive Technology Award finalists address clinical challenges,” Clinical Laboratory News
What I’m Reading
- The Disappeared by C.J. Box. And we’re back with our intrepid Wyoming game warden, Joe Pickett, who is tasked with solving the disappearance of a British women famous enough across the pond to draw tabloid attention. It’s not Box’s best, though I enjoyed characters asking over and over again “why is a game warden here?” Obviously it’s fiction, but Pickett does get into an awful lot of scrapes. There is a funny scene in an aquafarm involving a fish being used as a weapon. I told my fishing industry clients about it, I was that amused by the scene.
- Thrilling Tales of Modern Men by Danny McBride, read by a full cast. I’m a big fan of Righteous Gemstones, so pre-ordered this immediately without reading anything about it. I though it was memoir, but nope a book of short stories. They’re not all perfect, but the best ones are like reading Twilight Zone episodes, which is a high bar indeed. Also when I say “full cast,” I mean it, including John Goodman, Billy Cudrup, Edi Patterson and Walton Goggins. A great listen.
- Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of Childhood Online by Fortesa Latifi, read by the author. This is mostly good, but not quite the deep dive I was hoping for. Yes, there’s a lot of reporting here and interviewing of parents who do this to their children. But Latifi also made this part memoir about becoming a new mom, which really bogged down the narrative, and she admitted that she’s enthralled with this world, which might have dampened some of her criticism (there’s one section of mom influencers saying “what else can I do to earn a living?” I dunno maybe ANYTHING other than serving up images and videos of your children to pedophiles?) Maybe this would have been a better book if she hadn’t written it right after having a baby and she had some distance from the experience that to gain perspective on a clearly traumatic experience rather than trying to write through it. The perspective of the exploited children is also largely missing, and while that’s partly a problem of time (these kids are just starting to become adults and have enough space to talk about what happened to them), other projects have done this effectively, like the documentaries Bad Influence and An Update On Our Family. This is also another case of where the author should have let someone else read the audiobook. Writers are good at a lot of things, but this isn’t one in most of our wheelhouses (full disclosure, I didn’t read my book, which I wrote about!)
What I’m Watching
- All Creatures Great & Small (season 5). And we’re back with the Yorkshire veterinarians & co. while World War II rages. It’s a lot of the same: love, friendship, animals, scenery. I can’t complain except that after I watch season 6, I’ll be caught up! I did however do a double take when Nicholas Ralph, who plays James, showed up in an episode of this season’s Grantchester as a vicar. I’m glad he got to mix it up a bit.
Nail Polish of the Week
Coastal Sand-tuary by OPI. My favorite summer color, which I save for my birthday week because it goes with my skin tone this time of year (my birthday was yesterday, yes you may shower me with praise!) I tried out a lot of off whites in the last six-ish years that I’ve been doing my nails every week, and I am very distressed that it’s discontinued, hence the link being to eBay. OPI, bring it back!
Until next time!
Jen A. Miller (she/her)
Notes from a Hired Pen ebook series
Like this post? Buy Jen a Coffee!
Book links are affiliate links.
Leave a Reply