As a familiar brand, “Kool-Aid” proved more memorable to the public than “Flavor Aid.” “Don‘t drink the Kool-Aid” became a jokey catchphrase for not foolishly following deranged leaders. “It . . . still hurts every time I hear it,” says Juanell Smart, who lost four children, her mother, and her uncle in Jonestown. “I hated that people laughed when they said it, like what happened was somehow funny.”

“And while removing the glass—a full three pounds of glass—and shrapnel from his wounds, they discovered …” The crackle of paper as he pulls out a list. “… four bolt tips, one bullet, five darts—some kind of exotic, tribal things …” From Qivos, thinks Shara. I told him to get a doctor that time. “… and six teeth that appear to be from some kind of shark . . .

*Sigrud is my kind of badass.*

She used to like monsters, so me and her were best friends, but now she likes boys instead (a bad mistake).

" . . . Jukov played tricks with his mortal followers, turning them into animals—wolves, sometimes, but most frequently brown starlings—and sometimes even going so far as to impregnate them, regardless of gender, if you can believe it.”

*Wait. What?!*

But even if the only thing your kids give a shit about is getting their hands on your money or your Holden-Wakefield end tables, even if all your kids want is for you to drop dead, at least someone is giving a specific sort of shit about you. And if you have more than one kid who wants your end tables, you can have fun drafting and redrafting your will.

Tim knew he was going to have to collect himself and get the rest of the excitement out of his system the best way he knew how. He'd throw up.

*Obviously. That's a normal reaction to stress, right?*

" . . . For I think belief in God is not a matter of reason at all; I think it finally is a matter of love: of accepting the possibility that God could ever love us.”

Reading and coffee-ing while I have the chance. #babiesoflitsy

Finally diving in and it's making me want to revisit Balance. I sure hope they continue making these.

Love me some #bookmap.

Thus, in between the foot and the mile came the furlong, equal to 660 feet. (It was the old measure of a standard plowed field's length, i.e. one "furrow long".)

*I'm not going to remember most of this, but this book has tons of fascinating tidbits and I imagine is a great reference when delving into Victorian literature.*

After double-checking that it‘s my personal phone—identical to my work phone, except for the Hufflepuff case—I turn it off and feel a palpable sense of relief.

*❤Hufflepuff❤*

Those pictures get plastered everywhere because we‘re a culture fascinated with crime, because we think the families‘ private pain is for public consumption.

For once it's not the baby keeping me up at night. At least I can get some extra reading in while the fireworks are going off.

As one former senior U.S. intelligence official put it, “It‘s one thing to say, ‘Hey, take a look, if you don‘t mind.‘ It‘s another thing entirely to say, ‘God damn it, these men are in danger and may even be dead. Let‘s find out immediately! I mean now!”

“Going to a refugee camp might help,” National Security Adviser Anthony Lake notes. “But not having gone to a refugee camp is not an excuse for not having an imagination.”

When the muscles become relaxed they have a tendency to flap (like a sail not pulled taut in the wind). Snoring is the sound of the muscles flapping.

*I can't get this visual out of my head. 😯*

Some people‘s snoring is so loud that the noise they generate exceeds government standards for noise in the workplace.

Your baby needs a happy and functioning mother more than she needs to see you at 3:00 in the morning.

*Maybe I should keep little quotes like this posted around the apartment.*

Yus! Can't wait to pick up my bingo card tomorrow. Something fun to focus on while gearing up for sleep training, which will be not so fun.

I regret telling my husband's best friend to just throw my night stand stuff in any box. Now I can't find this library book and I'm out of renews. #moving #perilsofbeinglazy #badlibrarypatron

He gave me a book of Walt Whitman's collected poems, and I still have it. I read it often. I can't say I really appreciate or understand it. Sounds like the rantings of a guy who may or may not think he's a tree.

Thus it was quickly decided that Pitry—being young, cheerful, and not in the room at the time—would be the best man for the job.

*😂*

As one senior U.S. official remembers, “The first response to trouble is, ‘Let‘s yank the peacekeepers.‘ But that is like believing that when children are misbehaving the proper response is, ‘Let‘s send the babysitter home,‘ so the house gets burned down.”

Trying to wrap up this first San Juan Islands Mystery while still on Orcas. I think I need to read location driven selections more often.

Three large seals were laid out upon the rocks like wet, glistening sausages . . .

*Wait . . . What? 😂*

He knew the house was awake now, he could stand in its center and feel its heart beating around him, synced with his own breathing when he breathed, feel its attention on him, alert and focused as a cat watching a broken-winged bird.

Procrastinating on Litsy because I'm afraid to finish a haunting book alone with the baby on what's turning out to be a dark and dreary evening. 😨

It's just me and the babe up here until Sunday evening and the babe is finally asleep.

Came across this while searching for the Iron Druid books. A spin-off series featuring dog detectives? The Squirrel on the Train? I think I need this in my life more.

Besides, old women must know something, or they wouldn't live to gather wrinkles and yell from their front stoops.

One more month of reads closer to summer vacations. (And I don't yet know if that means more or less reading. We'll see.)

Pre-order accomplished!

A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.

Beautiful writing, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about the main character.

The Beard is much better at making time for himself.

Even though I know he'll reciprocate, taking the baby so I can slip away for a few hours, this is the first time I've taken advantage of it.

And what am I doing with my newfound freedom? I'm reading in my dusty car. 🤣

One of these authors doesn't want you to forget that the characters have last names. Just in case you do, they are mentioned several times a chapter, if not several times a page.

I knew my library's search algorithms were off, but really? This is what pops up when you search for Does It Fart? 😡😂

My husband suggested this as my next read. Thanks, Science Friday. 😂

As a result, pain does not much bother me anymore; it gives me evidence of my ongoing existence, has saved me from those times when, otherwise, I might have stared so long at wind and rain and sea as to become nothing, to just disappear.

*Thanks for the sudden flashback to my teenage years. So glad those are more than a decade behind me now.*

1. Ann Patchett's Bel Canto
2. Nomeansno
3. James Brown
4. Janelle Monae's Make Me Feel

#ManicMonday @JoScho

This was yesterday's children's story during service and it was thoroughly charming. Or maybe it was the preschooler that kept shouting, "O. M. G!" I highly recommend both story and preschooler.

Quick! While he's distracted!

#25inFive #babiesoflitsy

Resorting to audiobooking. I struggle with focus when it comes to audio anything, and logistics are a bit fuzzy when it comes to timing (I'm working wave solder this week and often have to pause to answer questions or make quick phonecalls to support staff), but it's kind of working.

#25inFive

They were deep in their own world. For all the attention they were paying to me I might as well have been in Idaho.

*Oh, hey. An Idaho reference that doesn't involve survivalists or white nationalists. Not that we don't deserve those other references from time to time.*

#25inFive