Remember Rob Ford? Of course you do, how could anyone forget?
Well, his bro Doug Ford just got elected leader of the Ontarian conservatives. He may eventually become prime minister of the largest canadian province. Today Sarnia, tomorrow the world! Wee!
I woke up in the middle of last night totally blocked in both sinuses. I spent a half hour flushing with saline and blowing my nose, slept like crap and woke up feeling like I'd been beaten.
Matilda remembered I'd had similar trouble a few months back and wasn't that also a night we'd had red wine? I googled "red wine congestion" and was deluged with results on red wine intolerance/allergy, virtually all of the symptoms of which apply to me. Apparently, these things are affected by the size of the person in question.
So now that I'm 40% smaller, I can't really do red wine anymore.
Yep. Roughly half the size equals roughly twice the sensitivity to red wine. I guess I should look at it as a weird perk of being fat that I got to drink red wine for years without issue when it would have made me sick had I been thin.
And weirdly, I am thin now. Not just not "thin by my standards" or "compared to what I was." But thin by 42 year-old dad standards for sure. I figure I can lose maaaaaybe ten or fifteen more pounds (trying to get rid of the remaining dad bod/love handle/belly action) before it gets weird, but I'm more or less done.
Ah! Yeah, but no. But that gave me an idea: if I capo at the second fret, I can pull it off. And after a bit of practice, it should become easy. Then I'll capo at the first fret. And then, no capo!
Netflix has a dumb new show that I will admit made me laugh. It's called Nailed It! and it's a baking contest where people with no baking credentials compete to see who can do the best job of replicating cakes made by famous cake makers. The joke is that they all fail horribly. Like horribly, horribly, horribly.
The details, published in the journal BMJ Case Reports, reveal that blood tests showed nothing out of the ordinary and there were no signs of facial weakness, speech problems or confusion.
I'm continuing to try and read through as many of the books in this year's Tournament of Books bracket as possible. I've read White Tears, Dear Cyborgs, (as much as I will bother with of) The Book of Joan, Exit West, and Goodbye Vitamin. I'm working on Idaho now and then Pachinko next. I'm also listening to the (super weird and ambitious) audiobook version of Lincoln in the Bardo, too.
My actual bracket ain't going so hot though. LitB, White Tears, Manhattan Beach, and Lucky Boy all lost. Sing Unburied Sing won yesterday though and Pachinko today, so I'm doing a wee bit better.
I wish more people were into this as it's sort of March Madness for book nerds.
Every March at The Morning News we present The Tournament of Books, a month-long battle royale among the year’s best novels.
But it’s not really a contest. We’re not even sure it’s a “tournament.” What the ToB has been and will be, as long as we’re putting it on, is a month-long conversation about novels and reading and writing and art that takes place on weekdays in March.
Here’s how it works. Throughout the year, we gather, read, and assess the works of fiction we think would make worthy tournament competitors. In December we present our findings in the form of a "long list." We then cull it to a final shortlist of 16 or so books. (Some years we expand the list beyond the core 16 to include an extra set of two or more books that compete in a pre-tournament play-in match.)
When the Tournament of Books begins in March, each weekday two works of fiction go head to head, with one of our judges deciding which book moves forward in the brackets, according to whatever criteria matters to them. Along the way, the judges reveal their biases and interests, any connections they have to the participating authors, and, most importantly, an elaborate explanation of how they decided between the two books.
Following that day’s decision, we have color commentary in the form of a dialogue between two experts. From the beginning, our ToB Chairmen, authors Kevin Guilfoile and John Warner, have cracked wise, but we’ve also invited into the booth our favorite literary podcasters, independent booksellers from across the country, and novelists like Elliott Holt and Laura van den Berg. Think of it as a bigger-picture view of the proceedings from people who not only have read a ton of fiction, but who are also familiar with the way that the publishing industry makes the sausage, to bastardize a phrase. Then we leave it up to you, the readers, to add your own passionate thoughts and rebukes to the mix in the comments section.
From the eight opening round matches to the four quarterfinal matches through the two semifinal matches, the original field of 16 competitors is whittled down to two books. However, before those books can enter the championship match, they must compete in our “Zombie Round,” which brings back two books that were eliminated during gameplay.
This is how the Zombies are chosen: Each year, prior to the tournament, when we announce the final list of books, we ask our readers at The Morning News to vote for their favorite novel from the list. When we reach the Zombie Round during gameplay, the two books that received the most popular votes—and have already been eliminated in the competition’s earlier rounds—rise from the dead with another shot at reaching the championship.
The two books that emerge victorious from the Zombie Round enter the final match, which is decided by our entire judging panel. Each judge picks their favorite of the two final books, and the book that receives the most votes takes home that year’s Rooster.
Depends on how you mean. Obviously, everyone realizes books are inherently subjective and there's no way to rank them absolutely, much less pit them head-to-head in any conclusive way.
That said, people relish the opportunity to have a forum to discuss some of the best literary fiction of the year comparatively, so it's a big deal within certain circles. Part of the fun is trying to anticipate what the various judges will or won't go for. They're all minor literary celebs (bloggers, reviewers, authors) etc. and sometimes, they surprise you. They always make their picks in the form of essay/comparative reviews, and those pieces plus the comments below them make for some fun discussion.
My sister is outta town till Saturday, so I'll be spending even more time with Mom. I got back from Reno last night. Before I had fully awakened this morning, I sent an angry text to the ex and then got into a big texting fight with her. I wish I hadn't done that. I'm not going to say sorry since this isn't the first time I've done it. Not as many loop de loops as before, but the emotional roller coaster continues.
Comments
Well, his bro Doug Ford just got elected leader of the Ontarian conservatives. He may eventually become prime minister of the largest canadian province. Today Sarnia, tomorrow the world! Wee!
Matilda remembered I'd had similar trouble a few months back and wasn't that also a night we'd had red wine? I googled "red wine congestion" and was deluged with results on red wine intolerance/allergy, virtually all of the symptoms of which apply to me. Apparently, these things are affected by the size of the person in question.
So now that I'm 40% smaller, I can't really do red wine anymore.
Trump? Not Trump, then.
My actual bracket ain't going so hot though. LitB, White Tears, Manhattan Beach, and Lucky Boy all lost. Sing Unburied Sing won yesterday though and Pachinko today, so I'm doing a wee bit better.
I wish more people were into this as it's sort of March Madness for book nerds.
:-w
But Jeff, to be honest, it seems like a silly idea to me. I imagine they're very tongue-in-cheek about it, right?
That said, people relish the opportunity to have a forum to discuss some of the best literary fiction of the year comparatively, so it's a big deal within certain circles. Part of the fun is trying to anticipate what the various judges will or won't go for. They're all minor literary celebs (bloggers, reviewers, authors) etc. and sometimes, they surprise you. They always make their picks in the form of essay/comparative reviews, and those pieces plus the comments below them make for some fun discussion.