the_rck

I spent about two hours on the first genetic counseling form and some related emails last night. That left me exhausted enough that I considered skipping dinner and going to bed at 7:00. I also had a headache (which responded to Tylenol, thank goodness). I think I will have to take Ativan before I spend any concentrated time on this.

My mother responded to my email by saying that she will see what she can dig up for me but that she won’t be able to start for a few days. They’re in Baton Rouge, and their air conditioner has died. They don’t know yet if it can be repaired or if it will need replacing. They also just adopted two year old dogs from a local shelter and are having to try to keep them from destroying things.

I also emailed one my mothers sisters-in-law, the one she’s no longer talking to. I was pretty sure that she would have email addresses for the cousins I don’t know how to reach and would have the information I needed about her own kids and my uncle. I pointed out to her that her daughters who are both in their late twenties might want to talk to their doctors about whether or not they’re at increased risk for breast cancer given me and my sister and that my two female cousins in the forties definitely need to be warned. I’m not even sure if the cousins in their forties have been told that my sister and I were diagnosed. My mother wouldn’t have thought to, and my sister and I have both been distracted and don’t have contact information for them. My aunt hadn’t thought about that part of things, so I’m glad I finally thought about it.

There’s a thing I want to go to at the end of April, but it’s on a Thursday and in a different part of the state. I’m not sure there’s any way I can get there. It’s a PBB informational conference intended for folks who were exposed back in the 1970s. I want very much to go. I don’t know what I’d learn, but… I don’t think Scott’s parents will be back by then or I’d ask them. Scott’s sister might be able to; I don’t know her work schedule.

This is a pretty big thing to ask of someone. It’s a two hour drive from Ann Arbor, so we might have to go up the day before. The flyer linked in the email doesn’t actually give the information I need to have a firmer idea of what’s involved. The flyer says the conference is two days long and will include information about a few different contamination situations. The email specifically talks about PBB and only mentions one day, the second day of the conference apparently. My guess is that all the PBB stuff will be that day. I got the invitational email because I signed up with Emory’s mailing list on the subject (in hopes that they’ll get research funding and be able to use my information then). They’re specifically advertising this as aimed at people who were exposed to PBB, so my assumption is that the findings presented will be somewhat simplified out of consideration for the audience.

We had a thunderstorm in the middle of the night last night, and Cordelia came in to cuddle. That hasn’t happened in years. I think she must have been having a bad dream because the first thing she said was asking me if the storm was real or not. She also accidentally poked me in the eye because I moved to make room for her as she was reaching out to wrap her arms around me. She stayed less than ten minutes, but she asked if it would be okay if she came back. I told her, "Always," because it’s true.

Looking at the Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland— I guess it could be worse? I am never enthusiastic about former prosecutors as judges, and I’m even less enthusiastic about such a person on the Supreme Court given cases about privacy, specifically cyber-privacy and things like backdoors into iPhones, and police violence and…

Cordelia has decided that she should keep trying mysteries until she finds one she doesn’t hate. I’m not sure why she’s decided this or that the undertaking is worthwhile, but… I’m trying to come up with some suggestions for her. She loathed John Grisham’s Theodore Boone, and she very much disliked the Sisters Grimm. She likes angsty teen girl dystopias and Rick Riordan, so I’m actually wondering if she’d like a mystery more toward the urban fantasy end of things, assuming I can find one where she won’t be put off by sex. But I don’t read urban fantasy because I don’t enjoy it, so I have no idea where to start, and I’m pretty sure that she wouldn’t like the mysteries I read and enjoy.

Any suggestions for mysteries for Cordelia? Urban fantasy or otherwise. She’s twelve, so I’d prefer not to suggest anything really gory/scary to her because she still responds very badly to that. She can handle Agents of SHIELD levels of scary and violence but not more.

Okay, time to get dressed and haul myself to the basement. I have to go through a huge bag of junk before 1 p.m. tomorrow to see what can be thrown out and what should be donated. I will probably take my laptop down with me and listen to an audiobook (Smek for President) while I work.

I spent a lot of time yesterday making these lists and making notes about what I remember about these books. I'm posting these mainly so that I don't lose track of them, but I'd welcome comments-- positive or negative-- from anybody who's read any of these.

These are listed alphabetically by author, but the title is first because that's how I typed them in to begin with.

( Things by known authors )

The next few are on other lists and just cross indexed here. I have a phobia of deep water which includes things set on boats.

Involve deep water so I’ll never read them:
The Mermaid’s Madness by Jim Hines: See series list.

Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix: See series list.

A Door Into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski: See borrowed books list.

Endless Blue by Wen Spencer: See known authors list.

I spent a lot of time yesterday making these lists and making notes about what I remember about these books. I'm posting these mainly so that I don't lose track of them, but I'd welcome comments-- positive or negative-- from anybody who's read any of these.

These are listed alphabetically by author, but the title is first because that's how I typed them in to begin with.

I don't need much feedback on the first category, but it's also not very long, only eight books.

( Maybe already read )

There are some on the next list that I'm on the fence about keeping, but most of them are things I would like to finish. I just don't know if I will.

( Partially read )

I do intend to read all of the following. Probably.

( graphic novels and manga )

My sister suspects that her third grader is dyslexic. He has very poor fluency in reading and ends up completely stymied by words he hasn't previously memorized. His teacher is inclined to think that he might be, too, but hadn't noticed the problem until my sister pointed it out and made her look at the test scores again. He tests well as long as doesn't run into words he doesn't already know.

At any rate, I'm trying to come up with ideas for books he might be interested in. He likes Goosebumps and The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and used to like the Captain Underpants series (he might still, but I don't know for sure. My sister has commented that they're not great because of deliberate misspellings). I tried introducing him to the Dragonbreath series, but he doesn't seem to have been interested. Maybe he would be now. I don't know.

The problem is that I'm not entirely clear on what his actual reading level is. I also can't judge very well how difficult things I've read, particularly things I read a long time ago, are. Also, a lot of stuff I think might be good in difficulty level has a girl for the main character, and my sister says he finds that embarrassing.

I'm thinking of Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends as a good option. Danny Dunn might be too old fashioned. Maybe Bruce Coville? I think Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang would be appropriate and appeal to him. There are some graphic novels that might appeal to him.

Any suggestions?

I still, of course, have no idea when my surgery will be. My sister has mentioned the possibility that they'll want to do an MRI before the surgery, since my breasts are very dense, just to make sure they're not missing anything. The thing about that is that a breast MRI has to be done during an approximately ten day window in a woman's cycle. My next period will start some time between the 20th and the 10th (I'm pretty irregular). I'm not sure how long after that the MRI would be. I was really hoping that the surgery could be very, very soon so that I could put the whole thing out of my mind and not spend weeks and weeks stressing out.

I am thinking, though, that I may want to buy some e-books to put on my e-reader, assuming I can actually find the power cord for it. I have a lot of fics on there, but I think I'm going to want very specifically light reading. If I weren't expecting to have difficulty holding something as heavy as a hardcover book, I'd probably just put holds on a couple of dozen non-fiction books that sound interesting, but I don't think that will work.

So I'm looking for recommendations. I've put together two lists of authors. The first is authors that I currently can always read without anxiety issues. The second is authors I usually like and can sometimes read without anxiety issues. I don't claim that everything on this list is high art or necessarily anything but popcorn/cotton candy reading.

Romances and mysteries are exceedingly hit or miss for me. I like middle grade books but often end up not finishing them because I identify more strongly with the parents than the protagonists.

( The authors I can pretty much always read )


( Authors I can only sometimes read )

These five stories are the ones I found most memorable in my first pass through the Yuletide archive. I was very picky about the fandoms I read. There're a lot that I know that I didn't click on because I was feeling overwhelmed. I also avoided fics that sounded too shippy or that had explicit sex. I just wasn't in the mood.

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones/Sneedronningen | The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Andersen
A Snowflake and a Holly Crown
10173 words
G, No archive warnings apply
The Snow Queen kidnaps Cat. Marianne goes after him.

Henry Reed - Keith Robertson
The Glass and Reed Advertising Agency
12365 words
T, Author chose not to use archive warnings
The author has captured the voice of the original perfectly and follows Henry and Midge as they set up a new business venture. The story takes an abrupt left turn in the middle, but the voice remains Henry's even as the unthinkable happens around him.

The People - Zenna Henderson
To everything there is a season…
11619 words
unrated, Author chose not to use archive warnings
This one follows Bethie-Too to college. The story spins off from a throw away line about one of the People having been on the mission that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. There is one historical bobble-- a reference to the Air Force during WWII. Beyond that, the story's strong.

The Pushcart War - Jean Merrill
By Hand
2683 words
G, No archive warnings apply
This is a creepy little story that implies very dark things about the end of the Pushcart War. It won't be for everybody-- It's written in the second person, but it works.

Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Their Tragedy
2919 words
T, No archive warnings apply
This is an origin story for A-ko, B-ko and C-ko, the Shadow Play Girls. It's creepy and sad and more than a little surreal.