Life and Things
Had not one, but two biopsies in my hand on the 1st. They used a teeny cookie cutter to get the samples, which was freaky. The tentative diagnosis is granuloma annulare, which could have come from either lupus, or thyroid condition, or just because my body is special… If that’s what it is, it’s benign, and will go away on its own, though that may take several years. Topic, oral, and injection steroids may help, but removal is considered cosmetic. I refuse to ever again do oral steroids. Just no.
Books read, reviewed, and posted/scheduled this past week
Birding is My Favourite Video Game by Rosemary Mosco, 4*
Happily by Chauncey Rogers, 4*
Pandora’s Box by Julia Dweck & Chris Robertson, 4*
Watching Glass Shatter by James J Cudney, 4*
Favourite Read of the Week
Current Read
Proof of Lies by Diana Rodriguez Wallach
‘Some secrets are best kept hidden…
Anastasia Phoenix has always been the odd girl out, whether moving from city to international city with her scientist parents or being the black belt who speaks four languages.
And most definitely as the orphan whose sister is missing, presumed dead.
She’s the only one who believes Keira is still alive, and when new evidence surfaces, Anastasia sets out to follow the trail—and lands in the middle of a massive conspiracy. Now she isn’t sure who she can trust. At her side is Marcus, the bad boy with a sexy accent who’s as secretive as she is. He may have followed her to Rome to help, but something about him seems too good to be true.
Nothing is as it appears, and when everything she’s ever known is revealed to be a lie, Anastasia has to believe in one impossibility.
She will find her sister.’
Next Up (maybe)
Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe by Marshall Ryan Maresca
Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian
How to Be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci
Book Haul
‘For the better part of a century the Shadow’s sinister laughter brought the chill of fear to evil-doers – but in our modern times, the streets of Manhattan have gone largely silent. But he is not forgotten. Not by the people he’s saved. Mary Jerez, is one of those people.
The Shadow saved her from a horrifying school shooting – Mary knows all too well what evil lurks in the hearts of men. So when a horribly burnt man – incredibly strong and fierce, despite his terrible injuries- arrives under her care as a resident at the hospital – she believes she knows who he is, too. Is this mysterious man actually the Shadow – and with Mary’s help, will evil-doers again know what it means to fear his terrible justice?’
‘Discover how ordinary beings—a deer, a robber, a monkey, a parrot, and more—make up the past lives of the Buddha before he was Buddha.
The jataka tales are ancient Buddhist stories found in both the Pali Canon and Sanskrit tradition, recounting the many past lives and ongoing spiritual work of Shakyamuni Buddha on his way to his final birth as Siddhartha Gautama. In them we find the Buddha facing difficulties, making tough choices, doing hard work, falling down and getting back up—the kind of continuing effort of spiritual practice that all beings face.
Before Buddha was Buddha focuses on a selection of particular jataka tales in which the Buddha in past lives faces temptations and struggles with self-doubt as well as his own shortcomings. In these tales he’s not beyond life’s messes—its challenges and disasters—but is down in the mix, trudging through the mud with the rest of us. Each story, presented in brief, is followed by a commentary pointing to its relevance to our lives and practice-realization today.’
