ASK Musings

No matter where you go, there you are.

Yearly Archive: 2018

Tuesday

27

November 2018

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COMMENTS

Self-Care for the Real World by Nadia Narain and Katia Narain Phillips

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Three Stars

Best for: Someone looking for a few more tips and suggestions on how to really take care of yourself.

In a nutshell: Sisters Nadia and Katia have ideas that they’d like to share with you, ostensibly organized into six categories (but not really).

Worth quoting:
“It’s not so much about what you’re eating as how you’re eating it. Are you eating from a place of love and nourishment? Or out of punishment, or ideas of good and bad?”

Why I chose it:
It looked pretty. But I should have known it might not be the best choice given the three blurbs were from Reese Witherspoon, Kate Moss, and Sienna Miller.

Review:
This book is definitely fine. It’s not offensive, it’s not pushing absurdity or dangerousness like GOOP. But it’s not really … held together with anything.

Theoretically it is divided into five sections: Love, Hope, Peace, Joy, and Light. But honestly, any of the suggestions could have been in any section. Some sections have recipes – why weren’t those all in the same place? I guess I just am not sure how the editing process worked, and maybe this is the best it could have been, but I see more potential here.

There are some ideas in here that I think are useful, and some tips and tricks. But I’m not really sure it needs to be an entire book. Maybe a website would have been better? With different categories? Unclear, but unless you’re a big Reese Witherspoon fan and you follow her recommendations to the letter, you can probably skip this one.

Tuesday

27

November 2018

0

COMMENTS

Whiteout by Ragnar Jónasson

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Four Stars

Best for: People who enjoyed his first three books.

In a nutshell: A young woman has fallen off (or jumped? Or been pushed from?) cliffs in the north of Iceland. The twist? Her sister and mother died at those same cliffs 25 years ago. So … what happened?

Why I chose it: I clearly have found a genre I love — Icelandic mysteries. And since something like 10% of the population of Iceland will write a book at some point, my guess is once I finish with his last book (sadness), I can move on to another similar author.

Review:
Asta has decided to return to the home she lived in when she was younger, when her father managed the lighthouse. When she was seven, her mother fell from the cliffs. Or perhaps was pushed? Then soon after, Asta’s sister falls from the same cliffs at only five years old. Asta’s father ends up in psychiatric care, and she is raised by an aunt.

At the home near the lighthouse, two older folks live, having kept the house for over 40 years, since their own mother was housekeeper there. The owner is a prominent businessman who inherited it from his father. A neighbor helps out as well, and all are together when it is revealed that Asta has died.

Was it an accident? Did she jump, following in her mother’s and sister’s footsteps? Was she pushed for what she may have known? Police officer Ari Thor and his wife travel to the town just before Christmas at the request of Ari’s former boss down in Reykjavik, as he needs help, and Ari doesn’t want to leave his pregnant girlfriend behind right at the holidays.

Really the only thing I didn’t enjoy in this book was the absence of Isrun, the journalist who has featured fairly prominently in the previous two books. But even with her missing, the book was a quick and enjoyable read.

Friday

23

November 2018

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COMMENTS

What I’m Reading – November 23, 2018

Written by , Posted in What I'm Reading

Note: I’m out of town this weekend, so posting this early.

International News

“Airbnb said it had made the decision because settlements were “at the core” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The move, which affects 200 listings, has been widely praised by Palestinians and their supporters.” Airbnb: Israeli uproar as firm bars West Bank settlements (BBC)

“An estimated 85,000 children under the age of five may have died from acute malnutrition in three years of war in Yemen, a leading charity says. The number is equivalent to the entire under-five population in the UK’s second largest city of Birmingham, Save the Children adds. The UN warned last month that up to 14m Yemenis are on the brink of famine.” Yemen crisis: 85,000 children ‘dead from malnutrition’ (BBC)

Reproductive Rights

“A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked a Mississippi Republican law that would ban abortion after 15 weeks’ pregnancy, declaring the measure “unequivocally” unconstitutional. As a result of Tuesday’s decision, a nearly identical 15-week ban passed by Republican lawmakers in Louisiana will not go into effect. That law’s effective date depended on the outcome of the lawsuit challenging Mississippi’s 15-week ban.” Judge Blocks Mississippi’s 15-Week Abortion Ban, Rips State’s GOP Legislature (by Jessica Mason Pieklo for Rewire)

Transphobia

“HRC has tracked 128 transgender victims of fatal violence since January 2013; at least 110 of these were transgender people of color. There were 29 known victims of fatal anti-transgender violence in 2017, the highest number since HRC began tracking. Although each case is unique, the epidemic disproportionately affects trans women of color, who make up 80 percent of all anti-transgender homicides, the report notes. Many of of the victims’ identities were denied by their families, and many were misgendered by police and media. Some were chased down by authorities or killed by a partner, while some were victims of outright hate crimes.” New Report Shows the Scope of Anti-Trans Violence in the US (by Auditi Guha for Rewire)

Friday

23

November 2018

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COMMENTS

Rupture by Ragnar Jónasson

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Four Stars

Best for: People looking for a bit of mystery set in an interesting place.

In a nutshell: Police officer Ari Thor is stuck in his town during a quarantine situation and looking into a 50-year-old mystery, while two seemingly unrelated crimes are looked into by journalist Isrun.

Why I chose it: After I read the first, I ordered all four others in the series. No regrets.

Review:
A baby is kidnapped. A recovered substance abuser is hit by a car. A man’s wife was beaten to death. A nephew is wondering if his aunt died by suicide or was murdered. Some of these stories might be related. How we find that out is interesting.

Ari Thor is less of an ass in this one. He’s a bit of a … blowhard? At one point he’s telling a story that affects someone else’s life and he chooses to stretch out the storytelling while that person is clearly distressed. I know the readers need to learn the story, but I feel that the author could have found a different way to do this. Unless, as I do suspect, the author doesn’t particularly like his protagonist.

I was excited to see that the same journalist from the second book has a big role to play. Her background and way of being is just more interesting to me, and I appreciate how she is woven into these stories.

When the twists of this particular story were revealed, I appreciated that while I didn’t figure them out, they weren’t entirely impossible to have sorted out. I don’t read these books in the hopes that I’ll sort out what’s happened; I just like reading stories set in interesting places. So far the outcomes are never totally outside the realm of possibility, but are surprising enough to be fun.

Wednesday

21

November 2018

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COMMENTS

Black0ut by Ragnar Jónasson

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Four Stars

Best for: People looking for a bit of mystery set in an interesting place.

In a nutshell: Someone has been murdered, and the police and a highly motivated journalist are both on the story.

Why I chose it: I loved the first one in this series.

Review:
Ari Thor is a police officer living in a small town in far nothern Iceland. After someone is found murdered in a nearby town, he and his boss are called in to assist, as the victim lived nearby. As news comes out, journalist Isrun leaves Reykjavik to travel north and follow the story. She claims to have a tip, but she made it up, not knowing she might not be that far from the truth.

As in the first book, there are a lot of stories going on that may or may not be related. The story is also disturbing, and while I’m not going to get into details, the book should definitely have a trigger warner for references to sexual assault.

One thing this second book has convinced me of is that the main character Ari Thor is boring and an ass. He showed a bit of this in the first book when he just up and decided to move away without talking it over with his partner. In this one, he displays his jealousy and toxic masculinity more, and it did not amuse me. Basically, he’s an asshole. I can’t entirely tell, but I think the author wants us to like Ari Thor, and that’s fine. I don’t. But he features in only maybe 20% of the book, so it’s not a big deal. He’s more like the excuse for the story to exist as opposed to the main focus of it.

It’s entirely possible I’ve read this out of order, but I don’t think so. If you check Amazon, it calls this book three, but on the author’s website, I followed the Iceland release order, and it seems to flow directly from the previous book. I offer this up as a warning in case you choose to get into this series (Dark Iceland)

Monday

19

November 2018

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COMMENTS

Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Four Stars

Best for: Those looking for some tips to help them focus their time.

In a nutshell: Two former Google folks offer their tips for making time for what matters (I mean, it’s right there in the title, and I couldn’t figure out a better way to say it).

Worth quoting:
“Trying to cram in just one more thing is like driving a car that is running out of gas: No matter how long you keep your foot on the accelerator, if the tank is empty, you aren’t going anywhere. You to stop and refuel.”

Why I chose it:
Assuming all the paperwork and such goes through, I should be starting a new job next month. For the past year I’ve been working from home, and only part time, so I’ve been able to do things like chores and exploring my new city on my own schedule. And before that, I didn’t work on Fridays for years. But my new job has a regular work week, so I’m going to have to work harder to be more intentional about how I spend my time.

Review:
The main premise of the book is this: we should pick a highlight for our day (work or personal life) that takes about 60-90 minutes; create an environment to have laser focus; make some changes to increase energy, and then reflect on the actions we’ve taken and if they’ve helped us focus on our highlight.

The book itself is well-designed. It’s a bit hefty, but it has illustrations and summarizes the four areas well. After presenting the basics behind each thesis, the authors offer tips on how to implement it. The suggestion isn’t that the reader incorporate all the suggestions, but that we try them out and reflect to see which work to help us make time for what we want to do with our days.

Some suggestions are ones I’ve heard before — deleting apps from phones that suck time but don’t add a lot to life, exercising a bit each — but the framework is different, and I like it. I’m going to try it out.

That said, a couple of reservations: this was created by two dudes. One does have children, but I would be interested in how this works for people who are primary caregivers of their children and don’t work outside the home. They do reference how some of this might be challenging to people who have newborns or other people they care for, but I could imaging being a bit skeptical. Additionally, for people who have very little control over their work schedule, some of the tips might be hard to implement, but I think it’s worth having a go.

Sunday

18

November 2018

0

COMMENTS

What I’m Reading – November 18, 2018

Written by , Posted in What I'm Reading

California Fires

The devastation is nearly unfathomable. If you’d like to help with the recovery, NBC has compiled a list of resources.

Corporate Greed

“Most — if not all — of that intended housing is now off the table. “The fact that massive public subsidies are helping eliminate affordable housing units is just the latest reason this bad deal needs to be torn up and thrown away,” said state Sen. Michael Gianaris, who represents Long Island City. Plaxall, which owns land around the Anable Basin, was prepared to ask New York City for permission to build up to 4,995 new homes on a 14.7-acre site on the East River, 1,250 of which developers would have set aside for low- and middle-income New Yorkers. Most of that site will now be subsumed into Amazon’s office campus.” Amazon deal will disrupt plans for affordable housing on Long Island City sites (by Sally Goldenberg and Dana Rebenstein for Politico)

Gun Violence

“”Unless you’ve had someone’s heart stop beating in your hands, you don’t get to tell those of us who have what is and is not our ‘lane’,” trauma surgeon David Morris, 42, told the BBC. The National Rifle Association’s tweet on Wednesday sparked anger. It came just hours before a gunman killed 12 people in a California bar.” #ThisIsOurLane: Doctors hit back at pro-gun group NRA (BBC)

Environment

“The plague that struck Joyce’s farm in Malden, Missouri, was not a natural disaster, but a man-made weed killer called dicamba. Farmers had applied the drift-prone chemical sparingly for decades. But in the past two years, its use has grown exponentially, and now dicamba is destroying millions of acres of crops worth millions of dollars, pitting farmer against farmer and scientists against manufacturers.” Scientists warned this weed killer would destroy crops. EPA approved it anyway (by Liza Gross for Reveal)

Rape Culture

“The costs of those services add up: Women reported spending an additional $26 to $50 per month in transit costs compared to men’s $0, both when they try to avoid harassment on subways and buses, and when they assume duties that require extra trips, like dropping off and picking up school-aged kids and taking elderly dependents to appointments. For women who check both boxes (just trying to get to work without being groped, thanks, and caretaking), that could mean as much as $100 in added monthly expenses men don’t have to deal with.” Survey Shows Women Paying ‘Pink Tax’ To Avoid Sexual Harassment On The Subway (by Claire Lampen for Gothamist)

“In the trial, the defence lawyer told the jury: “You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front.” The 27-year-old man was found not guilty of rape shortly afterwards. The controversy led one Irish MP to hold up a lace thong in parliament to highlight “routine victim-blaming”.” Irish outcry over teenager’s underwear used in rape trial (BBC)

Criminal Punishment System

“The American Public Health Association (APHA) on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a statement recognizing law enforcement violence as a public health issue. It was one of a dozen policy statements adopted at the organization’s annual conference, including another that opposes the separation of migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border.” Leading Health Group: Killings by Police Are a Public Health Issue (by Cynthia Greenlee & Laura Huss for Rewire)

US Elections

“On Friday afternoon, Abrams acknowledged that Kemp—the secretary of state who implemented many of these restrictions and was in charge of ensuring a fair voting process—would be certified as the winner of the election. He leads by 55,000 votes, out of nearly 4 million cast. Abrams came within 18,000 votes of forcing a runoff. The election was marred by allegations of widespread voter suppression, and the Abrams campaign says that suppression may have prevented enough votes to keep the race from going to a runoff. Other top Democrats echoed these concerns. “If she had a fair election, she already would have won,” Hillary Clinton said this week.” Brian Kemp’s Win In Georgia Is Tainted by Voter Suppression (by Ari Berman for Mother Jones)

Saturday

17

November 2018

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COMMENTS

Atlas of Improbable Places by Travis Elborough and Alan Horsfield

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Four Stars

The Lost City of San Juan Parangaricutiro

Best for: People who enjoy books on world curiosities that don’t focus on making fun of or judging individuals. People who like books with three-four page chunks that can be read at once.

In a nutshell: The authors provide quick backgrounds on 51 places spread (very inequitably) across six continents, divided into categories of Dream Creations, Deserted Destinations, Architectural Oddities, Floating Worlds, Otherworldly Spaces, and Subterranean Realms.

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it: I’m always looking for places to add to my list of things I want to see in person. Plus, I like to learn about ostensibly weird shit.

Review:

When I was a teenager, my family took a trip to the pacific northwest, and went on the Underground Tour in Seattle. For those not familiar, part of the city closest to the water was raised at least a full story after a fire destroyed a bunch of buildings, putting shops and residences that were once at street-level down a dozen feet. The tour takes people through reconstructed older facades, and points out that the purple glass we walk over at street level was a way to allow light down to the still-functioning buildings below. I was fascinated.

A decade ago my sister and I visited Berlin and went on a tour of underground bunkers. I believe I found this one because, again, I like history but also unexpected and potentially weird things.

Neither of those items are listed in this book, but they aren’t that far off. The book includes some fantastical places (Hearst Castle), some disturbing ones — especially if you don’t like dolls — (Isla de las Muñecas), some truly bizarre ones (Darvata), and some sad ones (Oradur-sur-Glane). I’d only heard of maybe three of the places discussed in the book, and I want to go visit at least a few of them.

The book was generally good, but I have a couple of complaints keeping it from hitting five stars. The first is the distribution of sites. It felt a bit lazy to have so many concentrated in North America and Europe. There were also many in Asia, but only one in Africa, two in South America, and two in Oceania (and the one in Africa is mostly a criticism of art, which felt a bit off). The other is if you’re going to make a book focused on fascinating places, your pictures NEED TO BE IN FULL COLOR. I know it’s way expensive. But black and white photos do not in any way capture the vast majority of these locations. I finally had to just look up each place on my phone as I read a chapter. That seems unnecessary. Even with those two complaints, however, I would still recommend this book.

(I couldn’t help but think about the town of Paradise, California, as I read this book. Many, though not all, are abandoned spaces; some are that was as the result of some natural or unnatural disaster. And I wonder: in fifty years, will parts of the now-destroyed city in Northern California be added to this book? Or will they be featured in a different book, one focused on how cities can rebuild?)

Wednesday

14

November 2018

0

COMMENTS

“As Bad As a Root Canal” Isn’t That Bad … If You Have Insurance or Money

Written by , Posted in Adventures

My first memory of dental work was when I was five or six. I even recall my dentist’s name, although I’m not going to share it here. My teeth were starting to come in, and he could tell my bite would need some correction, so he pulled five baby teeth in an effort to get things moving. The numbing agent started wear off by the end of the fourth extraction, and he didn’t offer to top me up, so I had one tooth pulled with essentially no pain killers.

You can see why I wasn’t such a fan of dental work after that.

Unfortunately, I had five years of orthodontics ahead of me. Braces, neck gear, rubber bands, and finally retainers. On the plus side, I was free from all but the retainer before I hit junior high, so while I looked awkward in middle school, it wasn’t because I had a mouth full of metal (just some bad haircuts and poor fashion choices).

I’ve also always liked sweets, so I knew I had to take care of my teeth. I flossed — and still do floss — every single night. I brushed twice a day. And yet the cavities came. And then the crowns. And the root canals. We tried prescription toothpaste. I got sealants on my teeth. And yet for many years, I feared each visit to the dentist (which I dutifully scheduled every six months) because of the newest filling I would need.

When I moved back to Seattle, I found a new dentist. He fixed some crappy fillings I’d gotten in New York, and did his best to keep fillings from turning into crowns. It didn’t always work, but he tried. In fact, the only reason my most recent root canal happened yesterday and not a year ago is because my Seattle dentist worked hard to make some adjustments.

Every molar in my mouth has some sort of restoration. When I visited my new dentist in the UK and got some x-rays, I was reminded of how lucky I’ve been to have access to dental care my whole life.

And when I was referred for a root canal last week, I was reminded of how screwed up it is that dental care isn’t covered for adults in the US. Even when people over 21 or under 65 qualify for public health benefits, dental care isn’t covered. And I’ve seen first-hand what that means.

For the past five years, Seattle has hosted a public health clinic in the fall. Individuals can, at no cost, receive medical, dental, and vision care. People line up at midnight to be let into a holding area, where numbers are then distributed. Because dental and vision coverage are hard to get in the US without private coverage, individuals are limited to medical + dental or medical + vision for each visit. The floor of Key Arena is converted to a giant dental office, filled with chairs.

Photo by KUOW

I was able to work at two of the clinics, one time as a runner, and one time managing the waiting area for the dental floor. People who had been up all night waited hours longer to be seen by a dentist, then sent over for x-rays and referred to come back the next day for a cleaning, flippers (removable partial dentures), fillings, or extractions. People who have had infections, even abscesses, for who knows how long, grateful that someone is taking their dental health seriously.

It was heartening to see all the volunteer dentists and hygienists, but it was infuriating that it was necessary at all.

I’ve had root canals in New York, Seattle, and London. I can vividly recall the walk into the New York endodontist’s office; there was scaffolding up around the building. My union dental insurance covered the full cost, I believe. The second one, in London, was performed at the dental office associated with LSE, and I don’t believe I had to pay anything for it. And I had great dental insurance in Seattle, so if I had anything to pay then, it was maybe 10%. In each of those three cases, I either had dental insurance (US) or didn’t have income and so qualified for my costs to be covered (UK).

As I sat in the dentist’s chair last week, she talked through my options. I could pay a whole lot of money to go to a private endodontist who has excellent new equipment, a private endodontist with good equipment, or I could pay £60 and go to an NHS specialist. The wait would probably be awhile, and the equipment might not be as good. I chose one of the private options, but the fact that, if I didn’t have money, I could still have secured the care I needed, is a reminder of how the UK is light years ahead of the US in so many ways.

People in the US like to make fun of British teeth. The reality is, they aren’t obsessed with the appearance of teeth; they just want to make sure their residents get to keep their teeth. In the US, people get care if they have insurance, but if they don’t? Oh well. Never mind the concerns about impacts of things like gum disease on overall health. I find it absurd that dental and vision care aren’t automatically included in all health care in the US. Those are vital parts of our overall health.

Monday afternoon I arrived at the posh dental office. After a consultation, I signed some forms and they got down to work. Even in the 15 years between my first and most recent root canal, the technology has improved. I had almost no pain during the procedure, and some of the techniques she used kept my jaw from aching and kept over spill from the various drilling and equipment out of the rest of my mouth. Near the very end, the numbing agent did start to wear off, but even then it didn’t really hurt. After about 75 minutes she wrapped things up, I popped some ibuprofen, and headed home. I haven’t needed any painkillers since.

I know I’m lucky that I had the money to get the procedure done quickly. But even if I hadn’t, I still would have been able to get care thanks to the NHS dental system.

I’m sure that there are plenty of people in the UK who have had horrible NHS dental experiences, but at least they had access to some care. It’s literally the least a country can offer its residents.

Sunday

11

November 2018

0

COMMENTS

What I’m Reading – November 11, 2018

Written by , Posted in What I'm Reading

US Elections

“This year we saw a high number of Black candidates running for office, especially Black women. They beat the odds against racist tactics targeted against them and the high claims of voter suppression and brought it home on election night.” These Are The Winning Black Candidates Of The Midterm Election (by Lorraine Haynes for Blavity)

“”When I showed up at the polling site near my house, I found that I had been kicked off the registered-voter roll,” Hill wrote. “A flurry of phone calls, and lots of head-nodding and ‘mmm-hmms’ from the supervisor of the polling site, failed to produce an explanation of why the system wasn’t showing me as a registered voter.” Hill was given a provisional ballot to use, and after voting, she began to investigate what had happened.” Jemele Hill Says Florida Officials Told Her She Couldn’t Vote Because Of A Tweet (by Ricky Riley for Blavity)

“Baltimore voters made history today by voting in favor of passing ballot question E, a city charter amendment that bans privatization of the city’s water and sewer systems. The Baltimore City Council voted unanimously to ban water privatization earlier this year. As of 11:15 p.m., Baltimore voters voted 77% in favor of this amendment with 91 percent of precincts reporting. This confirms Baltimore is now the first major city in the country to amend its charter to prohibit the sale and lease of the city’s water and sewer system.” (Food and Water Watch)

Horrific Trump Administration Actions

“The birth control rules endanger the care of more than 55 million cisgender women and an uncertain number of trans and nonbinary people who depend on getting no co-pay contraceptive care through the ACA. While the birth control benefit already allowed for religious exemptions, the Trump administration has sought to further meet the demands of the religious right, which believes the previous exemption isn’t broad enough.” Trump Administration Moves to Restrict Birth Control Benefit and Abortion in Post-Midterm Attack (by Katelyn Burns for Rewire)

“Mr Trump has signed a proclamation barring migrants who enter illegally from asylum for up to 90 days. The president can stop migration in the “national interest”, a statement said. Rights groups say it is illegal and have launched a legal challenge.” US proposes rule banning asylum for illegal migrants (BBC)

“It’s not hard to find the common denominator: Though there’s hardly anyone — from his predecessors to senators in his own party — he won’t try to shout down with ad hominem insults, Trump relishes, and injects venom into, verbal attacks against women of color.” April Ryan: I’m a black woman. Trump loves insulting people like me. (by April Ryan for Washington Post)

Poppies

“In his statement, Matic said: “I recognise fully why people wear poppies, I totally respect everyone’s right to do so and I have total sympathy for anyone who has lost loved ones due to conflict. “However, for me it is only a reminder of an attack that I felt personally as a young, frightened 12-year old boy living in Vrelo, as my country was devastated by the bombing of Serbia in 1999.” Nemanja Matic: Man Utd midfielder explains why he will not wear poppy (BBC)

Mass Shootings

“Many of those who died were young, in their 20s. There was a college freshman and a graduate who had received his degree in May. There was the bar’s sunny cashier. And two friends who loved souping up old trucks for off-roading. Among the others were a longtime sheriff’s deputy who had rushed into the crowded bar to help and a 22-year-old patron whose friends said he had tried to help others escape, yelling, “Everyone, run!”” The Thousand Oaks Shooting Victims: These Are Their Stories (New York Times)

Labor

“But a new paper by the same authors (Sci-Hub mirror) shows that the rising minimum wage generated major increases for the workers who had the most hours, whose hours were only cut a little, but still came out ahead thanks to the wage increase; workers with fewer hours saw no financial harm from the rising minimum wage, working fewer hours and bringing home the same sum; and they found some harm to people who had the smallest number of hours) (which may actually reflect stronger demand for workers and fewer workers in this category of very-low-hour work).” Economists reverse claims that $15 Seattle minimum wage hurt workers, admit it was largely beneficial (by Cory Doctorow for Boing Boing)