Jennifer Crusie's Blog, page 140

Happiness is Mouthy Penguins and Misplaced Levers

Tonight was cold and dreary so I turned to children’s cartoons to perk myself up, starting with Madagascar because I hadn’t seen it since it first came out (still very funny), and then on a whim, I went on to the Penguins of Madagascar movie, not in the least because it has Benedict Cumberbatch as a dashing wolf agent (German Shepherd?) and John Malkovich as an evil squid named Dave. Worked like a charm, plus I now have a new movie quote: “You’re hideously disfigured and will probably be hunted for sport.” Every time I look in the mirror and wince now, I’m going to say that. It’s too damn funny. And of course there’s also “You are the most meaningful and valued member of this team.” I’m going to say that in the mirror, too. Out of earshot of the dogs, of course.

There’s also The Emperor’s New Groove which is just plain marvelous and has one of my all time favorite quotes: “Why do we even HAVE that lever?” So useful in so many situations.

And then there’s . . .

Never mind. It’s the simple things in life that make me happy.

What made you happy this week?

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Cherry Saturday, November 23, 2019

Today is Fibonacci Day, which celebrates the Fibonacci sequence (which I know about because some crochet patterns are based on that numerical sequence) ever since Lenny Fibonacci figured it out in 1202. (Okay, it’s Leonard of Pisa, but that seems so formal.) (Also, he wasn’t the first to figure it out, India had been there first and called them Virahanka numbers, and even before that people had been muttering about it as far back as 200 BC, but Fibonacci was the first one to notify Europe, aka the white guys, so much like Columbus discovering America which had already been pretty much discovered by numerous natives already there, the guy with the connections in Europe gets the credit.). (Where was I?)

Right, Fibonacci numbers. They form a sequence in which each number is the sum of the two previous ones. As:

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 . . .

and so on.

Why is that important? Because it’s freaking everywhere in nature, one of the basic patterns of the universe, occurring way too often to be coincidence. There’s a plan here, people. It’s in the way a pine cone is arranged, in the way rabbits mate, in poetry, in computer algorithms, in tree branch patterns, and oh yeah, if you diagram it out, it forms the golden ratio:

I love stuff like this. Happy Fibonacci Day!

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This is a Good Book Thursday, November 21, 2019

This week I read . . . a lot of news articles. Hey, my country is going through an interesting phase, I want to keep up. Mostly my brain is skittering around like water drops on a hot pan. Maybe I need to try audio books. Or meditation. Or just a new good book.

Got any recommendations?

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Working Wednesday, November 20, 2019

I got three scarves and a hat done last week, so I’m very proud. Pictures when the sun comes up. AND all my Christmas shopping is done. Next in line: Addressing Christmas cards. Making freezer meals. Finishing novel. And definitely more scarves, because those suckers go fast.

What did you make this week?

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Competence as Valium

So I’ve been having a spot of depression here. I very rarely get depressed because, let’s face it, I’m not deep, and I’m easily distracted, but for the past couple of days, I have not been my cheery, obnoxious self. Even my therapist got exasperated with me. “You intellectualize everything,” she said. What did she expect me to do, talk about my emotions? Jeez. Then Krissie wrote me and said she was depressed, and I pointed out that our deal was that only one of us could down at a time, and then I wrote her what I thought was a cheering post except in retrospect I probably shouldn’t have quoted Tennyson and Coleridge. Not exactly cheery guys, those two. But it did make me think about emotions (blech) and what makes me not depressed (yarn! food! great t-shirts! dogs!) and then I read the Washington Post this morning and realized there was another thing that cheered me up.

Competence.

We’ve talked about competence porn in storytelling, but this was the first time I realized that competence porn exists in reality, too. Like the state department people testifying in the impeachment hearings, steadfastly telling the truth, explaining how things work in diplomacy, so clearly and calmly competent. It was the most boring thrill I’ve ever had. Good people are at work. We’re gonna be okay.

Then I read Jennifer Rubin’s column in the Post. Rubin and I do not share many political views, but we are both anti-Trump, so her column today made me laugh out loud. It’s just brilliant, a careful, calm, well-thought-out explanation of why it would be so much better for the President if he resigned for health reasons based on his recent trip to the hospital. Resignation would stop the impeachment hearings cold, VP Pence would inherit the diplomatic nightmares Trump has created and the possible recession his trade wars have caused, and he could retire not in disgrace. Not once does Rubin crack a smile, but the column is so well reasoned, so obviously designed for a readership of one, so competent, that I laughed for the first time in days.

Then I saw the Ann Telnaes cartoon below and laughed again. Telnaes may be my favorite political cartoonist ever, and that’s saying something because I love cartoonists. I love this one in particular for the meticulous use of line and color, for the brilliant use of white space, for the gorgeous caricatures, for the sense of humor, but most of all for the confidence and competence that meant that she didn’t stoop to putting a line of explanatory text under the cartoon. It’s flattering to have an artist (or a writer) show something without telling you what it means because, hey, you’re smart enough to get it on your own. I needed a little flattering and I definitely needed a laugh and this gave it to me:

So I’m doing a lot better because after what seems like years (oh, wait, it has been three years) of watching the clowns to the left of me and the jokers to the right make the world a worse place, today I woke up to competence. And laughter. And my neighbor Kathleen leaned out her window and yelled that she liked my pink pajamas when I took the dogs out (I live on a one-lane road that’s behind Kathleen’s house, I wasn’t flaunting my jammies to anybody who didn’t know me) and that made me laugh. And then Milton tore into an entirely empty side yard and went nuts barking because evidently something had been in there since the last time he’d been in there (the day before) and that was NOT ACCEPTABLE, and I laughed again. Then Krissie wrote and she’s feeling better, and Mollie wrote and made me feel better, and I remembered I had a kitchen full of food and a house full of yarn and books and dogs and a life full of great people, and I made lunch.

Nothing but competence and good times ahead.

Here, have some more Telnaes.

(Look at that line and color and the gorgeous use of white space. Sigh.)

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Happiness is Three Scarves

I finished three scarves this month so far, two for presents and one for me (experimental) and I like all of them (pictures on Working Wednesday), but mostly what I like is that I FINISHED them. There’s something about completing something (like, say, a novel, ARGH) that is just so satisfying. So today I’m going to complete a stir fry and some pumpkin puff pastry things and this lemon chicken meal kit and build a fire and those will all be complete things so that I can pat myself on the back and think,”Well, THAT’s done, good job, Jenny.”

How did you do a good job at happiness this week?

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Cherry Saturday, November 15, 2019

Today is Have a Party with Your Bear Day, which I would have every Thursday if I didn’t put the garbage out at the crack of dawn instead of the night before. Otherwise, I am tragically bear free.

I’m pretty sure Mollie still has her authentic original-design Pooh (not the toxic gold Disney version) from England my mother bought her when she was born–I know she took it to college with her even though it had lost an eye by then–but I have no memory of having a teddy bear myself, which I think explains all of my mental issues and why I keep buying stuffed animals now–dragons, bunnies, Eeyores–and why my fave is still the stuffed armadillo that Lisa Kelypas gave me. Bear Yearning. Except on garbage mornings. Then they can take a hike.

Do you still have your childhood bear/whatever? She asked wistfully.

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Argh Author: Brenda Margriet’s Crossroads Corner

CROSSROADS CORNER, Brenda Maigriet’s latest story in the Bendixon Sisters Series, is now available! It will be only 99 cents for a limited time.

After an embezzling boyfriend puts her under police suspicion—and deeply in debt—Camryn Bendixon joins her grandfather’s failing construction company. Her goal is simple—work constantly to rebuild her career and her self-esteem. And if she must drag Bendixon and Sons back to profitability by her well-manicured fingernails, that’s what she’ll do.

Will Danson knows life is fragile—a fact brought home when Laura, his only child, lost her sight. Determined to provide for her, he does his best to balance managing the Prince George division of the Kohlenburg Group with his young daughter’s needs. But it can be a lonely road for a single dad.

Soon Camryn and Will are competing for construction bids and career-making contracts. But it is Camryn’s battered heart that Will truly wants to win.

You can find Brenda’s book at

Amazon US

Amazon CA

Kobo CA

Kobo US

iTunes

Nook

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This is a Good Book Thursday, November 14, 2019

This week I read YAs: The Deceivers, The Epic Crush of Genie Lo, and I See London, I See France. I’m feeling old.

What did you read this week?

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Working Wednesday, November 13, 2019

I haven’t gotten a damn thing done this week. How’s by you?

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