So! Lots to share because I am forever behind but first, tonight I’m doing a free zoom book tour stop through Nowhere where I’ll be reading HOW TO BE OKAY WHEN NOTHING IS OKAY and we ran out spots a few days ago but we’ve expanded that now so if you couldn’t rsvp before just click here for one and we’ll send you a link to join tonight at 6pm (central). And if you order a copy from Nowhere I’ll sign it and draw cats or chickens on it before we ship it off to you. (And we still have HOW TO BE OKAY bookmarks and magnets that we’re tucking into the books too, while supplies last!)
Secondly, a few months ago Texas Monthly did a piece on me and the photographer was Andrea Mendoza, who I adore. We shot a billion pictures and they only used two so Andrea sent me this unused one and it is my favorite thing ever. It is the perfect representation of me five minutes after agreeing with my husband when he said, “We can stop in the bookstore for a coffee, but stay away from the books because you already have a giant stack of unread books at home.”
(Also, all of the books on the floor and in my arms are advance copies that we booksellers read to help us decide what to stock in the bookstore, so please to worry that I was crushing books from the shelves.)
Third, this weekend my parents came to visit and we went to a German restaurant where my dad insisted he tasted anchovies in the onion soup and we were like, “You are insane” but he insisted that it’s why it tasted so good and the waiter was like, “We don’t put anchovies in anything, weirdo” (the “weirdo” was gently implied) but he was like, “Can you ask what exactly is in the soup?” and turns out it was flavored with a Worcestershire sauce which has dissolved sardines in it and I apologize to everyone in the restaurant who heard me yell, “WHAT THE FUCK….HOW DID YOU TASTE THAT?”
Fourth, I DID NOT ACCIDENTALLY SHARE A PICTURE OF A PENIS FROM MY CAMERA ROLL. This was not originally the fourth thing I was going to share but I just checked threads and earlier someone had said they only had 19 photos on their camera roll and I was like, “I have 19 from just this morning” and so I replied with this:
And then I started getting messages asking if I meant to share “that picture” and I was thinking they were talking about the picture I’d posted of Hagrid and Kenny Loggins-Jesus with the invisible man but then I looked at my replies, and…
So then I considered just deleting it entirely but I thought that would look even more suspicious so instead I posted what I hope is the only combination of words that have ever been typed in this order:
And this is why I shouldn’t be allowed on social media.
And now I can’t remember what my real fourth thing was. Fuck. Thanks a lot, pretzel bread.
OH WAIT. I REMEMBER. Fourth thing is that Purrsy Bysshe Shelley is doing amazing.
10 days ago when he would only sleep in my shower and would hiss lightly when anyone got near:
A few days later when I woke up at 3am feeling something on my back and surprised him with the camera flash as he was clearly plotting my death:
And 4am this morning, when he assumed his now regular position of sleeping directly on my face and purring so loudly he keeps me awake for hours. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
So here’s to healing and to the small creatures who do it so magically.
See you tonight!
I love that photo! The one with you and the books, not the bread dick, I mean pic!
Wish we could attend but I don’t think we can stay away to 6 central. 💙🌱 and love the pic. I want to nap on all the books and just read random pages.
Oh, Jenny. I am not feeling great and I was sitting here thinking how I kinda want a hot pretzel. They’re pretty scarce in my village in Vermont. Then I read your post and saw your pretzel penis and somehow I still want a hot pretzel. And now I also know for certain that I’m taking a nap after work before I login to the reading tonight. Please bring hot pretzels and kittens.
Awesome books photo! It’s a book lovers fantasy.
Yes, Worcestershire sauce has fish in it, along with other sauces that are yummy, but if you’re allergic you should always check with your server at a restaurant.
Purrsy Bysshe Shelley has decided you’re not only ok, you’re his new momma. You’ve fully won his trust! It’s so lovely when they finally bond to their new family. How are his furry siblings doing with the new family member?
(Rolly is unimpressed. She’s 19 though so she just likes to eat and sleep rather than socialize. Dotty seems both scared and excited. I don’t let them get too close to each other because Dotty is a biter and he’s so little but he seems pretty unafraid of Dotty so I think in a few weeks they might be friends. ~ Jenny)
FWIW, I did think pretzel when I saw that picture. 🙂 And the picture of little Purssy is the cutest thing ever!!!!!!
Your tiny cat is a savant.
No, that doesn’t sound weird at all, especially if Purrsy Bysshe Shelley joins us.
I love Purrsy. Having a kitten sleep on my face and purr sounds like the best thing ever.
Thank you for opening up tonight’s event! Is Purrsy gonna be there? Please say Yes!😻
If a cat sleeps on your head or face or head two reasons one kitten are never warm enough two he believe you are his mom and needs to be close to you and when he gets bigger its too protected you against bad things because a cat believe we are not their owner nop we are cats weird cats yes but cats nonetheless I should know I had many cats in my life see you later
I snagged one of the spots for tonight early on but I’ve had something come up and won’t be able to watch. Is there any way I can rescind my spot if you need more?
It’s very obviously pretzel bread.
I have been violently nauseous (or nauseated, whichever word) for an hour and a half. I took as much Ondansetron as is safe, texted my mom asking her to come to me which she did. I pointed as hard as I could without uttering a sound to get a bag out of my bedroom. Migraines make me extremely sensitive to odors and the odors make me ill. My poor mom began randomly picking up anything in the vicinity, desperately trying to find the thing she knew was making me sick and finally she found it. I whispered, asked her to throw it in my garage. Migraines suck. I also have tennis elbow in my non-dominant arm and I don’t know what caused it. I’ll find humor in in later but, the sensations and inability to move my arm freely took me right back to being seven years old with a broken arm in a cast. And that triggered my claustrophobia (I’ve been claustrophobic as long as I remember and medical trauma over several years worsened it). In the midst of the nausea I was trying to suppress, my heart began racing from claustrophobia triggered by my non-dominant arm’s tennis elbow sensations mimicking my years-ago broken arm. I began doing somatic exercises, trying to rein in my nervous system. And that’s when my dog decided he needed to go out. I try desperately not to move during migraines involving nausea because it takes very little to ‘push me over the edge.’ My poor mom looked worried because my hellhound knows how to pull on his leash hard enough to pull the other end of the leash out of my mom’s hand. Hence, I don’t allow her to let him out. I slowly stood, doing a somatic exercise, asking my dog to behave. This rescue, that he is, can be exceptionally sympathetic when I’m puking and immediately afterwards. He will whimper and gently climb up his steps to lie in my bed near me. But, as soon as I can stand, he decides I’m well and he’s back in charge. I know this is a stream of consciousness but, I think I’m getting to my point. I’m hoping the migraine with the nausea and other symptoms will stop so I can do the zoom thing. I’ve been looking forward to it since I signed up. I’m going to nibble on my crushed Gatorade ice cubes/ice chips and hope I feel like a real life healthy person in time for zoom. I feel like Pinocchio wishing to be a real boy if Pinocchio was already a real woman wishing to not be sick. It is so foreign to me, the idea of being well. Here’s hoping I will also have vision in both eyes and no aura. I hope anyone else struggling with chronic or acute illness will also have – at the very least – a decent night tonight.
I love him
Jenny, so glad they’re all getting along, before you know it, he will be ruling Dotty’s heart too.
Melissa Post #13, I suffered from severe migraines my entire life from the time I was a very little girl. They suck so much! Laying in a dark room with total silence because light and sounds make it worse, and pain makes you want to throw up, and you can’t see right, and the flashes of lights and auras and blurry and kaleidoscope or tunnel vision, and trying not to move, and not being able to sleep because the pain is soooooo bad. And you miss out on so much in life because of them. And people think it’s just a headache, they have no idea how excruciatingly debilitating they are.
I’m going to tell you it gets better. They’re inventing new treatments that are better than just a pill. And as I entered perimenopause, they got worse, up to 2-3 times a month I had to call out from work and couldn’t do anything. But once I fully entered menopause, they got better and better, and now I only get mild headaches with no nausea every 4-6 months. And other people who I’ve talked to say the same thing, that their migraines got better after menopause.
I also know people who suffered severe lifelong clinical depression, and their depression also lessened in severity and frequency as they got older. So yes, it can get better. Hang in there.
I read my mail too damn late for cool things, like, oh, zooms in bed with kittens.
I am so happy for that lovebug, Purrsy the incredibly healing kitten! And I well remember that phallic pretzel bread. The gloss factor still gives me unsettling ick.
Awww. Purrsy is so adorable! And I heavily relate to the issue with the books. ahahahahaha!
Ohhh Jenny. I WANT that little orange child to come over here and sleep near MY face!! As far as the dick pic, I would appreciate it if you could find one for me and send it to me in Lansdowne, PA. Size? Don’t care. Glossy/gooey-ness. Both ok in my eyes. Sleepy times for him. Great. (Give me a break, Jenny. JUST turned 74 (!AAGGHHH) and I need that comfort!). Thank you — and love to you and the baby….. ~~Sally Baldwin
I love you and I love Purrsy Byssch Shelley, and Shelley reminded me the “The Bride,” Maggie Gyllenhall’s new movie, and I want you to watch it!!!!!!! It’s wonderful. O.K.
then
Loving the new ginger eye face makeup ❤️😊
I signed up for the online book tour stop (which was at 4:30 am Indian time) and I set multiple alarms and told myself i WOULD NOT miss it. And then I passed out at 4:00 am and now I feel terrible 😭😭😭 !! For next time, I promose to add MORE ALARMS ⏰⏲️🕰️ and a few coffee + redbull mixes to stay awake 😳
Loads of love from India !
So this is going to be a little rambling….. I couldn’t figure out how to post a pic, so I changed the gravitar so you could see this beast. Anyway, we lost our Texas adoptee a few years ago. He was aptly named Skimbleshanks (or Shanks for short, which was so appropriate, I mean like that cat killed everything, especially rabbits, and then fed them to the dogs, which meant happy puppers….) and I, like you thought I ought to wait a while. Then it was my wife’s birthday, and I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me, but here I was at the Animal shelter and I saw the beast!!!! I couldn’t help it. 2 years later, he’s like two feet long and 28 lbs. and a murder machine. We have always let the cat roam because the dogs have a door and come and go as they please, but lord, the cat is bigger than the Dachshund AND the Beagle. He likes nothing else but to go into our Virginia backyard and slaughter everything in sight! I saw him eyeing a deer the other day!
So Kat named this one Sweeny Todd. Yup, living up to the name.
Dave
Love it when my kitten (or any animal) sleeps on me.
It makes me feel Chosen, & special 😻
Your shower is more impressive than mine lol. That’s the kind of shower i’d want to live in.
(Not that I would actually set up camp in your shower. That would be weird.)
Oh dear… 83,4951 photos. I feel called out.
My mom who believes in such things would say that hunter came back. It’s a lovely thought.
Yes, this: “So here’s to healing and to the small creatures who do it so magically.”
Thank you, Thank you, Jenny, for the update on Purrsy and the wonderful
photos. The two of you are helping me more than you know.
I recently came across a cockerel (rooster) called Pablo Peckasso and instantly thought of you and Purrsy.