in Misc. on with 3 Comments by Jodi Chromey

Strange Women Like to Talk to Me When I Go to Target

I had just signed whatever federal warning crap thing they make you sign to get the good, meth-grade allergy pills. The pharmacy lady at the unSuperT was super perky and I was itchy-nosed, red-eyed, muzzy-headed in serious need of some pseudoephedrine sulfate mixed with loratadine. It’s my favorite. So I’m standing there as Perky talks about all the allergy pills people have been buying, mostly minding my own business, smiling politely the way we Minnesotans do when being yammered at,…

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in Books on by Jodi Chromey

Cold War Kid

In Elliott Holt’s debut-novel You Are One of Them Jenny Jones’ harbinger of doom comes in the guise of her best friend Sarah Zuckerman. Sarah’s an anxious kid who grows up in the shadow of a dead sister, a father who went back to England, and her mother’s various anxieties and obsessions, one of which is nuclear holocaust caused by the escalating tensions of the Cold War. It’s in the midst of the 1980s Cold War that Sarah suggests she…

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in Books on with 2 Comments by Jodi Chromey

Uses for Boys

There’s a lot to say about Erica Lorraine Scheidt’s wonderful young-adult novel Uses for Boys, I hope I can get to them all. Where to begin? First of all, this book came to my attention on Twitter when some of my very favorite people & writers were all “USES FOR BOYS HOLY SHIT!” and “USES FOR BOYS, FOR REAL PEOPLE!” Usually I’m a little leery of YA recs that come via Twitter. YA writers are a loyal pack and I’ve…

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in Sunday+Boring Writing on with 4 Comments by Jodi Chromey

It’s Sunday & I’m Boring: The I Finished the Draft Edition

So the most important things about today is that this happened: I typed those words and then I cried very hard. I sobbed really, with the noise and the shortness of breath. I didn’t expect to have that reaction. I thought I would be all glib & full of sarcasm: I’m ready for the Pulitzer now. Alert the National Book Awards! Etc. But when I finally typed THE END there I was overwhelmed, exhausted, and proud. In fact, I don’t…

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in Misc. Music on with 9 Comments by Jodi Chromey

Faux Hippie Hipsters & The Cranky Middle-Aged Lady Who Doesn’t Like Them

I’m pondering changing the name of this website to “Cranky Lady Leaves the House and is Cranky.” Now Part II of yesterday’s rant. So after Low’s horrific 27-minute long assault on my ears, Bob Mould took the stage. Uncle Bob can rock like nobody’s business. Seriously. He tore through a bunch of Sugar songs, a few Huskers, some solo stuff, and then capped it all off with “If I Can’t Change Your Mind” which is probably on my Top 20…

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in Music Sunday+Boring on with 13 Comments by Jodi Chromey

It’s Sunday & I’m Boring: The 27-minute Song Recovery Edition

I spent most of today recovering from all of yesterday. It involved a light nap, some book reading (The Original 1982), some record listening (“Personal Record“), and some Buffy-watching (the one where John Ritter plays Joyce’s robot boyfriend). I needed the recovery because yesterday I broke my four-year dry spell and attended a live-music event. I didn’t intend to take a four-year break, but it happened. When I lost my last “real job” I decided concerts were a frivolous expense…

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