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The Grift: The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans from the Party of Lincoln to the Cult of Trump by Clay Cane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Since this is Black History Month, I decided if the Libby app could get this book to me, I would read it. Well, listen to it. They had the audiobook. Clay Cane did his narration.
As important as the information in this book is, I found it like any history book. It was all facts, names, and dates. I felt it could use more story and more emotion for the reader to relate to. The author/narrator was hyped and sounded like an evangelistic preacher. So before long, it was just noise.
Maybe it would be better to read the paper copy or the Kindle version. I felt I needed charts and timelines, and I needed to take notes. That’s hard to do at 2 in the morning when I am trying to go to sleep. I may have to read this again with the summaries I see on Mr. Cane’s Amazon and Goodreads pages. All that I have said about it was my own reaction to how it went into my brain so late at night. I think others who hold onto facts better than I do will love this and find new insights into our system of government.
So don’t take my word for it. Try it. You might like it and learn something you didn’t know before.
The Floundering part of this review is knowing it is a good and important book. But my lack of sleep or ability to concentrate ruined the book for me. And the entire day following. I got nothing done but weird naps and 40 minutes at the diamond painting only amounted to:
I need to sleep tonight!
I floundered as I set up my new diamond painting; I couldn’t remember the process.
Boom! 1-lined Wednesday, Floundered!
The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the review I wrote for the Kindle version of this book. Since I listened to this one while reading from the Kindle version, I feel this should get a review as well.
***
I had this book, the hardback copy, for a long time. I had heard it was a good read, but the book was so heavy I never picked it up to read. I sold my copy. Downloaded as a Kindle copy, and it became a simple read. I, also. Downloaded the Audible version to listen to as I read. The voice of Sandra Burr was melodic and kept my interest, even when my eyes got tired.
This is deep enough that I must continue into the next book: The Valley of the Horses. I already downloaded it so that my memory of the end of the last book will fade. I will not say more than that for fear of committing a spoiler.
Glad I will now own this so I can go back and re-read it sometime.
~~~
February 6, 2024
I just finished re-listening/reading this first book. I have to admit it was as good as the first time I was immersed in the story. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. If you have read it, it is worth the reread!
Nobody floundered as much as the first humans. Can you imagine all the things they had to learn? We stand on their shoulders.
Thicker than Water: A Memoir by Kerry Washington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I don’t normally like to rate memoirs. It seems unfair as it is the story of that person’s life. But in this case, I truly enjoyed Kerry Washington’s reading and her story.
As much as I would love that rating to go to her life experience, it is more how I felt as she read about her love of swimming. I related to that love so much. Even her words and voice portrayed that great love and how, in the end, that helped her and her family find their way. I don’t want to give anything away. Hopefully, that much isn’t a spoiler.
Her voice is strong and full of life as she tells her story. I felt so much like I was having a cup of coffee or sitting in the spa after a good batch of laps.
Libby is one of the greatest inventions ever! It is through them that I can read so many books. Yes, there is still the due date to make you read faster, but it is still a way to read a lot when you haven’t a lot of money to buy each and every book you want to read. That was how I read this book. It is worth buying if only for the poetry Kerry gives to living. And swimming.
When you flounder in life, it is nice to find others to see how they handle their floundering. In Ms. Washington’s book, you see a lot of floundering as she learns about her life.
Since this guy showed up in my purview, I keep hearing about it or seeing new ways to use it. But when I looked up this comparison, this is what I found on Google:
Flounder and founder are happy little nouns that don’t get mixed up. But it all falls apart when they’re verbs — if you’re floundering, you’re struggling. If you’re foundering, you’re failing completely. I don’t feel I am foundering in any way. Just finding ways to see successes.
So, I am sticking with the fish. And that is better than a horse who founders.
Her hooves hurt, and she can’t go on. Actually, I don’t know that about the above horse. I just was looking for a picture of a horse on the ground. And she is so pretty!
The groundhog is a floundering hog. Or is it that Winter is floundering? Because we are supposed to be getting an early Spring. But we got this:
Meanwhile, I finished the little boy’s slippers:
It’s fun to make smaller socks because they get finished quicker. But now I’m on the mother and the older daughter, and possibly Auntie and Grandma. All around sizes 7 and 8. Yes, the yarn is already on the needles.
My biggest floundering seems to be on the ukulele. My fingers just don’t want to be in those chord situations. But I keep trying. I did figure out I could plunk out Mary Had a Little Lamb on the strings as I figured out where each note was. But moving from F to C and back within a singing timing was crazy. The F chord is the hardest. Well, until I met G. Getting pretty sounds is crippling!
I’m not floundering so much on the recorders. Except I probably should play them before deadening the fingertips on the Uke. I am trying to remember where the F, F#, and B flat are. Other than that I’m getting better, slowly.
And so, I’m off to try again tonight. Wish me luck!
Watch this; I will meander all over the place during this session and find myself right here. Meanwhile, I spent a lot of time on Duolingo. Sometimes I just can’t stop. Sometimes I just can’t. Ya know? Word order is the hardest part of all the languages.
While doing things that take a brain, I usually put on something I nearly have memorized just to have a place to look farther away than arm’s length. I can’t do music as I get too involved in the music and get nothing done. So this time is another run at the Walking Dead. I am always surprised at the wisdom of the writer of how humans respond to scary things. The show has never been about the monsters. It is about how people react to each other and find their own tribe. Or think they have until it is proven that that tribe doesn’t exist.
A while ago, while my husband was in here with me we were watching The Chosen. I am very surprised at how much I like it. It is not for everyone. But then I loved Jesus Christ Superstar, and my mother found it offensive. I think it is like the people in The Walking Dead. Our tribes show up, and even within our tribes, things show that, in the end, our views are our own. We can only agree where we can and find others that fit with other parts of ourselves.
If we feel the need to nap, and since I love to read after midnight, I often need a nap, I put on some animal show. Dogs 101 found my restful place, and I woke wishing for my new canine friend.
So many uses for one word. My husband has a watch that tells him his blood sugar, blood pressure, etc. I had one, but the sensor burned my skin. But I am smiling now as I think of Dick Tracy.
No flying cars yet, but Rosy, the Roomba robot, vacuums our house, and we have these watches that are telephones!
And now I am tired of Floundering.
Back to knitting.
The floundering part of this sock is it is for a size 1 child shoe size. I didn’t have the child nearby to try it out as I went. So I hope they will fit her. The other flounder is that I didn’t have two of the same size cables so the second sock is on a size 2, I think. And I started the sock with a Turkish cast-on far bigger than I should have. I hope they are comfortable and fit.
For her brother, I am making a pair of slippers. I’m following the Toe-up Socks with Fleegle Heel in Any Weight and Size, which I don’t need to watch the YouTube so closely. I have a lot of this yarn, so you may have seen it before. But seriously, this is a new pair of socks. For a size 4 child. I hope spring doesn’t come before he gets the chance to wear them. I’ve posted this YouTube before, but I love it so much that I think it is the easiest sock to knit, no matter what size or yarn.
Many are wondering about my Flounder February idea. It is simple. For most of my life, I have fought myself and my upbringing to be perfect. Now, I am giving my flaws a chance to enjoy life without criticism. I plan to show the challenges that come up. Share the indecisions that carry me. In the meanwhile, I plan to enjoy the progress.
I just heard a statement today that I wish would have been said often in my life. Instead of Practice makes Perfect. Practice makes progress. Maybe it does lead to Carnegie Hall, eventually, but many of us just want to enjoy what we’ve been given and grow.
Bottom-line is I’m writing. Did I ever tell you about all the diaries I had as a kid? You know, the ones with the little locks. Oh, not to mention all of fancy journals I have now. I can’t seem to ever get far in any of them. As a kid, I gave up when the daily jot was , “I breathed in and out.” When I could think of nothing else to share in the secure place, I quit. Here, I seem to have written every day for quite a while. Some of it was not much more that breathing in and out. But other times I found my passions and past times growing. And that seems to work.
Who’s Floundering? What works and what doesn’t?
After National Novel Writing Month in November, then the birthdays, Christmas and cold, and the occasional editing and keeping up the journal, somehow, January needed help. Linda G. Hill gives us Just Jot It January. The prompts help make sure we write something every day. I have done those for a couple of years now. I am grateful for the push to Just Jot.
But always, in the past, I found myself floundering in February. Hence, the fish:
He is a quick sketch, and the eraser was smudgy. He’s a little cross-eyed. That’s how I feel in this short month that lasts a couple years. Let’s think about this guy. He is the bottom feeder. He lays on or under the sand, both eyes looking up to catch whatever morsel floats down to him. I’m sure he is grateful for the tension that occurs above. That is how I feel about the tidbits of passion the muses drop to me.
It’s too cold for walks. But I am being steady on the stationary bike. Knitting is to keep the hands busy during TV or chats. When I am nearing the end of the day, Duo calls me, and then I do my blog. Whatever comes to mind. I’m trying to go earlier on these, so there is enough time and energy to build callouses on the uke and stretch the fingers for the soprano and alto recorders. Learning how the music theory I learned and applied to the piano and voice can apply to these other ventures.
To help me get back into playing scales, which will help with getting back into piano playing, I picked up one of these roll-up pianos to play with in my bedroom. It has an earphone plug-in, so no one has to put up with the noise but me. So these are my musical flounderings. Right now, it is just mechanical. But I am hoping that my tidbits of time and energy will spark a real musical enjoyment.
My diamond painting area is now open as the dragon is being shipped to his friend. I don’t know which one will be next. But I intend to flounder and fuss about in there and seek the enjoyment.
So that is what my Flounder Feb is all about. Finding enjoyment, if not passions, and hoping that all the flotsam and jetsam of tidbits build a healthier me. We’re not looking for perfection. That’s what happens up topside.
What is your Flounder doing this February? If you choose to play, use my pic and link back here.
Last day of JuJoJan on 1LineWed, but Flaundering February starts tomorrow. Watch this space.
Darswords 
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