I really like your writing, Krista, thank you for sharing it. I just finished "reading" My Name is Barbra which is Ms Streisand's autobiography. It took me months to get through because I was listening on Spotify and kept getting capped on weekly audiobook hours (it's 59 chapters!) but I was not a fan before and I am now. She narrates it and goes off script. Before that I listened to Tom Lake by Ann Patchett which was very moving. I recommend both!
Congratulations on being overweight! I'd love to join you on that scale, but I'm still a bmi 35+ (eating my way through heartbreak takes a long time, ya know—I've put back on all the weight I had lost up until the quarantine). I'm on Medicare (unemployed, aka "retired") and haven't figured out how to get an OLP-1 for free. How have you done that? I tried a mail order prescription for Ozempic for not a small price, but when I didn't see any effect after 2 months, and thinking it might be a fake, I canceled. Good to get your newsletter in my inbox!
Sorry about the heartbreak! Obviously, I don't know the details. I'm literally the same weight I was a decade ago, so not even close to thin. I put on ~25 pounds+ when I moved to Portland because I didn't walk everywhere anymore. I stopped going to the gym during the pandemic and haven't been back since. And I even bought a used Peloton so I have no excuse! I'm pretty sure my GLP-1 med is covered because I'm diabetic. I don't think I would be able to get it just for weight loss. I took the highest dose of Ozempic for a full year and only lost 4 pounds! It's really not the miracle everyone makes it out to be. And I think being diabetic, it didn't have the same effect on me as someone with "normal" blood sugar who might only be 15-20 pounds overweight.
I agree with you on All Fours, but overall I don't get the hype. She is not for me. I just read "Earthlings" by Sayaka Murata, and while I didn't feel as home with her as I did with "Convenience Store Woman," she is for me. I'm halfway through "reading" Kawaguchi's "Before the Coffee Gets Cold." First two parts were "read" on a minibus to and fro vacation, but I don't know when I'll finish. The supernatural aspect isn't too strong, but I'm not sure I love it.
I haven't read any Murata or Kawaguchi yet, but I was interested in "Convenience Store Woman." I'm not sure if Mieko Kawakami is similar (I don't want to assume all middle-aged Japanese women authors are alike?) but I really liked "Breasts and Eggs" when I read it during the pandemic.
I like assuming they're all alike. Or rather, there's a detachment to emotions or an arm's length sense to them that I really like about Japanese female authors. Especially in Breasts and Eggs, which I loved. Murata is the most extreme of what I've read, as I feel it's almost like an arm's length feeling towards being human or conventional human-ness, if that makes sense. And that's something that I really identify with at times.
Yes, that's the sense I have about Murata. I'm fascinated by this genre because like you said these characters have a detached way of interacting with the world. By American standards, it's unconventional and pretty antisocial!
I really like your writing, Krista, thank you for sharing it. I just finished "reading" My Name is Barbra which is Ms Streisand's autobiography. It took me months to get through because I was listening on Spotify and kept getting capped on weekly audiobook hours (it's 59 chapters!) but I was not a fan before and I am now. She narrates it and goes off script. Before that I listened to Tom Lake by Ann Patchett which was very moving. I recommend both!
I've heard good things about My Name is Barbra, but that's a big commitment! I also keep getting capped on my Spotify audiobook hours.
SUCH a commitment. The only reason I could get through it is that I was living on the road up until a couple months ago. Ha!
Congratulations on being overweight! I'd love to join you on that scale, but I'm still a bmi 35+ (eating my way through heartbreak takes a long time, ya know—I've put back on all the weight I had lost up until the quarantine). I'm on Medicare (unemployed, aka "retired") and haven't figured out how to get an OLP-1 for free. How have you done that? I tried a mail order prescription for Ozempic for not a small price, but when I didn't see any effect after 2 months, and thinking it might be a fake, I canceled. Good to get your newsletter in my inbox!
Sorry about the heartbreak! Obviously, I don't know the details. I'm literally the same weight I was a decade ago, so not even close to thin. I put on ~25 pounds+ when I moved to Portland because I didn't walk everywhere anymore. I stopped going to the gym during the pandemic and haven't been back since. And I even bought a used Peloton so I have no excuse! I'm pretty sure my GLP-1 med is covered because I'm diabetic. I don't think I would be able to get it just for weight loss. I took the highest dose of Ozempic for a full year and only lost 4 pounds! It's really not the miracle everyone makes it out to be. And I think being diabetic, it didn't have the same effect on me as someone with "normal" blood sugar who might only be 15-20 pounds overweight.
I agree with you on All Fours, but overall I don't get the hype. She is not for me. I just read "Earthlings" by Sayaka Murata, and while I didn't feel as home with her as I did with "Convenience Store Woman," she is for me. I'm halfway through "reading" Kawaguchi's "Before the Coffee Gets Cold." First two parts were "read" on a minibus to and fro vacation, but I don't know when I'll finish. The supernatural aspect isn't too strong, but I'm not sure I love it.
I do love your occasional missives!
I haven't read any Murata or Kawaguchi yet, but I was interested in "Convenience Store Woman." I'm not sure if Mieko Kawakami is similar (I don't want to assume all middle-aged Japanese women authors are alike?) but I really liked "Breasts and Eggs" when I read it during the pandemic.
I like assuming they're all alike. Or rather, there's a detachment to emotions or an arm's length sense to them that I really like about Japanese female authors. Especially in Breasts and Eggs, which I loved. Murata is the most extreme of what I've read, as I feel it's almost like an arm's length feeling towards being human or conventional human-ness, if that makes sense. And that's something that I really identify with at times.
Yes, that's the sense I have about Murata. I'm fascinated by this genre because like you said these characters have a detached way of interacting with the world. By American standards, it's unconventional and pretty antisocial!