09/20/21: New Job and Two Books
TLDR
Update: Employed
E/C/B: Naan (this time with ghee)
Reading: The Jasmine Throne, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant
Watching: Reservation Dogs
End Notes: You can contact me at jadettman@gmail.com
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THE UPDATE
This week I was hired for a part-time department coordinator job at Beloit College. It sounds like it’s mostly going to be paperwork and odd jobs around the Anthropology and Art departments. My first day will be the day you get this, so I’ll let you know how it goes.
In other news, we’re just keeping on. I saw my GP last week and, other than possibly having high blood-pressure, I seem to be doing okay. And I’m of the age where more invasive routine procedures are coming my way. Yay!
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EATING / COOKING / BAKING
As I write this, I have some dough for naan rising on my countertop. I made some for an outdoor gathering a couple weeks ago and it was delicious but, because I used regular ol’ butter, I filled the houses with smoke. (It wasn’t great.)
This week, I’m using ghee, or clarified butter, which has a higher smoke point. I will report back on how that works out.
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READING
I have, of course, continued to read over the last few weeks. I just haven’t had a lot to say about what I’ve been reading.
I finished The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri a couple weeks back and I enjoyed it. It is a novel set in a fantasy South Asia in which an Empire has taken over the region and it’s not working well for our protagonists.
Things I loved: strong character building, lots of female characters, great world-building, and no destined saviors.
Not so much: the book felt slow.
I’ll probably check out the next book in the series.
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/tasha-suri/the-jasmine-throne/9780316538510/
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The book I just finished, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson is very much a book about colonialism and is the third book in the series. Our main character, Baru Cormorant, has been taken from her home (Taranoke, fantasy Polynesia), educated by her home’s conquerors (Falcrest, fantasy France), and sent off into the world as a civil servant to do the same to other countries.
I’m pretty sure that everything depicted in these books happened in the real world and it is a testament to the author that I keep wanting to read them. The characters are compelling, the writing is good, and I’m really hoping that Baru can tear down Falcrest, which is very much in doubt.
This series also asks interesting questions like: Can you tear down colonialism and tyranny with the tools given to you by the colonialists and tyrants?
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765380760
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WATCHING
Reservation Dogs is the best new thing that we are currently watching. If you have Hulu, you should check it out; it’s great.
The show is about four Indigenous teenagers living on a reservation who want leave home and go to California. It’s mostly about their relationships with each other and other folks in the community. Billed as a comedy, I don’t feel like I’ve had a lot of laugh-out-loud moments but there have been plenty of quietly-amusing ones.
It’s a very sweet show and, obviously, I think everyone should watch it.
https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/reservation-dogs
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END NOTES
If you’d like to send me some feedback or discuss one of the topics I’ve talked about here (or even a different topic), email me at jadettman@gmail.com
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