29 days until Election Day. 29 more days of ads, robocalls, texts, commercials, pundits, lies – 29 days. I can’t wait. I am exhausted. While I deeply care who wins, I’ll be glad to see the end of at least part of it. I know that if the former president loses, he will fight the results until his last breath. So it might not be over, but the first part will be over! Did you know that 70 is young to be an old person? Ask Annie Lamott.

Kintsugi 10/7/24

Lagniappe

The great resetting of TV news contracts is now firmly underway, it seems, and most talent will be affected—at best by a smaller-than-anticipated cost-of-living raise, often by a pay cut, and, at worst, by a delicately choreographed defenestration. There may be a few exceptions to the rule—Savannah, the multitalented NBC headliner, who will become even more valuable to the brand in Hoda’s absence; David Muir, whose nightly broadcast is often the most watched show on television, etcetera—but pretty much everyone else is vulnerable. (more)

The American Revolution wasn’t caused just by “taxation without representation.” Disputes over land distribution also caused mounting tensions between American colonists and the British — the British planned to reserve the western part of North America for Indigenous peoples, angering colonists with plans to expand outward. (more)

Cissy Houston, a Grammy Award-winning soul and gospel star who helped shepherd her daughter Whitney Houston to superstardom, died on Monday at her home in Newark. She was 91. (more)

Although signing up for REAL ID is currently optional, it’ll soon be a requirement for anyone planning to board a domestic flight in the United States. (more)

Which are the top 10 work-at-home jobs? Call center clerks and data entry clerks are on the list. (more)

Can you pass the US citizenship test? (more) What about a geography test?

Unexpectedly, only one Bible edition appears to match specifications set by the Oklahoma public school chief – the “God Bless the USA Bible” that presidential candidate Trump endorsed and encouraged his supporters to begin buying for $59.99. (more)

Someone was arrested for killing geese In Springfield — but it wasn’t a Haitian. Brian Comer, a 64-year-old white man, was accused of illegally hunting geese at a golf course where he was employed. (more)

On October 1, 2024, 22 anonymously nominated Americans were recognized with fellowships and an $800,000 stipend from the MacArthur Foundation’s “Genius Grant” fellowship program. (more)

Why do white men always have to come first? Even when they aren’t? Privilege is always there. Gender, race – always.

Wild Coking Woman 10/3/24

I was looking for a book I hadn’t read, Black White and the Grey. “In this dual memoir, Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano take turns telling how they went from tentative business partners to dear friends while turning a dilapidated formerly segregated Greyhound bus station into The Grey, now one of the most celebrated restaurants in the country.” The names on the book cover lists Bailey first, then Morisano. The reviews discuss Bailey, then Morisano. HOWEVER, when I was searching Google for information, this is what I found under Google Books and Goodreads for authors:

John O. Morisano

Mashama Bailey

A trio of social scientists surreptitiously surveyed more than 6,500 professors at top U.S. universities to discover that faculty members ignored requests for mentoring from women and minorities more than from white males. (more) Study reveals the vast disparity in salary, respect, and opportunities between people from marginalized groups and their privileged peers.

Claudia Rankine, writing in the NY Times says, … “Whiteness as Property,” an article published in The Harvard Law Review in 1993, in which the author, Cheryl Harris, argues that “the set of assumptions, privileges and benefits that accompany the status of being white have become a valuable asset that whites sought to protect.” These are the assumptions of privilege and exclusion that have led many white Americans to call the police on black people trying to enter their own homes or vehicles. Racial profiling becomes another sanctioned method of segregating space. Harris goes on to explain how much white people rely on these benefits, so much so that their expectations inform the interpretations of our laws. “Stand your ground” laws, for example, mean whites can claim that fear made them kill an unarmed black person. Or voter registration laws in certain states can function as de facto Jim Crow laws. “American law,” Harris writes, “has recognized a property interest in whiteness.”

pic.twitter.com/XSsygoj4uH
— MAGA Resource (@MAGAResource) October 2, 2024

Just got power back—no phone service. I can’t believe people are still in denial about climate change. There are people who still are ~~confused~~ uncommitted about which candidate to vote for in November! What goes up must come down. Do you have a spouse or SO, or are they a roommate? As for the rest of us, here are some bits to watch.

Kintsugi 10/1/24

Here is a list of 15 essential documents all retirees must have in order. Some of these docs are important for all of us. Get them before you need them.

On My Fall Reading Pile

The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
We Solve Murders: A Novel by Richard Osman
Lovely One: A Memoir by Ketanji Brown Jackson
The Gray Wolf by Louise Penny
Between Harlem and Heaven: Afro-Asian American Cooking for Big Nights, Weeknights, and Every Day by JJ Johnson, Alexander Smalls, Veronica Chambers
The Great Hippopotamus Hotel: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Hey! What’s That? by Sandra Boynton

Apple Slab Pie

Ingredients for Pie

4 refrigerator pie crusts at room temperature
9 cups peeled and thinly sliced apples (I like a mixture of 2 of these: Honeycrisp, Courtland, Braeburn and Granny Smith)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons tapioca flour or cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract
tiny pinch salt

Ingredients for Glaze

6 tablespoons whole milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Place two of the pie crusts on top of each other on a lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll it out to a rough rectangle that is 18×12 inches.
Prepare a 10x15x1-inch jelly roll pan by either buttering and flouring the pan, spraying with baking spray (Baker’s Joy), or lining with parchment paper with the excess paper hanging over the pan a couple of inches on both short ends.
Place the crust in the prepared pan, forming it in the pan with the excess crust overlapping the sides. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add the apples, sugar, tapioca flour or cornstarch, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla or vanilla paste, and a pinch of salt. Stir together until fully combined.
Spread the apples evenly onto the crust.
Again, roll out the last two pie crusts into an 18×12 rectangle. Place them on top of the pan.
Tuck the top crust under the bottom and crimp the edges. Cut slits in the top crust so air can escape.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, tenting with foil after the first 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown. If you think it needs more browning after 35 minutes, take the foil off and watch closely until your desired color is reached.
Place on a wire rack to cool for 1 hour.
While the pie is cooling, place milk in a small saucepan and heat until warm but not bubbling. Add butter. Let it cool to room temperature and then add powdered sugar.
After the pie has cooled, brush it all over with the glaze with a pastry brush. Wait 30 minutes, brush another layer of glaze on. Let cool for 30 more minutes, slice, and serve.

If you are a senior who lives alone or doesn’t have a network of folks, some resources that can help are:

CareCheckers: Offers daily reassurance calls for seniors, including medication and activity reminders, as well as friendly conversations ¹.
Snug Safety: A free app that checks in with seniors daily. If a check-in is missed, it alerts emergency contacts. They also offer a paid plan where someone will personally call if the check-in is missed ².
Eskaton’s Telephone Reassurance Program: A nonprofit organization that provides daily phone calls to housebound seniors ³.
Community Phone’s Caregiver Plan: Provides daily phone check-in calls to ensure the well-being of elderly individuals living alone ⁴.

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