Podcasts yes, books no

No books so far this month, I have been having a great time catching up on my podcasts. 

I was very behind on everything, especially Pop Culture Happy Hour. 

I reupped my plus membership (PCHH) so I get the bonus episodes and no sponsor ads. 

I follow four podcasts - 

I deleted many obsolete podcasts a while back, I kept two. 

Reeding Between the Lines sporadically publishes. 

Every once in a very very long while (years between episodes) Young House Love publishes. The last time was 2023. The time before that was 2021. There is always hope.

Murder 101

 Sarah Fain mentioned this podcast, Murder 101, in a recent episode of Happier in Hollywood. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happier-in-hollywood/id1236845161?i=1000704757737

Immersion method of reading

My style of reading is now very defined in my mind. I think of myself as an immersion reader.

A recent installment of Reeding Between the Lines, mentioned at the top of yesterday’s post, clarified this for me. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reeding-between-the-lines/id1744436935?i=1000688346807

Sara and Nicole think that pre Internet, people found an author they loved and then read that author’s works. That is still my method. 

They think that now, people are always reaching for the next bright shiny object (new books) which are readily shown in many formats. That is not me.

But I am exposed to a wide variety of books and authors through the assigned books for my book groups. I think of this as a culled list. The librarians are picking key books for a variety of reasons.

I also now have a very organized and specific to read list based on past books from Youngest’s very good book group. 

As I find authors I like, thru assigned books or my to read list, I listen to their other works. I think of this as the immersion method of reading. It is also how I quilt.

Reeding between the lines

My quilt blogger and her daughter started a book review podcast! 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reeding-between-the-lines/id1744436935

Reeding Between the Lines

My quilt blogger and her daughter started a book review podcast! 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reeding-between-the-lines/id1744436935

Three Genealogy podcasts

https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/announcing-generations-cafe-genealogy-podcast/

Amy Johnson Crow started a genealogy podcast (link above) in 2018. It does not appear to be active now, but the archive (72 episodes) is fantastic, in my opinion. Her sound quality is excellent. Her topics are helpful and she has a nice, simple presentation style. If you are just getting started in genealogy or would simply like a refresher, this is a good place to go. 

Amy Johnson Crow has one book available - 

Her website lists workshops in 2022, I am not sure if that is continuing. 

After you finished this series, my next suggestion would be a mother daughter team, Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer, podcast -

https://familylocket.com/the-research-like-a-pro-genealogy-podcast/

There are 240+ podcasts in this series as of this writing. These podcasts are longer and more detailed. They do an outstanding job. 

This pair offers webinars and classes. They have two books - 

An excellent British Genealogy Podcast - 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/journeys-into-genealogy-podcast/id1541830347

Great guests, great topics, great accents. This podcast has about 50 episodes and has been running since late 2020. 

Aisha Harris (Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast) does a set of three, deep dives, into three iconic movies

 “Today we debut Screening Ourselves, a new documentary series hosted by Aisha Harris. The Godfather is considered an American film classic with an enduring legacy that still shows up in TV, hip hop, and even Muppet culture. But the film also sparked a complicated relationship with the real-life Italian-American community about how they were seen and screened. In this episode, Aisha looks into the politics and the legacy of representation in Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather saga.”

1 The Godfather

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pop-culture-happy-hour/id278974813?i=1000585119243

“In the second chapter of our special documentary series, Screening Ourselves, host Aisha Harris revisits the politics and legacy of Basic Instinct. Paul Verhoeven's 1992 thriller is a sexy and violent cult classic. But the film was also a problematic mainstream portrayal of queer women at a time of great political crisis for LGBTQ politics and representation.”

2 Basic Instinct

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pop-culture-happy-hour/id278974813?i=1000585910011

“In the final chapter of our special documentary series Screening Ourselves, host Aisha Harris recounts the debates ignited by Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple. The 1985 film is remembered as a fan-favorite centering Black women's lives, but the acclaimed adaptation of Alice Walker's novel was received quite differently among female viewers and male viewers.”

3 The Color Purple

 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pop-culture-happy-hour/id278974813?i=1000586756684

We love him

Daily podcast from Dani started yesterday

Great re-do! Their guest room turned into an arts/crafts homework room.

https://www.younghouselove.com/kids-art-homework-room/

Miss and a hit

Gretchen or Elizabeth mentioned both of these podcasts.

Gretchen did warn that the first one would not be for everything and she was right. It was not a hit with me.

ADDED LATER: It turns out, this is a staged bit/routine that the radio show writes and then dramatizes. That explains a lot. And it makes me feel better. So it is not irresponsible as I first thought. Instead it is just stupid. . .

I felt several of these could easily turn into bad stalker situations. I could not stand the laugh track guy in background. So I listened to several on Tuesday and then deleted the whole thing.




I loved Dani Shapiro’s book and I also like her voice and the quality of the podcast editing. Diverse stories. Enjoying it so far.

I wondered how Dani tracked down the family secret guests. In the beginning, first of her podcasts, they have a book or a documentary or are a speaker. This is a bonus. If the story is of interest, can track down the person for a more in-depth story. For example, Steve Lickteig’s Open Secret and Lacey Schwartz’s Little White Lies are both on Amazon Prime. I can see from the titles that once she got going with her podcast, she started hearing from listeners and airing their stories.

Black History Month - Bobby Kennedy Speech

http://tal.fm/72

Bobby Kennedy’s speech is at the beginning of this podcast.

It was new to me. And very clever.

I found it last fall, working my way thru the This American Life archives.

Wild Game

I am looking forward to Gretchen interviewing the author on her Happiness podcast, Gretchen wrote:
“Adrienne Brodeur will join me in the studio in New York City to talk to us about the book, and we'll air that episode on February 5, 2020. So get reading!”

I listened to this book on Audible. The narrator was very good. There is a bonus interview at the end between the author and narrator.

I also listened to
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/otherppl-with-brad-listi/id472152554?i=1000456693820
AFTER I finished the book. I enjoyed that podcast, but it had too much detail/spoilers for a before-read listen, in my opinion.

I did enjoy this book very much.  In my opinion the writing was very good. And it was very thoughtful. It was definitely different. Generations of dysfunction.

To be honest, I was not sure until Chapter 18 that I liked it. I was afraid it was a little too ABC network TV for me for a while. The author pulled it off in the end. The last three hours (listening on audible) were excellent. And it did have to have the story to get there. I am sure there are others who might like the story better than the ending.

The author feels like she is the line in the sand (breaking the cycle). I hope so.

FYI - The author and her mother and father have their real names in the book. Everyone else, the names have been changed. The author does not have a wiki page. Her father does, with his literary work, but no family is linked to it.

I very much want (author’s stepmother) Margo’s book list!

When I was in 6th grade, I read the biography/autobiography section of my school library

I changed schools many many times.

When I made the move for 6th grade, I knew I was only going to be at that school for one year and then would move again, to junior high.

It was a tough year.

The school librarian pointed out the biography/autobiography section of the library and said I could probably get thru/read the whole thing that school year. I am pretty sure I did. I have loved a wide variety of topics and people ever since.

When I heard Dolly Parton had a podcast, I thought it was Dolly interviewing and talking. No. It is put together by other people, with Dolly as the topic. She absolutely participates. So does some of her family. But mostly it is a wide variety of topics centering around Dolly, music, the south, feminism, tact.

There are nine episodes and two bonus pieces with music clips. It is most excellent in my opinion.

Monday’s theme was Light Bulbs

I did not really understand about the color/hue of LED bulbs until last week. The electrician explained it to me. And his recommendation was to stay below 4000.

Here is John Petersik explaining it very well:
https://www.younghouselove.com/best-led-light-bulbs/




In my white kitchen fixtures, a 2700 LED bulb (that John Petersik prefers) looks very yellow/brown.

A 3500 LED looks white, but it is not so bright/white that it is uncomfortable. A nice clean white. And great clear light for cooking, reading, playing cards or doing a puzzle.

I know this because (as I said) my electrician suggested I stay under 4000. And the lady in the light bulb department suggested I buy a package of each (2700 and 3500) hue in 60W, go home and try them, side by side in the fixtures over my table, and return what did not work.

That is exactly what I did.

I waited for my husband. We agreed on the 3700 in 60W for all the kitchen fixtures. (75W LED was too strong even in 2700).

And this 3500 blends nicely with the two small LED can lights above the island. Which I bought before I understood LED’s at all. I have no idea what they are. (Previous old/regular bulbs looked very weird next to the island LED).




So we went back to the store, returned the 2700’s and bought more 3500 LED to cover all the regular kitchen lights and we also bought 3500 floods (which are 65W) for the canned lights in the kitchen and front entryway.

My kitchen is now so nicely lit that I do not have to have every kitchen light and all the hallway lights on to see.

And entry is now nice and bright, I am realizing it was really awful.

So we have two areas done. Entry way and kitchen/pantry are set with 60W and 65W 3500 LED’s.




The front hall, area by the backdoor, stairs (all cans) will also get 65W 3500 indoor floods. Those will be next. Watching for good sale.

I think the bathrooms will also get 3500. But it may be 40W because the mirror reflects the light and there are multiple bulbs in each of the 2 fixtures.

I think My studio and the computer room will get 3500 60W too.




I am waiting until the girls are both home see what they think about the rest of the house.

Because, we think the bedrooms need 40W or 60W 2700 LED’s, the ones that looked brown in the kitchen, seem like the right amount of soft in the bedrooms.

I think the living room and loft might also need 40W or 60W 2700’s.

I started out thinking “one hue for the whole house”, which is exactly what John Petersik did, but now I think it might be two hues, 2700 and 3500,  with different areas getting one or the other (but not mixing hues in same room).





So, what am I doing with the old light bulbs?

First, I got every bulb/package out of the cupboard above the dryer and sorted them on the kitchen table.

I had 2700 LED in a variety of watts and bulb styles. (So I took back the ones I had just gotten to try.)

Had outdoor flood 2700 LED 75W and so we checked the porch. The porch was a hot mess. Of the 4 cans, two were regular old bulbs and two were LED. My husband got the ladder and now the whole porch is 2700 LED and I have two extra 2700 LED for the one above the door which is used all night every night. I labeled the box “porch”.

I was also able to return some full packages (of the wrong bulbs) that were in my cupboard to stores. (I told them I had paid cash and did not have receipt and they gave me gift cards/store credit).

I gave all (3)  new Packages of (Non LED) incandescent bulbs (in cupboard) to my mother for her stash.

I started a box of regular size screw in used bulbs for college kids who do not care what they are.

I am going to list the (non LED) incandescent indoor (and 2 outdoor) flood bulbs on marketplace. 4 are new, most will be used. Will sell as set. I will wait to do this until I have switched out the whole house so it is a big set. And I am waiting to catch a very big sale on bulbs.




***I don’t know what think about the weird twisted fluorescent screw in light bulbs. I think I might sell all of them as a set on Marketplace too. ***

https://greenamerica.org/green-living/cfls-vs-leds-better-bulbs

Young House Love has a podcast

A friend kindly mentioned this podcast.

Very enjoyable.

Started with episode 1, working my way forward.

Their blog, I started with current day, but then I go back and read the ones featured at the bottom of that day’s post. So I am reading archives, of similar topics, in small increments, which is easy on my brain.

I am catching Chris

Chris Guillebeau
SideHustle

He posted 964 today.
I am on 930.

I will be current before he hits 1000.

I downloaded two new (to me) podcasts to try:

And I have a couple weeks worth of Gretchen/Elizabeth, Liz/Sarah, Do the Thing, and The Moth.

And I still have major This American Life archives.

So I will not be out of podcasts when I am current with SideHustle.

And I have several audible books in my queue.

I am trying to catch him before he hits 1000

SideHustleSchool by Chris Guillebeau is a short daily podcast. I would guess he averages under 10 minutes (each day) most of the time. He does a special longer version occasionally.

I did not start listening to SideHustle podcast when he launched on 1/1/2017, instead I began listening to his archives, starting with the first one/in chronological order, early this summer.

I downloaded all of them to my phone.  So there have been hundreds of SideHustle podcasts in my queue, all summer. I saw that as a positive, a fun summer thing.

I enjoy him very much. I like his voice, his humor, his personality and his education.  I have not decided to start a home based business, I am listening because of the variety of topics. All kinds of gift ideas and interesting concepts.

So all summer long, when I was caught up on my other podcasts, I always had Chris Guillebeau available.

As of this moment, I am on SideHustle podcast #750 which he recorded January 2019. So I am in the current year (yeah!) and headed toward the home stretch. He recorded #954 today, I am hoping to be current before he hits 1000.

If you are wondering about the math, 1000 - 750 = 250 / 46 = about 5 1/2 podcasts a day, which is usually under an hour. Very doable even if I only listen when I am out walking dogs.

But when I am current, I will really have accomplished something fun and educational and current, this summer.

Audible queue

If a book (mentioned anywhere) looks good, I have just started getting it on audible. 

If I start it and do not like it, I simply return it. I think returns must be done within a year of purchase. 

So then I always have a few books in queue, ready/available.

It is rare that I see a book reviewed or mentioned in a podcast and think “that sounds good”. 

Most often I think the opposite. 

If it is a classic, many times I have already read it.

So when a title does sound good, rather than putting it on a list, which I might forget I even have, I simply use an audible credit and put it in my library.

Saved comments - book titles - Jill and Lisa Eirene

https://sassypear.com/2019/07/25/bonus-post-a-good-quote/#comments

I wrote:
I purchased this book from audible this morning. (I am not sure if I will like it, but they have a return option, so if I don’t, then I will just return it. That option has allowed me to try different things.)

And yes, I have returned – Mrs. Sherlock Holmes: The True Story of New York City’s Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case That Captivated a Nation
Book by Brad Ricca. I tried three times and just could not get in to it. But every time I read a synopsis, I swear it is something I would/should love.

I realized almost everything I have listened to this year (books and podcasts) has been nonfiction.

I went thru all of Gretchen Rubin’s again. I did Marie C and also the Swedish Death cleaning one. Then I did Gretchen and Elizabeth’s book club selections (Inheritance and Small Fry) which were excellent. I love their take on book club – assign book, everybody reads, they interview the author.

I think I might like to find a podcast that does some type of similar book review thing. (I sort of outgrew the book group’s in town that I used to love.)


And

http://www.110pounds.com/?p=57160#comments

I wrote:
I normally a classics person, but I am sort of running out of classics.

My recent reads are Gretchen Rubin and Elizabeth (her sister) podcast book club selections Inheritance and Small Fry. Both great nonfiction books (and not normally something I would pick). I loved them.

So I got #1 and #6 from your list, from audible, to try (they have a return option, so if I don’t like, can exchange within a year). Maybe nonfiction appeals to me right now.

Thank you for mentioning them.