I have expressed a lot of feelings about the Macmillan e-book rules/embargo since it went into effect; mostly on social media but, clearly, also on my blog. My feelings about the whole thing intensified through the lens of COVID-19.

I love libraries, and I’m continuing to use paper books from libraries. But e-books are the perfect solution for not passing along the virus. You can check out the books from home. You are only touching your device. If you can’t afford to purchase books, it keeps reading free (except for taxpayer dollars) and safe. Which is what libraries are all about––making sure everyone has access to knowledge.

Which is why I’m irate that Macmillan hasn’t announced that they’re stopping their library buying restrictions for public health reasons. I’m aware that librarians could just as easily end their embargo, but doing so wouldn’t fix the problem because the restrictions would still be in place. Libraries could get one copy of a book vs. no copies of a book.

So that’s my rant of the day. I am really frustrated and disappointed in Macmillan for so many reasons, but this is the one pissing me off this morning.

What is making you cranky?

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Speaking of books… Sophie Hannah is one of my favourite writers, and she announced a contest in the latest edition of her newsletter. Guess the end of her latest book and win a signed proof.

I WON!

It’s not one of her usual mysteries––it’s nonfiction––but it is a puzzle. It’s called Happiness, a Mystery: And 66 Attempts to Solve It. It comes out in May, but her office said that they’re sending the copy now. I cannot wait to read this. And yes, I will have a review of it as soon as I read it in my regular monthly review post. Because I know I’m going to love it from the tiny snippet she included in the newsletter. And because she’s Sophie Hannah, and her books are perfection.

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I really like the Dixie Chick’s new song, “Gaslighter,” but it made me sad when I thought about how the last song (I think?) about her marriage was “Easy Silence.” How things went from this to this.

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I skipped Mental Sampler 17. It jumps from 16 to 18. I wonder why.

I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to purchase a few extra cans of beans and bags of rice. We’ll certainly use them. But I was shocked that the store had exactly one can of tomatoes left. Crushed tomatoes, whole tomatoes, diced tomatoes… all gone.

I also decided to purchase a new thermometer because our 15-year-old thermometer wasn’t working. Well… that was a little more difficult than the beans and rice. It was more in the canned tomato zone. I was able to purchase a generic CVS one that had doubled in price since CNET wrote about it six days earlier.

But we have beans and rice and a thermometer now. So I guess I feel a little more prepared for… something.

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What I wasn’t prepared for is Warren leaving the race. I love Elizabeth Warren, through and through. I now need to mentally recalibrate for this election.

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Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

A writer on Longreads asks a valuable questions: “If Miscarriage is So Normal, Why Doesn’t Anybody Talk About It?” It’s a hard read about her miscarriage, but it’s also an important read.

FinallyMyLinesNow has a post about the difference a year makes. She writes, “I can’t say that raising twins is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, because losing twins was harder. I can say that it’s the most rewarding, in an ongoing sense.” The highs and lows of a year.

Risakerslake answers a question about donor eggs. The reader wonders if she had concerns about using donor eggs before she knew the outcome of the cycle. She admits: “I dealt with insecurities, loneliness, anger at my body that we even had to do this in the first place, but I knew it was our best chance at having a baby, and along with that, a pregnancy, and a child that shared genes with my husband. But no, I was always confident we were making the right choice for us.” Grateful for people who share their stories.

Finally, The Barreness is feeling invisible and asks if anyone else feels invisible, too. This feeling is especially acute right now as she tries to decide what to do about her 50th birthday. Go give her ideas.

The roundup to the Roundup: Feeling more prepared. Elizabeth Warren. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between February 28 – March 6) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.

There was a great article in the New York Times a few weeks ago about the closeness-communication bias: “The closer we feel toward someone, the less likely we are to listen carefully to them.”

It’s the auditory equivalent of tuning out your surroundings:

Once you know people well enough to feel close, there’s an unconscious tendency to tune them out because you think you already know what they are going to say. It’s kind of like when you’ve traveled a certain route several times and no longer notice signposts and scenery.

Which means that you miss major clues that your friends and family are giving you, while noticing more during a random interaction with a stranger in the elevator.

The studies, of course, found that we believe the opposite: that we better understand the people we love. But all proof is to the contrary.

Excuse me, I need to go listen to Josh.

Coronavirus. I spend a lot of time thinking about Coronavirus. Partially because it is in the news every second of the day, and partially because it is an easy thing to obsess about. When I’m out of the house, I am paying attention to every surface I’m touching and reminding myself not to absentmindedly rub my eyes. When I’m home, I’m thinking about never leaving the house.

Except that everyone else in the house often leaves the house. So not leaving the house doesn’t actually protect me. Or them.

It’s hard to gauge how much to worry. I don’t worry about the flu, and the flu is much more widespread. (Though I do get a flu shot yearly, so that may explain why I don’t worry about the flu.)

Many years ago, right after 9-11, there was a day that anyone living in certain cities–D.C. and NY, for example–were encouraged to make an emergency kit. What if you couldn’t leave your house for several days? What if water and electricity were shut off? What would you need? We got canned food and a manual opener. Peanut butter. Candles. Matches. Hand sanitizer. Jugs of water.

We didn’t keep up the box over the years, though the candles and matches are still in there. But maybe we should. Maybe we should do an inventory of what we would need if we couldn’t go outside for a week or two and gather those items. We can use them and replace them until we feel like this is over. Or maybe that’s just unreasonable panic looking at this through the media lens, which regurgitates the story again and again. It’s hard to know what to do.

Though I guess purchasing a case of black beans can’t hurt.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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Last weekend, we surprised the Wolvog with his floating birthday and tickets to an e-sports event. It wasn’t actually a surprise because we needed his help to purchase the tickets. We couldn’t understand the ticketing system, but the Wolvog assured us that yes, the only option was 12 hours of games over two days.

12 hours.

I was quaking whenever I thought about going–I am not a fan of noise or crowds–but I went in with an open mind and LOVED it. He explained the game to us the night before and patiently answered questions while we watched. I ended up on my feet, cheering on the Washington Justice while they played against Paris and London.

If you had told me five years ago that I would be attending a two-day e-sports event, I would have told you that there was no chance. But I’m glad I went–and that he introduced us to this world–because we had the best time. It was the most female-friendly video-game-related event I have ever attended, maybe because the game itself has built in diversity on all fronts. And zero lines for the bathroom, even though the event was about 50% women. Win-win!

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.