641st Friday Blog Roundup
It has been a strangely busy week — travel, work, bathroom remodeling, weekend guests, and hosting Pesach on Monday — which means something had to fall through the cracks, and so far it’s the interactive fiction game I was set to play for my monthly interactive fiction club. (It’s like a book club, but instead of a book, we play a game and then get together and discuss it.)
I’m still attempting to get to it tonight, but it isn’t looking good. That matzo ball soup isn’t going to cook itself, friends. But it brings up a question: should you attend a club (book club, video game club, etc) if you haven’t done the prep work? I’m not bothered by the game being ruined for me. Well, I mean, I am, but I understand that is the risk. But is it obnoxious to show and admit, “I didn’t play this one.”
Um… in case any of the guys are reading: I didn’t play this one. I suck. But I will see you guys this weekend because I’m leaning towards being obnoxious and begging for mercy.
Do you show up for book clubs if you haven’t read the book?
*******
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.
*******
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:
- “Top Ten Things That Suck About Delayed Fertility” (Lady Part Adventures)
- “Sometimes I’m Firing on All Cylinders” (Bent Not Broken)
Okay, now my choices this week.
Hope Floats Among the Cherry Blossoms has a post that is so beautiful, heartbreaking, and brief that it is poetry.
My Path to Mommyhood runs into her old RE at the grocery store. She writes, “I can revel in the fact that we are friends with someone who tried real hard to get us pregnant and tried to keep it real even as the quest failed miserably, and who still gives really great hugs and truly enjoys our presence, whether at events, the grocery store, or in the mail. Maybe, in a weird way, more so because we weren’t a success story.” It’s a great post about reconnecting with someone who was a big part of your journey.
Too Many Fish to Fry has an important post to read about the death of a friend and a lesson learned. She explains, “Stoicism never pretends life isn’t horrible. It never assumes that challenges won’t rear up and the philosophy won’t promise a perfect life. Instead, the stoics teach us that challenges will happen, terrible events will occur. They advise that the only way to prepare for such things is to count the good things we have, over and over again.” I’ll be thinking about the story inside the post for a long time. (And likely thinking about it every time I climb a long flight of stairs.)
Lastly, Riding the IVF Roller Coaster has a post about telling her child about a loss. This is a post for everyone who worries about talking about pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or neonatal death with a child. My experience has been about the same when the ChickieNob and Wolvog have asked.
The roundup to the Roundup: Showing up for a (book) club when you haven’t read the (book). 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 March 31st and April 7th) 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.
6 comments
I am going to a book club soon for a book I haven’t cracked (I did see the movie, though, which is so not the same, but at least I won’t be totally clueless). I have no shame.
Eager to read your picks. Some of them are in my Feedly and I’ve been waiting until I have enough time to savor them.
I loved this one from Jess: http://mypathtomommyhood.blogspot.com/2017/04/a-beautiful-mess-of-motherhood.html
I’ll periodically go to book club even if I haven’t read the book, and have no problem at all when others do the same – after all, life has a tendency of getting in the way of the best laid plans! That said, I will confess to being mildly irritated by CHRONIC non-book-readers-but-still-show-uppers. Not irritated enough to bother saying anything about it, and I still enjoy socializing with them, but still a little annoyed that they seem to be totally missing the point of book club. 🙂
Thanks for the link and the kind words. I also am hustling with a busy week – lots of work, kids activities, and preparing to host Passover on Monday. Good luck with your dinner!
That interactive book club sounds amazing! I think you have to give yourself a pass every once in a while, especially since it sounds like this week was crazy. I don’t go if I didn’t read the book, but I have some compulsive issues and I don’t like the end ruined, and in my book club there’s a rule that if you come and you didn’t read, we don’t have to pussyfoot around you with plot twists and end discussions. Which is good motivation for reading the book (although if I don’t finish I just don’t go, which is sad in its own way, too).
Thank you so much for including my post! I had roundups to the roundups picked out and then unfortunately had one of the worst weeks in the history of worst weeks (which is saying something) and missed it. Can I still put down my picks from last week?
“The Gift of Acceptance” from Mali. Because it was just what I needed at the time and nope, life is not fair. http://nokiddinginnz.blogspot.co.nz/2017/03/the-gift-of-acceptance.html
Torthuil’s “10 Ways I’m Rocking Motherhood,” because I truly believe she is and I loved everything she said about not wanting to be “busy,” and it’s rare to see such an unapologetic, “I KICK BUTT AT THIS” manifesto, especially from women. It was refreshing. It was inspiring. http://torthuiljourney.blogspot.com/2017/03/ten-ways-im-rocking-motherhood.html
I also loved Jamie’s post this week, agreed it was poetry.
I think it’s fine to go unprepared once in a while. Life is busy. When I was in a book club I only found it offensive when the same person repeatedly didn’t read the book and was snarky about it – basically she had enough time but didn’t consider the choice worthy and made sure the hostess knew it. That’s just bad manners. Clubs are supposed to be fun and when they become high pressure or work the fun ceases. Go and enjoy yourself!
Thank you for including my post in the roundup. Thank you for your kind words.
I think it is okay to show up at a book club when you have not read the book, but you should have the expectation that people are going to talk openly about the book and you might hear spoilers. If you are okay with that, then go and enjoy the discussion. I’ve read books after seeing the movie on occasion and got so much more out of the book after reading it. I kind of liken it to that. Plus, requiring people to only show when they have read the book can kill book club attendance. A little room for a person to miss a boom or not finish it here and there is okay. You can still have good discussion related to the themes in the book.