Syllabus #213

Yes hello I have stared into the bucket of truth, and in the bottom was this pizza, and lo, I saw that it was good, and I am forever changed.  The half in the foreground was a hot pickle pizza with dill, Calabrian chilis, and ranch drizzle, and you'll forgive me for any typos that follow because I have salivated all over my keyboard.  I have one slice leftover for lunch today and when it's gone, I'm going to feel the kind of nostalgic longing for happier times that many people associate with their childhoods, or their college days, or their first loves.  I'm not being dramatic.  It's that good.

If you are local to Nashville, please don't tell too many people about Pinky Ring Pizza in Madison because I don't want it to blow up to the point that I can no longer access this jewel that I just discovered, but please do hurry yourself on over for a pie.  Good lord.  I'm not religious but you better believe on this Sunday at lunch I'm taking my mouth to church and praising sweet baby Jesus for this perfect manna from heaven.

Don't even talk to me unless you're putting pickles and hot peppers on your pizza.

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We've all Wordled, but have you Connected?  It's like a daily SAT verbal exercise for utterly no purpose other than bragging rights, which is kind of also the purpose of the SAT, except this doesn't also largely and arbitrarily determine the trajectory of your future, your educational debt, and your lifetime earning capacity.  Low stakes insufferable nerd fun.  To date, I have a near-perfect record, having made only one mistake in the first puzzle I attempted a couple weeks back.  Now that I've announced that, I'm sure I'll start screwing them up left and right, but it's been a real ego-stroke while it's lasted.  

Speaking of education, but the high-stakes kind.  I'll be unraveling a cardigan in solidarity with the librarians of the Houston school district.  So you say you're trying to raise reading and math scores?  But you're closing libraries and turning them into discipline centers?  I'm sure that's going to work out beautifully for you.  

Analog Reading:

Finished Patrick deWitt's new novel, The Librarianist.  It was quirky and delightful and I enjoyed every minute of it.  Despite not being a septuagenarian male living in Portland, Oregon, I very much identified with the protagonist.  Somebody who spends their days reading, walking, tidying, cooking, and eating?  Damn, y'all.  It me.

Just picked up James McBride's new masterpiece, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.  I'm only a few pages in, but I can already tell it's going to be great.