Negin, It seems to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it books. I loved it, but I love memoirs. And, having grown up both Catholic and around alcoholics, I could relate to it.

Margaret, we rented a lovely cabin in a rural area for Thanksgiving. When we went for a "country walk" the road was flanked by either woods or Amish farms. The scenery was nice, but that walk wrecked my nerves! When walking by the woods, there were always gunshots - it was hunting season. When walking by the farms, dogs would come rushing forward toward the road. Since the farms were Amish I presumed that there were no electric fences, so if I could not see a fence I felt very scared of these dogs. And then there were the horse droppings in the road to watch out for. I just wasn't fun or relaxing for me.

I am finally starting to get my reading groove back. I wasn't able to read much from mid-March to mid-May, but one thing I discovered and enjoyed was LA Theatre Works. Their audio productions of plays are a high caliber, and they have a lot of freebies but apparently they also take them down - most of the ones that I listened to have now disappeared but are replaced with a new batch. You could also check your library - I found some on both Overdrive and Hoopla. So far, I have listed to: Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon The Sisters Rosenweig by Wendy Wasserstein Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley Park Your Car in Harvard Yard by Israel Horovitz Lips Together, Teeth Apart by Terrance McNally An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. They do stay up longer than a week, though. A couple weeks, I think? @Lori D. I keep trying to catch - but keep missing - the National Theatre weekly releases. And from what I can tell it doesn't look like you can go back later and stream them for a fee, either. -- Congratulations, @Junie I hope you get that graduation party with the third one 🙂 I love throwing parties. Meanwhile, I am super happy to read that your daughter's plans are not completely derailed. Best wishes to your recent grad!

Thank you for your updates - I really appreciated them. I can't find any info on our Sunday morning Farmer's Market. I don't know if there are plans to have it or not. I did manage to find a CSA that will deliver downtown, and I am eager for that to begin. It was supposed to start in May but got delayed to June.

You know that question "Do you prefer the beach or the mountains?" My answer is "I prefer the city!" I live in a city, my most memorable travels have been to cities, and in my daydreams I live in a very big city. If my whole perception changes, that's going to be very unsettling. I have finally started going out for walks, but it is still stressful. I'm sure I'll get used to it. People have a habit of lingering in front our door to the street, and that really stresses me out.

@Farrar I am about an hour north of you. Many of our weekend tourists come in from your city. In turn, many of our residents commute to your city by train. One of my favorite things to do is spend the day in your city. You can probably figure out from that where I am, but if not feel free to PM me. Normal life for me was walking to the library, live theater, free concerts in the park, cafes and restaurants, and my yoga studio. I loved the busy streets and the noise. We don't have a yard, but fortunately our apartment does have a nice terrace. By chance, my 83 year old mom has been self-isolating with us, so we have kept a very tight isolation bubble. We haven't been inside a store of any sort since March 13, and I have not interacted with anyone outside of my household since this began. Masks are required within shops, but most people take them off the second they are back out on the street. Everything I love about living in the city is currently either gone or now it frightens me. I'm having a hard time reckoning with that.

I'd like to hear from fellow city dwellers about how things are going in your area. I live on one of the busiest streets of a small, tourist city. Our state started to reopen last week, and the foot traffic has increased considerably even though sit-down dining is still closed. Retail is open at reduced capacity. Bars are still closed. I've only lived in this city for three years, but I have been living in a downtown setting for about 10 years now. Generally speaking, I love city life. Of course, it has been eerily quiet for two months now and I really missed the energy of the city. But now I am nervous about all the people that are soon going to be swarming the streets. Once everything opens up, it will be hard to even get out the door in a socially distanced manner.

If this was already posted upthread, consider it a reminder! The Chronicle of Higher Education is keeping a running list of fall announcements. Some of the announcements contain concrete info and others are as useful as the McSweeneys piece. https://www.chronicle.com/article/Here-s-a-List-of-Colleges-/248626

What are you using for your filter layers, Pen? — My local (mere blocks away) shop is charging $12.99 per yard for beautiful batik fabrics. I order online and she drops it off at my door the next day. Sometimes the same day. Yes, I am extremely lucky!

Alas, CATS was only on YouTube for the weekend. But hey, we still have Peter Ustinov doing a version of "The Naming of Cats" in Logan's Run (1976). For those not familiar with Logan's Run, it is a Sci-Fi film where everyone over 30 must die. These two, played by Michael York and Jenny Agutter, are on the run from the domed city and encounter Peter Ustinov living in the ruins of DC.

Indeed it does! It is delightfully illustrated by Edward Gorey. ISBN 0-571-20746-4

Do you by chance have the same edition that I have? lol I haven't read it since my son was in middle school, but now I'd like to give it another go. The version that aired on You-tube was filmed in 1998 and is available on DVD if anyone is interested.

@Junie The Agatha Christie cover makes me think of Harold and the Purple Crayon.

Hello, BaW friends. I have not checked in for a long time. Sorry. I hope everyone is doing well. But I also have not had a whole lot of reading to report, thanks to the pandemic. I'll go back through my Goodreads account and see what is worth mentioning. @Robin M I also watched CATS over the weekend. Even though I am a bit of a Broadway nerd, I had never seen CATS and I enjoyed it immensely. It seemed very 80s to me.

Something must be wonky. I know many of us were unable to log in yesterday. I'm not sure if everyone was locked out yesterday or not.