What is the Sunday Salon?
The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there.
The bad guys are us, sadly, and I now spend my days shaking my head, bewildered and baffled, bemoaning the greed and thievery and lying that is now my America. I will continue to hold true to our ideals of creating a land where everyone is welcomed, where all are free and equal before the law, and I will do all I can to share the abundance that I have been given and to work for the common good.
What I Read Last Week:
Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley
What I'm Reading Now:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Book Club)
On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Katmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer by Rick Steves (Nonfiction)
I finished my latest Classics Club list!
Now onward and upward to a new list of 50 classic reads.
What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:
I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:
Good Thing #1:
Inprint Houston presents two poets,
Jennifer Chang and Naomi Shihab Nye.
Nothing like a night of poetry to lift your spirits.
Good Thing #2:
Thank you, Europe, for pressing forward
against the bad guys.
Good Thing #3:
Breakfast Mamas birthday celebration
for Peggy and Glenda.
Once we were ten moms who
volunteered together and became friends;
now we are happy when six of us grandmas
can get together.
Your summary of bad times is very spot-on. I'm hoping that some leaders with new ideas will emerge and take a lead in reinforcing what's good in our country, and helping to resist the ongoing destruction.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting Sunday Salon! ... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I think we have to remember that the history of America has been very mixed -- freedom and justice have always been tangled up with exploitation, greed, and lies. It seems as though we have a chance to do some untangling, and it's uncomfortable, but I admire the people who are taking the high road. There are many of them, even if often they are quietly upholding the good rather than making a noisy fuss. I keep my sanity by connecting to them wherever I can, including many blogging friends. Thank you for always reminding us of the good things!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing your Classics Club list! I have been missing the classics scene since I completed my own. Perhaps I will make another list at some point.
Thank you for your words, Lory. They offer perspective.
DeleteLoving holding to your ideal (me too) and your good things. So very proud of Europe. I want to read the Rick Steves, too.
ReplyDeleteThere is certainly a lot of chaos in the world and I am fearful for the future. We are watching from Canada and hope that America intervenes in their own future.
ReplyDeleteThat's nice that you all were able to get together for a birthday celebration.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on finishing your classic club list! That's impressive! I've read Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy a few times and always enjoy it. You can definitely tell Douglas Adams was a TV writer. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteWe are heading home to Canada after 8 weeks here in the States. For the first time I cannot wait to cross that border. We will not be coming back to the States under this regime. I can better spend my money where I am welcome. I just read that any Canadians that will spend any time in the States, such as snowbirds, will now be treated as aliens.
ReplyDeleteI am very afraid where this is going.
I do not understand where this is coming from. And I am very sad about it.
DeleteWoo-hoo! Congratulations on finishing your Classics list!! That is amazing! Always fun celebrating birthdays, have a good week!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on completing your Classics Club list! Thanks for sharing the Eiffel Tower photo -- I hadn't seen that.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on finishing a section of your list!
ReplyDeleteThe Hitchhiker's Guide is great, I hope you enjoy it.
I wish many happy returns of the day to the birthday ladies.
I'm so glad that you are keeping busy with good friends, good books, and a good attitude. These are trying times, indeed. This is not the USA I want to see evolving, but here we are. I will not stop fighting for what is just, and I know you and so many others won't either. One day, one step at a time. Take good care of yourself, this is going to be a marathon, not a sprint.
ReplyDeleteI can't seem to get my head around what is motivating these changes. I've never known people like these who are now running the US.
DeleteCongratulations on finishing your Classic Club list, I was thinking about joining because I rarely ever read the classics. Sounds like you had another great week. I feel the same as you about America!
ReplyDeleteForgot to say that I have On the Hippie Trail too.
DeleteI got it for my birthday. I'm surprised to see how well written it is, even though Steves wrote it when he was in his 20s.
DeleteCongrats on finishing your Classic Club list! That's great. I feel the same way you do about the country. It gets harder each day. Have a good week!
ReplyDeleteMy heart just breaks for all the damage this administration has done. I even had a woman try to explain the President is at the top of the pyramid and what he says goes and judges need to be fired. OMG have these people not had a basic civics class sometime in their kilives.
ReplyDeleteWe have to hang in there. Bernie was in Wisconsin today and about 10,000 people showed up. Democrats here are having town halls near or in Republican districts and they are very well attended.
Try to have a great week.
I feel like government has not been explained well to young people!
DeleteI haven’t read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy but have watched the movie many times. How nice to have a group of friends to gather together. Have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your words about doing what you can for the common good during these bad, stressful times. It's very hard for me too to see that it is America that is doing this and Voted for this. It's still shocking the election to me. Good job reading Roots. What a seminal work that was.
ReplyDeleteGreed, greed, greed. And for what? I saw two homeless men yesterday camped out in front of the library to stay warm during this cold spell we had. Do these leaders have no compassion for these homeless men?
DeleteThese are definitely scary and trying times. You perfectly summarized how I am feeling.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your list of classics. Curious to see your next one.
ReplyDeleteYep, keeping at working for the common good where you are at, I think that's the clue
I’m glad you can still find three good things each week despite everything. Don’t forget to be good to yourself while you are doing good for others.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a lovely reading week
Aw, that's a nice photo of the six of you meeting up. It's so nice to be able to keep that kind of thing going.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was shocked once again over the events of the week! Hopefully Europe can help. Love that photo of the Eiffel Tower! What a fun gathering!
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic you finished your classics list! Gives me inspiration. I will start Brideshead Revisited as it was the book on my Spin Number. Lots of good things you listed and we all have to keep on with doing good for others, never mind the current hateful administration. I am also proud of the European leaders backing Ukraine.
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel like we're the bad guys in a major way. Actually, I've felt this way for a long time, but now it's just more obvious to way more people in our own country.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. It has been this way for a long time. It just feels like it is now in my face as acceptable and even normative. I don't want to spend any more energy fighting this. I want to have these people go away and be quiet.
DeleteIt's been a while since I've been to a poetry reading. Sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHarvee44 https://harvee44.blogspot.com/2025/03/sunday-salon-secret-lives-of.html
Congrats on finishing your classic books! Have a great reading week.
ReplyDeleteIt is a scary time at the moment. You just don't know what to believe. It's all so ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week this week if you can. Breakfast Mamas looked fun ☺️
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
I am grateful for the countries that are standing by us in our terrible times! I hate reading about the horrrible antics of those "leading our country" these days, and can't wait for what might change in the future.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your good things and your books!
Love your list of good things, Deb. Congratulations on finishing your Classics Club reads. You're amazing. Hope you enjoy your week.
ReplyDeletehttps://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2025/03/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-mailbox.html
I never honored my original list of 50 Classics and just started messing with it, adding and subtracting. Unfortunately I didn't save a copy of my original 50 titles either. I wish I could say I've finished it, but I have no idea. I have less than 20 titles left on my current list, which has over 50 titles on it and I keep thinking THIS YEAR IS THE YEAR I FINISH IT. Why not? Because I get so distracted by other books. I'm like a dog who catches the whiff of a squirrel. Off I run in a lot of different directions reading this book for that and that book for this, often neglecting those classics I really want to conquer.
ReplyDeleteI started with a list of about 150 books that sounded intriguing. Nevertheless, I kept things very fluid, adding and subtracting. I included some titles that others might have scorned as not being classics, but which struck me as marginally classical.
DeleteI watched Rick Steves' TV shows all the time when I was a teenager. He always seemed so happy and calm.
ReplyDeleteNow I know why "May your live in interesting times" is such a curse. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has been on my radar for years. Maybe I'll get to it one day. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteRoots imprinted on me in childhood - if you haven't watched the mini-series, you should after reading the book. With me, it was the reverse. Saw the mini-series as a child. Read the book in my uni years. Watched the mini-series again (bawling my eyes out this time). Then year's letter watched the new mini-series as well.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the 50 classics read. For Lent I gave up watching anything regarding your President. He is only inspiring anxiety, anger and fear. Most countries now feel they are walking on eggshells around him and his tariffs. At least USA bloggers are doing a great job of presenting your country, as behind his evil self there are good people like yourself which balances our views.
ReplyDeleteNice that you were able to get together with your fellow mama's. I haven't read any of these books. I don't know if I am emotionally or mentally ready to read something like Roots.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading you list of books that inspire you to be a better person. Many of mine are on the same list as yours. Poverty by America by Matthew Desmond is a more recent one. I've tried to finish Evicted a few times, but, as you noted in your opening here, the bad guys are us, and I can't handle reading just how awful people can be. Maybe when all this is over I will do it then.
ReplyDeleteYour words are a well-written description of about the current state of our nation. Thank you for a well written goal to help us keep our sanity. Congratulations on finishing your Classics Club list! That’s a huge achievement! Yes and amen to Europe – plus a bunch of virtual hugs. How beautiful to have such long lasting friendships! Cheers to all of you!
ReplyDeleteThe bad guys. There are so many of them these days. It's all absolutely ridiculous. The election was bought and paid for and now we all pay for it.
ReplyDeleteNo ma'm. The bad guys are not "us". The bad guys are The Cult of MAGA and their leader. AMERICANS are still the good guys. :-)
ReplyDelete