live laugh blog

books i read in january and thoughts on medicine and literacy

i have written previously about getting back into reading again. when covid quarantine went into effect, one of the things i stopped having the attention and appetite for was reading books. but since fall, i have been chipping away at a pile that had been waiting for me since 5 years ago, and i am intentionally trying to read at least 2 books a month. in january i read fuzz by mary roach, and natural causes by barbara ehrenreich. i'll write about fuzz and my thoughts about and journey in divesting from specieism another time. today i want to talk about natural causes and, especially, barbara ehrenreich's impact on my outlook on death, wellness, and how i have navigated those topics before and going into the trump administration.

my airbrush library

if you ever read anything about airbrushing on a technical level, you'll be told that it requires immense patience. there is nothing more truer in this world! it can be quite unforgiving and needs a lot of setup and cleanup, but the results are really beautiful and it's such a versatile tool. one of the things testing my patience with airbrush right now is that my compressor is leaking air from the drain valve. instead of shutting a window onto my neck about it, i figured to step away from the tank and show you my humble library of airbrush books. i've been collecting them for education, inspiration, and to feed my innate urge to buy used hardcover books that cover my somewhat niche and outdated hobbies.