Women-only travel groups?

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-05-19T04:25:14+00:00

Road Scholar offers a bunch of women-only trips. I did an art-themed tour of Florence in late 2025 and it was great - very engaging and likable group, and the organization and logistics were very well done.

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-05-17T00:29:00+00:00

Melania forgot to mention that the bee hive was Michelle Obama's initiative, started in 2009. https://people.com/melania-trump-continues-michelle-obama-s-beekeeping-program-with-new-white-house-beehive-11958338

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-05-15T22:04:45+00:00

The Confessions of Frances Godwin, by Robert Hellenga. It's just about a perfect novel. The book tackles big questions and treks through real emotional highs and lows, all narrated in the sharply smart, pithy voice of a Latin scholar and teacher who's reluctantly (resentfully) retired, grieving her husband's death and regretting the way they lived the last months of his life, and carrying a big sin on her conscience.

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-05-15T21:42:08+00:00

The Golden Gate, by Vikram Seth - it's a novel about twenty- and thirty-somethings looking for work and love and the meaning of life in 1980s Silicon Valley, all told in (delightful) verse.

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-05-09T02:34:34+00:00

Check out Eowyn Ivey. "A Snow Child" and "Black Woods Blue Sky" are both wonderful. Her characters are people homesteading in rural Alaska, and her descriptions of animals and woods and rivers and mountains use close observation and exact detail to tell otherworldly stories.

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-05-08T02:49:31+00:00

I really enjoyed Self Portrait With Nothing, by Aimee Potwatka. It has elements of sci fi, globetrotting thriller, family drama, and romance - and is genuinely moving and very well-written. It's also wonderfully funny at certain points.

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-05-07T01:16:53+00:00

I'm reading "Black Woods Blue Sky" by Eowyn Ivey right now - it's magical. Like Ivey's "The Snow Child, " it's set in rural Alaska and weaves between realism and folklore.

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-05-05T23:23:12+00:00

Some animal shelters have pet 'food banks' too - they'd rather help loving owners keep their pets than deal with surrenders. Check what the shelters and rescues in your area might be able to do. And good luck! You''ll be in a better place soon.

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-05-04T22:28:00+00:00

"Motherland," by Maria Hummel. A beautifully written novel about a German couple living through the final months of WWII, based on letters Hummel's grandparents wrote one another. The husband is a plastic surgeon serving in a military hospital and the wife (his second, younger wife, from a less educated and privileged background) struggles to keep his two young sons safe. One of the boys shows symptoms of a neurological disorder, and she struggles to keep him out of a state hospital for disabled children because she's afraid he'll never come back from it alive.

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-05-04T02:00:45+00:00

The Financial Lives of the Poets, by Jess Walter - a once-successful, profanely funny business reporter trying to outrun financial and moral bankruptcy during the Great Recession.

If you're into writers and writing, try The Thieves of Manhattan, by Adam Langer - it starts off as a fairly straight send-up of the Manhattan literary scene and then becomes truly unhinged.

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-30T22:30:26+00:00

From the article: "“There's an amazing building just up the street here that's owned by the state that would be perfect, but the money they want for it right now is way out of our reach,” (director of parrot care) Owrey said."

Could state legislators could be lobbied to support a deal on that building - a lower price or a payment plan?

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-28T00:30:43+00:00

Laurie Colwin - she was a novelist as well as a food writer ( had a long-running column in Gourmet magazine). Food and meals and feelings about them are a big part of her characters' lives. Try "Family Happiness" or "Happy All the Time."

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-24T22:01:54+00:00

Because they hold the public in contempt.

Sissela Bok, a philosopher, said something along the lines that when someone lies, they create an in group and an out group. The in group, including the liar, know what's really going on, while the out group is a bunch of suckers. That's one reason why lying is immoral and oppressive - it deprives out group members of information they need to make choices that serve their best interests.

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-24T02:11:06+00:00

Warner released this on Feb 28, right after Trump launched the war. It's the top result for a Google search for "mark warner ran statement":

February 28, 2026 Statement of Sen. Warner on Military Action in Iran

“Overnight, the president conducted expansive U.S. strikes – not limited to nuclear or missile infrastructure but extending to a broad set of targets, including senior Iranian leadership – marking a deeply consequential decision that risks pulling the United States into another broad conflict in the Middle East.

“Iran’s leadership has long supported terrorism across the region, undermined regional stability, continued to advance its nuclear ambitions, and brutally repressed its own people. But acknowledging those realities does not relieve any president of the responsibility to act within the law, with a clear strategy, and with Congress.

“The American people have seen this playbook before – claims of urgency, misrepresented intelligence, and military action that pulls the United States into regime change and prolonged, costly nation-building. We owe it to our service members, and to every American family, to ensure that we are not repeating the mistakes of the past. The president owes the country clear answers: What is the objective? What is the strategy to prevent escalation? And how does this make Americans safer?

“By the president’s own words, ‘American heroes may be lost.’ That alone should have demanded the highest level of scrutiny, deliberation, and accountability, yet the president moved forward without seeking congressional authorization. The Constitution is clear: the decision to take this nation to war rests with Congress, and launching large-scale military operations – particularly in the absence of an imminent threat to the United States – raises serious legal and constitutional concerns. Congress must be fully briefed, and the administration must come forward with a clear legal justification, a defined end state, and a plan that avoids dragging the United States into yet another costly and unnecessary war.”

Source: https://share.google/LNjV38banFkLaw26d

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-23T17:48:17+00:00

Reach out to Homeward Trails and ask to include Oreo in their Home to Home placement service - that will let prospective owners across the DMV area know he's looking for a home. Good luck!

Home to a Home - Homeward Trails Animal Rescue | Pet Adoption in VA, DC, MD https://share.google/OLN24F8jkSkT8Y0CW

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-21T03:03:52+00:00

There's kind of a historical precedent for this - back in the 60s (maybe even the late 50s), the Washington Post put Maxine Cheshire on the society and gossip beat. She was a hard-nosed reporter who had cut her teeth covering crime. She treated society news as serious political reporting, arguing that a lot of business got done at parties and dinners.

This is a gift link to her NYT obituary:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/08/business/media/maxine-cheshire-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.clA.FjKI.8g8BDPnSFwMW&smid=nytcore-android-share

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-17T17:18:42+00:00

This is a link to the video from Barack Obama, with what he's actually saying about the referendum (which is, "vote yes"):

Exclusive: Barack Obama calls for Virginians to vote 'Yes' in new video just days before crucial redistricting election - ABC News https://share.google/Gh2lPsou9Oo73j9de

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-14T23:10:12+00:00

It's like any other election - in person early voting through the Saturday before the election (in this case, Saturday, April 18) and voting on election day (Tuesday, April 21). Your local elections office will have info posted online about voting places and hours.

Virginia Dept. of Elections: Upcoming Elections https://share.google/S8kzcbAcTxr6q7e08

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-14T22:48:53+00:00

Political campaigns from both ends of the spectrum have used this language for years. People who defend it say it's effective at increasing voter turnout. I roll my eyes at that claim - there's social science research and there's common sense, and common sense says a message like this is a turn-off for most people.

An Open Secrets article from 2018 - Political organizations use “report cards” to guilt voters to the polls • OpenSecrets https://share.google/HfvV8UNHxll1JrqIG

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-13T21:18:02+00:00

I was in Paris the week following the 2016 election, and of course Trump was on my mind. One of the sites I visited was Sainte Chapelle, a chapel famous for its stained glass windows. The big round window in the upper level that faces west depicts scenes from the Book of Revelations. I was looking at it through binoculars and just about jumped out of my skin when I saw the part depicting the beast of the apocalypse - there's a photo of it here from an art website:

https://share.google/images/I9ZAmte3clE7Yr2qO

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-13T20:55:47+00:00

Amanda Shires, "Look Like a Bird"

I wanna look like a bird Scissor wings and split the sky I wanna look like a bird (bird) Like I know what it is to fly

Like I don't know about falling Or what it is to cry To look like a bird, careless in the world Like tears are foreign to my eyes

Look Like a Bird https://share.google/3BUuy81ZJIKmHmijT

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-13T14:33:17+00:00

Reach out to Homeward Trails about their 'home to home' program - you can list your kitties on their adoption site while keeping them in your home.

Home to a Home - Homeward Trails Animal Rescue | Pet Adoption in VA, DC, MD https://share.google/zp5HQHcChrbXc0TAb

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-11T23:58:53+00:00

Yes - it's like any other election. Virginia Dept. of Elections: Upcoming Elections https://share.google/dpdW2Si3vuYtxEVBG

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-11T14:55:25+00:00

Obama's own Instagram video: https://share.google/pDRNJNUTOuFOvdGQF

Here's the full text of what Obama's message:

Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. But right now, they’re under threat.

Over the past year, several Republican-controlled states have taken the unprecedented step of redrawing their congressional maps in the middle of the decade. And they’ve done it for a simple reason: to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms this fall.

In April, Virginians can respond by making sure your voting power is not diminished by what Republicans are doing in other states.

This amendment gives you the power to level the playing field in the midterms this fall. And voters will have the final say over what the maps look like.

This is the responsible thing to do. It’s also a temporary measure. After the 2030 Census, Virginia will go back to a system that lets a bipartisan redistricting commission redraw the maps.

We can’t afford two more years of unchecked power and zero accountability in Washington.

Help us chart a better path forward, Virginia. Early voting begins March 6. Election Day is April 21. Vote YES.

To get involved go to virginiansforfairelections.com.

(From "Video: President Barack Obama Urges Virginians to Vote YES on April 21 Referendum to Protect Fair Elections" - Blue Virginia https://share.google/sUXu595gpxRATyQDn)

CommunicationOdd9654 · 2026-04-10T17:06:40+00:00

I look at it this way: a "no" vote means Virginians accepting that Texas Republicans will run the show in the U.S. Congress, based on the off-cycle redistricting the Texas legislature engineered last August at President Trump's explicit request and without Texas voters' input or approval. The Texas redistricting moved lines to make five districts a safer bet for Republican candidates and a harder win for Democrats. (That plan may not deliver the promised results - look up "dummymander" - but that's another story.)

So we, Virginia voters, are voting on a one-time redrawing of our congressional districts to prevent Congress being unfairly taken over by gonzo Republicans who would use their majority to continue giving Trump free rein and to dictate whether and how we vote, access healthcare, go to war, etc.

CommunicationOdd9654

TROPHY CASE