Hi, my name is Joanna. I write this blog, in case you forgot. (I almost forgot.)

I have old news from early summer plus new news from now-ish to share before moving on to…other old things I still want to think about and write about. This is the result of being a long processor. Something happens, but I don’t really understand what happened until three months later when I’ve had time to put the thing in proper context. Indulge me while I get it out of my system:

// Old news: The Casual Vacancy is not a good book. In fact, I didn’t cross the finish line on this one even though I was at an airport for four hours by myself with only the book to comfort me. It was that bad. Putting aside the is-it-there-is-it-not plot, I think J.K. Rowling tried way too hard to remind us this is an Adult book for Adults who are not teens who like magic but Adults who like real Adult things. Her tools were swearing, vulgar language, so much sex, and the most despondent cast of characters. New news: Winter’s Tale also belongs in the category of bad books that were my only consolation at an airport. That is 700+ pages of WHAT?

// Old news: I continue to love virtually every retelling of Pride and Prejudice and Emma I encounter. This time, it’s the Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approved, both made-for-YouTube web shows that coincide with real-time social media posts by the characters. The episodes are short, the adaptation of each is creative, and if you need any other reason to start watching them immediately I give you these two words: Darcy. Knightley. New news: Austenland. A hillarible movie (and book) I can’t wait to watch again with my friend over Skype while we drink wine and reminisce about when we were young and silly romantics, then laugh about how we haven’t changed at all. If you need any other reason to watch it immediately, I give you these two words: Basically Darcy.

// Old news: We’ve been eating gluten- and cow-dairy-free the last six or so weeks and I have some yummy recipes to share as soon as I resign myself again to being a horrible iPhone food photographer. New news: Today is the third day of a 30-day kidney cleanse. On Sunday, we begin the “juice feast” portion of the cleanse. Garlic juice, y’all. Pray for me.