Assorted

In the short story The Dead Interview Margaret Atwood interviews her hero, author George Orwell, through a spiritual medium. This piece alone is worth the cover price of Old Babes in the Wood. I’ll say nothing more, give nothing away beyond this—I think Atwood must be somehow related to Orwell. She’s his wittier grandniece or something. Old Babes in the Wood also has a series of stories about a long together, very much in love couple, Tig and Nell, including how she copes after Tig dies. Yep, I can SO relate.

This collection is a total must read.
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What does neurodivergent mean? According to the Cleveland Clinic:

Neurodivergent is a nonmedical term that describes people whose brains develop or work differently for some reason. This means the person has different strengths and struggles from people whose brains develop or work more typically. While some people who are neurodivergent have medical conditions, it also happens to people where a medical condition or diagnosis hasn’t been identified.

This, pretty much, tells me next to nada. Who makes the call? Am I neurodivergent? I mean, it’s clear (to me at any rate) that I don’t follow the mainstream social paths—never have. If people were sheep, I’m the one outside the herd playing jacks with rando, passing vultures and trash talking with the local fox population.

Is neurodivergent just another, less obviously bullshit way for a group of people to say oh, don’t invite her, she’s not like us? Is it a way for folks, like me, who’ve been pointedly excluded from book clubs, parties and the like, to easily explain rejection? i.e., I’ve got the skills and abilities but can’t get a foot in the door because I’m neurodivergent. What’s the opposite of neurodivergent? Normal—whatever the fuck that means? Normal is a concept which depends entirely on context. Fer instance, in Utah it would be normal to be Mormon. Here in Massachusetts, while not unheard of, being Mormon is very much out of the norm. So then, here at home, members of the Magic Underwear faith would be considered neurodivergent. That’s, of course, if I’m understanding the Cleveland Clinic’s definition correctly—always a crapshoot.
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Where does the slang phrase 23 skidoo come from and what does it mean? It seems there are more than a few possibilities. From The Phrase Finder:

I happened to meet a man who tries to 'keep up' on slang and I asked the meaning of 'Twenty-three!'. He said it was a signal to clear out, run, get away. In his opinion it came from the English race tracks, twenty-three being the limit on the number of horses allowed to start in one race.
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'Skiddoo' is another slang term, also originating around the same time and place, meaning much the same as 'skedaddle', that is, 'leave', 'depart', 'get out of here'.
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The phrase originated in the Panimint Mountains in Death Valley in the early 1900s. The mining town of Skidoo had 23 saloons and if you were going to go get drunk you would try to get a drink at each of the saloons. This started the phrase of going 23 skidoo if you were going to have a good time. (source)

I always thought it was a way of saying, let’s kick up our heels and go have some fun. So, more in line the mining town’s usage. Maybe I could time travel back to the 1920s and ask someone.